Big Ten Tournament Betting Preview

When: March 10th-14th

Where: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN

Regular Season Champion: Michigan Wolverines

The Favorites (Michigan +175, Illinois +333, Iowa +400, Ohio State +600)

Michigan rolled through the regular season up until the final week of play. The Wolverines got blasted by the Fighting Illini in Ann Arbor (76-53) and dropped their last regular-season game to rival Michigan State (70-64). Still, the Wolverines are a reliable team and favorite to win the conference tournament title thanks to efficient play on both sides of the floor.

The Fighting Illini might be the hottest team in the country, winning their final four games. Three of those wins came against ranked teams on the road, with two victories against top-10 teams Michigan and Ohio State. In five of the Illini’s six losses, Illinois allowed 80-points or more. Since their last loss, the Fighting Illini have held opponents to 65 points per game.

Iowa was a preseason favorite with All-American and last season’s Big Ten Player of the Year, Luka Garza, returning to campus. After a stretch of four losses in five games, the Hawkeyes closed out the regular season, winning seven of their last eight. Iowa possesses the league’s highest-scoring offense, averaging 85.0 points per game this season.

Ohio State ended the season with four consecutive losses and trending in the wrong direction, but their body of work this season deserves consideration for a title favorite. The Buckeyes are the only team outside of Illinois with two of the top 10 scorers in the conference in E.J. Liddell (16.0 ppg) and Duane Washington Jr. (15.3 ppg). OSU has marquee wins over Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin this season.

In the Hunt (Purdue +650, Wisconsin +1200)

One of the youngest teams in the Big Ten, the Boilermakers rallied to close out the season with five-straight victories. Purdue rosters one of the league’s biggest mismatches, that is 7’4, 285-pound freshman Zach Edey (8.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg). Eddy came off the bench to score 41 points over the last two games, leading the team in both. The Boilermakers knocked off Ohio State twice and went 5-4 against ranked teams throughout their conference slate.

They say defense wins championships. Well, that’s what you get in the Wisconsin Badgers. The league’s best defensive unit always finds its way in March and can never be overlooked. Wisconsin holds teams to 64.0 points per game and leads the league with a 3.22 turnover margin. A good team on paper, Wisconsin concluded the season with just a 3-8 mark against ranked teams, making it hard to believe the Badgers will be able to play through Sunday.

The Darkhorse (Maryland +5000)

Maryland dropped their final games of the conference slate to a pair of teams in the bottom half of the league. So why are they here? Everyone loves a longshot, and the Terrapins are the team. Maryland knocked off Illinois, Wisconsin, and Purdue this season and have the league’s second-best scoring defense (64.7 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (40.4%). Maryland hasn’t logged a tournament win since 2016, and the time is now for Mark Turgeon’s squad to make some noise.