Week 1 of College Football action is just a few weeks away! We’re previewing each conference and the best futures bets to place. The Big Ten has no changes this year, rolling with the same 18-team alignment they had in 2024. Let’s take a look at this College Football 2025 Big Ten preview and best bets.
The Big Ten once again proved to be one of, if not the best, conferences in the country in 2024. Four teams represented the league in the College Football Playoffs. Big Ten Champions Oregon, Indiana, Penn State, and Ohio State, who would go on to win the National Title. It was the second National Championship in a row for the Big Ten after Michigan won it all the year before.
Six Big Ten teams check in inside the top 25 in the first AP Poll of the year. Penn State tops the list at #2, Ohio State at #3. Defending conference champion Oregon is #7, Illinois comes in at #12, Michigan at #14, and Indiana rounds out the Big Ten representatives at #20. USC and Iowa were among others receiving votes.
College Football 2025: Big Ten Preview and Best Bets
Odds to Win the Big Ten in 2025
Ohio State +190
Penn State +210
Oregon +340
Michigan +800
USC +1600
Illinois +3000
Indiana +3500
Nebraska +4000
Iowa +4500
Washington +5000
Minnesota +10000
Wisconsin +15000
Michigan State +20000
UCLA +20000
Rutgers +30000
Maryland +40000
Northwestern +50000
Purdue +50000
Purdue Boilermakers Over 3.5 Wins (+150)
It was a rough 2024 season for Purdue football. They went just 1-11, their only win coming over a non-FBS opponent, Indiana State. The team brought in program rebuilder Barry Odom from UNLV. Odom has done this before, and with enough results to get to four wins in year one. In 2016, he took over a struggling Missouri program in the SEC program who was on the NCAA violations list. He won four games in his first season there. In 2023, he took over a five-win UNLV team and immediately took them to 9-5 and an appearance in the Mountain West Conference Championship game.
This team is a complete overhaul, and their schedule is brutal when you look at the big teams they have to play. But it starts out with Ball State and FCS school Southern Illinois. If they can come out of the gate 2-0, they just need two more wins. There’s no more “gimmies” on the schedule, but if Odom can get the troops rallied at +150, this is a team he can get to four wins.
Nebraska Cornhuskers Over 7.5 Wins (-160)
Speaking of rebuilding coaches, enter Matt Rhule into the conversation. Rhule is known for his rebuilds at both Temple and Baylor. For both teams, year three is when Rhule’s teams took a massive leap. He went from 6-6 at Temple to 10-4 in year three. At Baylor, he took a 7-6 team to 11-3. Nebraska was 7-6 last season. Can Rhule make it three for three with big turnarounds? Well, luckily for us, all he has to do to cash this bet is win one more game than he did last season.
The biggest key for Rhule and this Husker team is quarterback Dylan Raiola. The Husker legacy sophomore quarterback has been named to the Maxwell Award watch list. The Maxwell Award is given to College football’s most outstanding player. Raiola has the ceiling of being a Heisman Trophy winner, which you can get at 65/1, and I highly suggest grabbing some. According to ESPN’s FPI, they have the third-easiest schedule in the Big Ten. They lost five one-score games in 2024. All of that, and all you need is one more win? Sign me up for an eight-win team in Lincoln. And toss in a sprinkle at 40/1 to shock the Big Ten world and be crowned champions.
Penn State Big Ten Champions (+210)
The top of the Big Ten Conference is absolutely loaded. They’ve proven to be the best conference in football the last few years. Ohio State is going to be hard to beat as always, but they lost 14 players to the NFL Draft. Penn State is returning a good 14 of its starters, including quarterback Drew Allar. Their offensive backfield is loaded with not only Allar, but running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen to lead a strong ground game. Is this the year they can finally come out on top?
They took a big step forward last season, making the Conference Championship game and then the College Football Playoff and winning two games in said playoffs. With all the firepower they return and the #2 ranking in the AP Poll, anything less than an appearance in the Big Ten Championship game and a CFP Playoff berth feels like a massive step backward for this team. Allar appears on the Heisman odds board at 16/1 and is certainly worth a look as well.
Over 3.5 Big Ten Teams to Make CFP (+170)
Coming off a season with four teams making it to the College Football Playoff, it’s surprising this is at +170 for the over, while the under is -210. They have two teams ranked in the top three, and four in the top 12. Will Indiana have another magical run? Maybe not. But with Ohio State, Penn State, and Oregon heavily favored to make it in, only one other team needs to step up with a good enough season to get in. Between Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, USC, Nebraska, and even teams like Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota that could make surprising runs, I’ll take the chance at this price.
