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The Purdue Boilermakers have enjoyed a solid start to the 2023/24 NCAA Men’s Basketball season. At the beginning of the campaign, the Boilermakers were the favorites in the NCAAB futures market to win the Big Ten. And while that is still the case, Matt Painter has seen the odds for his team to top the conference cut, along with their rivals’ odds, being eased out.
- Purdue started the 2023/24 NCAA season as the +275 joint-betting favorites to win the Big Ten
- The Michigan State Spartans were expected to challenge Purdue for the Big Ten Championship in 2024. MI started the season as joint favorites at +275.
- After a poor start to the season, the Spartans are now +1400 to win the championship in 2024
- The Boilermakers are the defending champions, having topped the conference in the 2022/23 season with a 15-5 record
Matt Painter’s team may have lost one of their opening two conference matches. But such has been their good form this season, along with the not-so-good form of most of their rivals, the Boilermakers have seen their preseason odds to win the Big Ten cut from +275 to its current price of -135.
The Boilermakers have an overall record of 9-1 record this season. Their one defeat came in their opening Championship match, a 92-88 reversal away at Northwestern in their eighth match.
The Boilermakers have bounced back with two wins since. First, they defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 87-68 in a conference match at the Mackey Arena. They followed that win up with a non-conference 6-point victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide (92-86) at the Hall of Fame – Toronto Series in Canada last Saturday.
Gettin' dubs North of the border.
🎞️: Cinematic highlights of the 92-86 win over Alabama in Toronto. pic.twitter.com/jtJgaSWNDo
— Purdue Men's Basketball (@BoilerBall) December 12, 2023
This Saturday, they face arguably their biggest test of the season when they take on the No.1 ranked Arizona Wildcats in the Indy Classic at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Again, in another non-conference matchup.
Betting to win the 2023/24 Big Ten Championship Regular Season
So how does this all stack up in the latest betting to win the Big Ten Championship? Well, it’s still early days in the conference, with two matches the most played by any college team to date. But with plenty of non-conference matches having taken place, the latest NCAAB betting lines have started to reflect the overall form of the Big Ten colleges.
The Purdue Boilermakers started the season as the +275 joint favorites. With a 1-1 conference record, the Boilermakers have seen their odds slashed to -135, making them the outright favorites.
| Big Ten NCAAB Regular Season Betting |  |  |  |
| Purdue | -135 | -135 | -135 |
| Illinois | +600 | +600 | +600 |
| Wisconsin | +700 | +700 | +700 |
| Ohio State | +1200 | +1200 | +1200 |
| MI State | +1400 | +1400 | +1400 |
| Indiana | +1400 | +1400 | +1400 |
| Northwestern | +2000 | +2000 | +2000 |
| Maryland | +2500 | +2500 | +2500 |
| Michigan | +2500 | +2500 | +2500 |
| Nebraska | +4000 | +4000 | +4000 |
| Iowa | +5000 | +5000 | +5000 |
| Penn State | +5500 | +5500 | +5500 |
| Rutgers | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Minnesota | +20000 | +20000 | +20000 |
Purdue’s rivals
Second in the betting to win the Big Ten Championship this season is now the Illinois Fighting Illini at +600. The Fighting Illini started the season as the +750 fifth favorites. They did share the 2021/22 Championship with Wisconsin, so do have recent experience in topping the table. Illinois is 7-2 overall this season, with a 1-0 record in the conference.
Wisconsin is next in the betting at +700. The Badgers started the season at +1400 and have been steadily getting backed in as they have quietly gone about their business, chalking up a 7-3 record overall and a 1-0 record in the conference.
Ohio State is the third favorite at +1200. The Buckeyes are 1-1 in the conference with an overall record of 8-2. Ohio started the season as the fourth favorite at +700 but has steadily drifted thanks to underwhelming performances and defeats at the hands of Texas A&M (73-66) and Penn State (83-80).
The Michigan State Spartans were the original +275 joint-favorites at the start of the season. The Spartans are 0-2 in the conference and 4-5 overall this season. This has resulted in the Spartans’ odds slipping to +1400. They are now the joint-fifth favorites with the Indiana Hoosiers, who started the season as the +800 sixth favorites.
This seems a bit harsh on Mike Woodson’s team, as they currently top the Big Ten Championship table with a 2-0 record. The Hoosiers (7-2 overall this season) face the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday. The result of this matchup will give us a better idea of how seriously their championship challenge should be taken.
Betting to win the 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship
As well as being the favorite to win the Big Ten, the Purdue Boilermakers are also the joint favorites to win the 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. The best college basketball betting sites now have joint-favorites. Arizona had assumed the favorites tag last week, but the Wildcats have now been joined at the top of the betting by the Purdue Boilermakers, with both colleges priced up at +1000 to win the title in 2024.
Our Big Ten Championship Winner Betting Pick
We started at the beginning of the season predicting it would be one of Purdue or Maryland to win the championship. Although the Terrapins are only 1-1 in the conference, they are 5-4 overall and have looked shaky throughout the early weeks of the season. As a result, they can now be backed to win the conference at +2500.
Our other opening pick of Purdue looks solid, and we are standing by it. We are slightly surprised the Boilermakers aren’t shorter and would happily top up our bet on Purdue to win the Big Ten at odds of -135.
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