The Big Ten was one of the initial conferences to announce they would not be playing the 2020 football season due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, several weeks after other “Power Five” conferences had resumed play, the Big Ten reversed that decision.
“A huge weekend of college football in front of us, and the public loves betting on ranked teams,” said Jason Scott, Vice President of Trading for BetMGM. “We expect increased handle with the return of Big Ten Football, and BetMGM will be cheering for a few upsets.”
And a huge weekend it was. The Ohio State/Nebraska game had the highest percentage of bets for BetMGM of any college football game last Saturday.
The Big Ten has 14 schools as part of the conference. Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey are all legal sports betting states with Big Ten teams. New Jersey and Illinois do not allow betting in-state college teams, but those states still had somewhat of a boost in betting with the Big Ten back in play.
Ohio State and Penn State
The Buckeyes will be getting plenty of attention this year, especially with their quarterback Justin Fields. He was one of the many players who was outspoken on wanting to play the 2020 season.
Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence is the Heisman favorite, but Fields will provide some competition. In his opening game against Nebraska, Fields threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns.
Lawrence has odds of (-110) to win the Heisman, and Fields jumped up to (+150) after his debut. These two are far ahead of the pack in the race to be named college football’s best player, with Alabama quarterback Mac Jones following at +900.
Next weekend will be another popular one for the Buckeyes as they take on Penn State. This would’ve even been a bigger game if Penn State wasn’t upset by Indiana in their opener, but the Nittany Lions need a win to save their season.
Penn State lost in overtime to Indiana in a thriller. In overtime, the Hoosiers attempted a two-point conversion and won the game on a controversial call. Penn State was the 6.5-point favorite, which was exactly the upset that BetMGM needed.
Michigan and Michigan State
The other two teams that will draw plenty of bets are Michigan and Michigan State.
Michigan got out to a good start against Minnesota, which could easily have been a trap game. The Wolverines had a dominant running game and were able to win the game without much concern. The final score was 49-24.
Their next game will be against Michigan State, who didn’t have as good of an opener. They lost to Rutgers 38-27. While that loss might have taken a little bit of national excitement out of this matchup, fans in Michigan will still be glued to the in-state battle.
Last week was packed with exciting college football, and it will continue to be that way as long as COVID outbreaks are kept under control. With the Big Ten getting started last week, they now need to be concerned about finishing the season.