According to the Ohio State website, a Buckeye is a small, shiny, dark brown nut with a light tan patch that comes from the official state tree of Ohio, the Buckeye tree.

I also recently learned the Diamondback Terrapin is the official state reptile of Maryland.

A Diamondback Terrapin is also a fancy way of saying a small turtle.

Maybe you already knew what a buckeye and a terrapin was.

Maybe you are already familiar with all things related to the NCAAF Big-10 conference.

If you came here just looking for some Big-10 odds and sportsbook links to set up your account, please go ahead and place your NCAAF Big-10 bets without diving into our article below.

For the rest of us who might be looking for some insights and information to help us make more informed NCAAF Big-10 betting decisions, we have just the information you are looking for.

Let’s go!

Who Plays In The Big-10 Conference?

Don’t be fooled by the name of this conference.

This year, 14 teams are playing in the Big 10, and that number will climb next year.

In 2023, the Big 10 has an East and West division, with each division consisting of seven teams.

Big-10 East Standings – Week 11

Teams	Overall	Conference	Top 25 Rank
Ohio State	10-0	7-0	3rd
Michigan	10-0	7-0	2nd
Penn State	8-2	5-2	12th
Maryland	6-4	3-4	NR
Rutgers	6-4	3-4	NR
Indiana	3-7	1-6	NR
Michigan State	3-7	1-6	NR

Although you might get some pushback from some of the schools in the West, the unbiased football fan would suggest that the Big 10 East division is currently the tougher of the two.

The fact that Michigan and Ohio State play in the same division makes it hard for any team in the West to suggest their division is equally as strong.

Big-10 West Standings – Week 11

Teams	Overall	Conference	Top 25 Rank
Iowa	8-2	5-2	NR
Nebraska	5-5	3-4	NR
Minnesota	5-5	3-4	NR
Northwestern	5-5	3-4	NR
Wisconsin	5-5	3-4	NR
Illinois	5-5	3-4	NR
Purdue	3-7	2-5	NR

Iowa has been an interesting story this year and will likely find themselves in the Big-10 conference championship game representing the West division.

The Hawkeyes are 8-2 after their first ten games despite having one of the worst offensives in college football.

2024 Big 10 Conference Additions

In 2024, the Big 10 will expand from 14 to 18 teams when UCLA, USC, Oregon, and Washington join the conference.

2024 Big 10 Arrivals

Teams	2023 Conf.	2024 Conf.
UCLA Bruins	Pac-12	Big 10
USC Trojans	Pac-12	Big 10
Oregon	Pac-12	Big 10
Washington	Pac-12	Big 10

If anyone from Michigan wants to help the Wolverines steal signals from their new conference rivals – the drive from Ann Arbor to USC is just over 2,200 miles and will take approximately 33 hours to complete.

No More East / West Divisions

The 2024 season will also see the elimination of the East and West divisions.

Instead, teams will continue to play nine intra-conference games each year, and the two teams who finish the regular season atop the conference will then play in the Big 10 Conference Championship game.

At the time of this writing, no tie-breaker rules were in place in case teams were tied for the top two spots at the end of the season.

Protected Rivalry Games

The Big 10 conference has been around for almost 130 years.

Michigan and Ohio State have played 117 times, with Michigan leading the series 60-51-6 against their biggest football rival.

The Big 10 rivalry I enjoy the most is the Minnesota vs Wisconsin annual match-up, which is the longest rivalry in D-I football.

The winner of this annual game receives the best trophy in sports – Paul Bunyan’s (giant) Axe.

As of the 2022 season’s completion, this rivalry was tied 62-62-8 all-time.

The long-winded point I am trying to make is that the Big 10 conference has some of the game’s greatest rivalries, and just because there are now 18 teams, that won’t change anytime soon.

The Big 10 has protected twelve different rivalry games moving forward. Fans of any Big 10 school can be assured their biggest rivals will still be on the schedule year after year.

How To Bet On The Big-10

Historically, betting on college football meant one of three types of wagers.

A bettor could place a point spread, moneyline, or totals bet and then watch their game of choice play out.

For those of us still not yet familiar with these three traditional types of football bets, let’s dive into them in greater detail below.

Week 12 – Illinois vs Iowa

Illinois vs Iowa	Point Spread	Moneyline	Total (O/U)
Illinois	+3 (-110)	+122	O31.5 (-110)
Iowa	-3 (-110)	-146	U31.5 (-110)

Point Spread Betting

Using our Illinois vs Iowa example game above, we see the Point Spread is 3 points. Illinois is +3, and Iowa is -3.

In point spread betting, the (+) plus sign represents the underdog, who is gaining a three-point advantage.

The (-) minus sign indicates who the betting favorite is. In this case, Iowa must cover the -3 spread as the betting favourite.

In order to “cover” that spread, the Hawkeyes must win by four or more points.

Moneyline Betting

Moneyline betting is even easier than point spread betting because a bettor only needs to pick the winning team.

There is no point spread to cover.

However, bettors must be aware of the actual moneyline or odds associated with both the underdog and the favorite.

Betting -146 Odds

Bet Amount	Profit
$100	$68.49
$50	$34.25
$25	$17.12
$10	$6.85

In our game above, Iowa has a -146 moneyline.

Again, the (-) minus sign tells us who the betting favorite is.

Our odds table above provides payouts for different wager amounts using -146 odds.

To bet Iowa on the moneyline (no point spread), a bettor will have to pay a betting on the favorite tax.

A $10 wager pays $6.85 in profit.

(To understand how to calculate any odds, go ahead and bookmark the handy BestOdds.com Sports Betting Calculator.)

Totals (O/U) Betting

Totals betting is also commonly referred to as Over/Under betting.

When we are betting on a game’s total, we are trying to predict the combined score of the two teams involved.

In our Illinois vs Iowa example, the total was set at 31.5 points.

A totals bettor will have to decide if the combined score of the game will be Over 31.5 points (32 or more) or Under 31.5 points (31 or less)

Even novice bettors might recognize that 31.5 points seems like a very low combined score for two teams playing D-I football.

Those novice bettors would be correct in that assumption, but there is a very good reason why the total was so low for this game.

That reason is Iowa’s inept offense, and you can read all about it here.

Winner of Big-10 Conference

The most popular forms of Big 10 betting are still moneyline, point spread, and totals.

However, we can wager on our favorite Big 10 schools in many other ways, as well.

Big-10 Conference Winner Odds

Team	Win Big-10 Odds	Record To Date
(2) Michigan	-210	10-0
(3) Ohio State	+170	10-0
Iowa	+1900	8-2

One form of futures betting that might grab the interest of Big 10 bettors is picking the school that will ultimately win the Conference.

These odds are generated before the season even starts.

As the season plays out and teams begin to win and lose games, sportsbooks will adjust odds on the fly.

Savvy bettors who recognize the odds value on teams before the rest of the betting public can spot the same value will perform well over time.

Big-10 Past Champions

Below are the last ten Big 10 conference champions.

If you pay attention to the Pre-Season odds, you can see a path to earning some profit if a bettor has a good sense of how the Big 10 season will play out.

Big-10 Champions:

Year	Big-10 Champion	Pre-Season Odds
2022	Michigan	+600
2021	Michigan	+2500
2020	Ohio State	-225
2019	Ohio State	+220
2018	Ohio State	+120
2017	Ohio State	-140
2016	Penn State	+6000
2015	Michigan State	+800
2014	Ohio State	+300
2013	Michigan State	+700

In six of the ten years, the conference winner was paying AT LEAST +300 in the pre-season, if not significantly higher.

To Make College Football Playoffs

Another similar type of wager that might be relevant for a smaller percentage of Big 10 bettors is betting on their favorite schools or teams to make the college football playoffs.

Odds To Make CFB Playoffs

Team	Make Playoffs Odds	Record
Michigan	-240	10-0
Ohio State	+150	10-0

Just like betting on Big 10 teams to win the conference, this futures bet is most popular before the season starts.

As teams win and lose games and the playoff picture becomes clearer, sportsbooks will adjust the odds along the way.

NCAAF Big 10 Betting Tip

Historically, football conferences were created with Geography in mind.

The Big 10 was formed in 1896.

For teams based in Ohio, travelling to California for the weekend and ensuring students could return in time for Monday morning classes would have been difficult in 1896.

According to SportMapWorld.com:

“The Distance between Penn State Nittany Lions football and UCLA Bruins football is 2239 miles (3604 kilometres), and driving distance from Beaver Stadium to (USC) Rose Bowl (stadium) is 2562 miles or 4123 kilometers.

Travel time by car is 38 hours 4 minutes.”

Even 120+ years later travel significantly impacts how teams perform.

At the NFL level, organizations have experimented with flying out several days in advance of a game to try and adjust to time zones.

At the college level, teams are expected to at least pretend to be concerned with student-athlete academic performance.

Flying out several days in advance so an East Coast team can acclimate to a West Coast time zone isn’t an option for every school, especially for regular season games.

Identifying the games where teams have long travel schedules is always important information for bettors.

It is well documented at the NFL level that West Coast teams traveling east do not perform as well (straight up and ATS) compared to when they don’t have to travel as far.

As bettors, we need to be aware of the potential for poor performance and upsets related to teams being forced to travel a long distance for a regular season game.

Always Shop Around

It doesn’t matter if you only watch Big 10 East or Big 10 West division games.

It doesn’t matter if you are a fan of Michigan or cheer only for Ohio State.

To Win Big-10 Conference

Teams	FanDuel	DraftKings	Caesars
(2) Michigan	-210	-220	-210
(3) Ohio State	+170	+190	+170
Iowa	+1900	+1600	+2000

Our odds table above points out that it doesn’t matter who you cheer for and who you like to bet on; if you aren’t shopping for the Best Odds available, you are leaving money on the table.

Looking at the Michigan odds, the difference between -210 and -220 isn’t huge, but it still helps.

When we look at the Ohio State odds, the difference from +170 to +190 is significant.

Over time, that kind of odds shopping would substantially impact our ROI.

Of course, when you compare +1600 and +2000 (Iowa to Win), we realize that from an ROI standpoint, we are now dealing with very big numbers.

Watching games, analyzing data, and pouring through stats helps us with our bets.

However, nothing helps us as much as shopping around for the Best Odds available.

How To Bet On Big 10 Conference Football Betting Odds

If you want to bet on the winner of the Big 10 conference, here’s how you’ll be able to do so at most sportsbooks:

• Pick your preferred college football betting site.
• Log in or create an account if you don’t have one.
• Head over to the football tab.
• Click on college football odds.
• Choose “Futures” and select Big 10 Conference winners.
• Select the team you want to back and place the bet.

Besides betting on the conference winner, most sites will also let you bet on individual games once the season begins.

For those who prefer placing futures bets, you should also be able to bet on the winner of the National Championship or other conference champions.

Keep in mind that some sites will limit your options or offer you less-than-ideal odds.

That’s why we recommend checking out plenty of sportsbooks beforehand and joining a couple of top-tier sites so that you can shop for the best odds and lines.

Betting Odds For Major NCAAF Conferences

2024 ACC Football Betting Odds

2024 Big 12 Football Betting Odds

2024 SEC Football Betting Odds

2024 Pac 12 Football Betting Odds