College Football 2024 Big Ten Odds, Schedules And Biggest Games

Big Ten article originally posted on Forbes Aug. 27.

The college football season kicks off in full over Labor Day weekend with Week 1 featuring 96 games, but just 35 contests matching FBS vs. FBS opponents. That includes three key Top 25 matchups with one new Big Ten team No. 23 USC as underdog on a feature Sunday Night game against No. 13 LSU (-4.5) at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The Big Ten schedule will include many of the biggest games of the season as more teams push towards conference titles and the new 12-team college football playoff.

The Big Ten Conference is the largest in college football with 18 teams following the additions of USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington. The super conference joins the SEC as the leaders in the land and most teams in the AP Top 25 rankings. Football expansion continues along with more top players getting paid significant money through NIL deals and booser bankrolls.

College Football Preseason AP Top 25

Six Big Ten teams start the season ranked in the AP Top 25 poll, including four of the top 10 teams.

• No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes
• No. 3 Oregon Ducks
• No. 8 Penn State Nittany Lions
• No. 9 Michigan Wolverines
• No. 23 USC Trojans
• No. 25 Iowa Hawkeyes

Washington, Nebraska and Wisconsin all received votes in the Top 25 among the next 10 teams in the rankings.

Since 2018, the SEC and Big Ten have been the top-2 conferences in college football until last season when the Pac-12 moved up to No. 2 and Big Ten No. 3. The dismantling of the Pac 12 creates four Power conferences with at least 16 teams each in the SEC (16), Big Ten (18), Big 12 (16) and ACC (17). Those four conferences now make up 50% of all FBS college football teams (134) in 10 conferences plus three independent schools.

Big Ten Teams Odds To Win National Championship And Make College Football Playoff

Betting lines and college football odds from leading online sportsbooks refresh periodically and are subject to change, including on props and live betting.

No. 1 Georgia in the SEC starts the season as the favorite to win the national title at +280 and No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Oregon are also powerhouses at +400 and +650 and the favorites to win the Big Ten.

National Championship odds followed by odds to make the 12-team College Football Playoff.

 

• Ohio State +400 / -650
• Oregon +650 / -300
• Penn State +2000 / -140
• Michigan +3000 / +140
• USC +10000 / +400
• Iowa +25000 / +600
• Wisconsin +25000 / +1000
• Nebraska +30000 / +950
• Washington +30000 / +900

Odds To Win Big Ten Championship

• Ohio State +145
• Oregon +200
• Penn State +500
• Michigan +900
• USC +2000
• Iowa +3900
• Nebraska, Wisconsin +5000
• Washington +11000
• Maryland +15000
• Indiana +20000
• Minnesota, UCLA +25000
• Michigan State, Illinois +3000
• Purdue +40000
• Northwestern +50000

Big Ten Key Games

Preseason football betting lines and listed favorite (-).

Big Ten College Football Preview, Odds And Teams To Watch

The Big Ten 2024 football schedule features nine conference games for each team plus other key contests as team push towards conference titles, bowl games and the new 12-team College Football Playoff.

North Carolina (-1.5) at Minnesota kicks off Week 1 with a ACC-Big Ten Power-4 conference matchup on Thursday, Aug. 29. The SEC-Big Ten battle and featured game during Week 1 is LSU (-4.5) vs. USC Sunday Night from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and televised on ABC at 7:30 p.m. ET Sept. 1

Sept. 7

• Texas (-3.5) at Michigan – Two top-10 teams in a rare SEC-Big Ten battle kickoff FanDuel’s college football Games of the Year from the Big House in Ann Arbor.
• Iowa State at Iowa (-2.5) – In-state rivals play for the Cy-Hawk Trophy in the 71st meeting.
• Colorado at Nebraska (-6.5) – Former Big 12 rivals meet for the second straight year after Coach Prime and the Buffaloes romped over the Huskers 36-14 early last season in Boulder with Nebraska allowing a season-high 396 passing yards. Nebraska is the No. 2 most improved team in the country, according to the Phil Steele College Football preview with Indiana No. 4.

Sept. 14

• Alabama (-9.5) at Wisconsin – Who could have imagined Alabama visiting Camp Randall in Madison?

Sept. 21

• USC at Michigan (-8.5) – The Trojans first official Big Ten conference game is at the Big House in Ann Arbor against the defending national champions and new Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore.
• Iowa at Minnesota – The annual battle for the bronze pig Floyd of Rosedale and last year the Golden Gophers won 12-10 with one of the lowest O/U game totals of the season (31).

Sept. 28

• • Wisconsin at USC (-5.5) – USC’s September schedule is one of the toughest in college football opening with No. 13 LSU in Las Vegas, at Michigan and their Big Ten home opener against top-35 Wisconsin.
  • Minnesota at Michigan – The Little Brown Jug dominated by Michigan since 2001 with the Wolverines 14-2 SU and 12-2 ATS.

Oct. 5

• Michigan (-9.5) at Washington – It’s a rematch of the 2023-24 national championship game and a chance for Washington to get revenge after a loss to Michigan. Both teams have significant roster turnover with no more than seven returning starters on offense and defense plus new head coaches including Washington’s Jeff Fisch coming over from Arizona.
• Iowa at Ohio State (-24)
• UCLA at Penn State

Oct. 12

• Ohio State at Oregon (-1.5) – A major marquee must-see matchup between the two Big Ten favorites and top-5 teams to start the season. Two of the most talented rosters in the country features Oregon transfer QB Dillon Gabriel, the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy at +500 odds. Gabriel has a passing yards prop of O/U 3,250.5 yards for the season and 27.5 passing TD’s. Ohio State QB Will Howard’s Heisman odds are +1400 and O/U 2,800.5 passing yards. The Doak Walker Award as the nation’s most outstanding running back has Ohio State RB Quinshon Judkins (+430) as the second favorite with Oregon’s Jordan James (+2600) among the top-10.
• Penn State (-4.5) at USC – The Trojans most high-profile opponent at home in conference play is the Penn State Nittany Lions.
• Washington at Iowa

Two key games Oct. 12 that will determine whether Oregon goes over their season win total of 10.5 and USC under 7.5 wins as the Trojans face the No. 2 most difficult schedule in the country now playing without QB Caleb Williams, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Oct. 19

• USC at Maryland – first ever meeting and USC’s longest trip of the year with the Trojans first game on the East Coast since 2014.

Oct. 26

• Penn State (-6.5) at Wisconsin
• Michigan State at Michigan (-21.5)
• Nebraska at Ohio State (-25.5)

Nov. 2

• Oregon (-3.5) at Michigan. First meeting since 2007, and one of the projected biggest late-season games to kickoff November.
• Ohio State (-3.5) at Penn State. The other huge game to start November, and the Buckeyes have won 11 out of the last 12 meetings against Penn State.
• Wisconsin at Iowa – The annual battle between the Badgers and Hawkeyes usually played a key role in the winner of the Big Ten West Division. Now with divisions eliminated, the Badgers have fallen out as major contenders and Iowa starts the season No. 25 in the AP Poll.
• USC at Washington Pac-12 powers renew rivalry in Big Ten.

Nov. 9

• Iowa at USC
• Washington at Penn State

Nov. 16

• Oregon (-11.5) at Wisconsin
• Nebraska at USC – Both teams have a bye before they meet for the first time since the 2014 Holiday Bowl.
• Rutgers at Maryland
• UCLA at Washington

Nov. 23

• USC (-7.5) at UCLA – This annual crosstown rivalry is now a Big Ten showdown. A huge coaching mismatch with Lincoln Riley in his 3rd season at Southern Cal and new first year coach Deshaun Foster sounding like he could be one and done at Big Ten Media days.
• Wisconsin at Nebraska – Wisconsin has won 9 straight in the series and the Badgers are 11-1 SU and 8-4 ATS vs. the Corn Huskers since Nebraska joined the Big Ten.

Nov. 29 (Friday)

• Nebraska at Iowa – Divisions in the Big Ten are no more, but that won’t eliminate this rivalry or the intrigue factor.

Nov. 30

• Michigan at Ohio State (-9.5) The Game, and one of the biggest of the season. The Wolverines have won 3-in-a-row over the Buckeyes, but Jim Harbaugh is no longer head coach after moving back into the NFL to coach the LA Chargers.
• Washington at Oregon (-19.5) – The Ducks and Huskies close out their debut in the Big Ten by renewing their rivalry on Nov. 30. The Huskies swept a pair from Oregon last season including 34-31 in the Pac 12 Championship Game as a 9-point underdog. Now the projected preseason line is Oregon -19.5.
• Indiana at Purdue – The Old Oaken Bucket, rivalry
• Minnesota at Wisconsin – FBS’ most played rivalry and the Paul Bunyon Axe on the line in the 134th edition in 2024
• Illinois at Northwestern

Other notable rivalry games from the SEC on Nov. 30 include the Iron Bowl Auburn at Alabama (-13.5), Egg Bowl Mississippi State at Ole Miss and Lone Star Showdown Texas (-3.5) at Texas A&M.

Toughest Schedules

UCLA (2) and USC (3) join the Big Ten conference and play two of the toughest schedules in the country this season, according to Phile Steele’s College Football Preview. Also, Purdue (6), Michigan (15), Wisconsin (20), Washington (21) and Michigan State (23) play top-25 rated toughest schedules.

Another exciting season of Big Ten football will draw the most watch and wager action as the popularity of sports betting and college football continues to flourish across the U.S. landscape.

You can bet on it.