A First Look at the Big Ten Title Odds Race

Welcome folks to Week 0 of college football. Purdue doesn’t have a game this week but there are some early season games, including future conference foe USC who plays their first game of the season this week. What a time to be alive! We made it folks. It’s college football season!

We here at Hammer and Rails are once again partnering with Draft Kings to take a look at some of the odds that are out there about Purdue and the wider Big Ten. Since we’ve got over a week until Purdue’s first game I thought it would be fun to take a look at championship odds for the Big Ten and the Big Ten West. Let’s see where Purdue sits shall we?

According to Draft Kings, Purdue has some of the worst odds to be the ultimate Big Ten Champion. It’s a close race at the top with Ohio State at +170 and Michigan at +175. Purdue meanwhile sits at +10000. Just four teams have worse odds than Purdue to win the conference. I’m guessing you can name those teams, but just in case you can’t they are Michigan State (+15000), Rutgers (+30000), Northwestern (+30000), and IU (+50000). Even at +50000 that IU bet feels like throwing money away. I can’t imagine deciding to throw down any money on that one. Woof.

It feels like the Purdue number is just about right. Keep in mind this isn’t to win the Big Ten West, this is to win the whole thing so the West as well as the Big Ten title game. Something Purdue has never done in the entire existence of the Big Ten title game. It would be quite a feat to accomplish that this year given the impressive roster that both Ohio State and Michigan bring back.

Breaking this down a bit further, Draft Kings also has odds of winning the Big Ten West. There are, of course, seven teams in the Big Ten West. Purdue is the returning champion. Purdue currently sits with the 6th worse odds. Only Northwestern (+10000) has worse odds. I’m a bit shocked I’ve got to say. Wisconsin (+130) and Iowa (+240) lead the pack. Purdue sits at +2200 which honestly I think has some value to it. I’m not saying Purdue is going to win the Big Ten West but I think +2200 undervalues the chances that Purdue could find a way to win the division. Of course Purdue finds themselves with a rather difficult schedule, but I like the energy of the team and the addition of Hudson Card to an offense that already has a solid running game with Devin Mockobee.

In case you’re curious, Ohio State (+110) and Michigan (+120) lead the pack in the Big Ten East while IU brings up the rear at +30000.

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.