Big Ten Conference Bowl Props: Over-Under 4.5 Wins

The Southeastern Conference twice has had two teams reach the College Football Playoff national semifinals in the same season – and remains the only conference to have two league schools meet in the title – and the Atlantic Coast Conference has done it once, although with an asterisk as it was in 2020 when Notre Dame was a member for that season only.

For the first time, the Big Ten will have two teams in the playoff with No. 2 Michigan, back for the second straight year, and No. 4 Ohio State. The Buckeyes, who didn’t even win their own Big Ten East Division after losing in the regular-season finale to the Wolverines, were the big winners of conference championship weekend when previous No. 4 USC lost in the Pac-12 title game to Utah – the second win this season for the Utes over the Trojans.

That opened the door for OSU to grab the No. 4 spot, and it will face No. 1 Georgia in the Peach Bowl semifinal. It’s the fifth time in the playoff for Ohio State, the only Big Ten team to win a title in the CFP era (following 2014 season). Michigan faces No. 3 TCU in the Fiesta Bowl semifinal, so arguably the best rivalry in the sport could be renewed in the national title game.

Overall, nine Big Ten teams are in bowl games. Let’s break down some props with the postseason beginning Friday.

Michigan Is Biggest Favorite

The Big Ten is given an over-under of 4.5 bowl wins, which obviously tells you that a handful of the league teams are underdogs in their games. The first school in action is Wisconsin on Dec. 27 against Oklahoma State in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl with the Badgers as 3-point favorites.

The biggest Big Ten underdog is Purdue, which was crushed by Michigan in the conference title game, at +10.5 against LSU in the Jan. 2 Citrus Bowl. The Boilermakers lost Coach Jeff Brohm to his alma mater Louisville. Michigan is the biggest Big Ten favorite at -7.5 over TCU.

To win the most bowl games of any conference, the Big Ten is a +400 second favorite with the ACC behind the SEC (even money), which got a national-best 11 teams into bowl games. The Big Ten and SEC tied for the most bowl wins last year with six each.

You can also wager at Bovada the number of bowl wins for the Big Ten, with at least four the -900 heavy favorite. That every Big Ten team wins its bowl game (national title isn’t a bowl) is +50000, while the conference going 0-9 is +75000. If one or more bowls are postponed or abandoned, all wagers will be voided.