Big Ten basketball is often interesting, in that you see a wide range of styles of play. While so many teams try and slow things down and grind them to a halt in this league, you also see a couple of teams each year that play more aesthetically pleasing ball. No matter what style each team plays, every team has a goal of winning the Big Ten title. Here, we look at the futures odds in this conference and help bettors decide which college basketball picks to make in this league.
Team | Odds |
|---|---|
Michigan | -135 |
Illinois | +425 |
Michigan State | +600 |
Purdue | +900 |
Nebraska | +1100 |
Wisconsin | +3500 |
UCLA | +3500 |
Ohio State | +7000 |
Iowa | +8000 |
Indiana | +18000 |
Washington | +30000 |
Minnesota | +30000 |
USC | +50000 |
Rutgers | +50000 |
Penn State | +50000 |
Oregon | +50000 |
Northwestern | +50000 |
Maryland | +50000 |
Odds current as of March 9, 2026
The Michigan Wolveriness are the favorites to win the Big Ten Tournament championship for the 2025-26 college basketball season. Dusty May's team claimed the regular-season title in this league this year and have looked like one of the best teams in all of college basketball along the way. The Wolverines went undefeated on the road this season and dropped just one league game, setting the expectation that the Big Ten tourney is theirs to lose.
Michigan is playing for a lot more than a conference championship in this tournament. A run to the Big Ten title would likely guarantee the Wolverines a one-seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, with the potential for them to snag the number one overall seed depending on how other conference tournaments play out.
Of course, there is plenty of competition for Michigan in the Big Ten tournament. Teams like Illinois, Michigan State, Purdue, and Nebraska are among the top contenders to take the Wolverines down in Indianapolis. With every team besides Michigan entering that tournament at plus money to claim the title, we are in for a very interesting week of basketball.
Conference realignment has been a fascinating subplot in the Big Ten as well. UCLA, Oregon, USC, and Washington joined the league before the start of the 2024-25 campaign. These teams have had a hard time sustaining success in the Big Ten, with long road trips to the Midwest certainly not helping them get consistent traction so far.
The Big Ten comprises 18 teams and it became one of the last NCAA Division I conferences to establish an annual tournament. After playing out their regular season schedules, Big Ten teams compete in the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament.
The tournament seedings are based on each team’s regular-season record in conference play. The winner earns a spot in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The Big Ten has not won a National Championship since Michigan State in 2000 and has not had a national championship game participant since Purdue in 2024.
Wins | Big Ten Team | Last Year Won |
|---|---|---|
6 | Michigan State | 2019 |
4 | Ohio State | 2013 |
4 | Illinois | 2024 |
3 | Wisconsin | 2015 |
3 | Iowa | 2022 |
3 | Michigan | 2025 |
2 | Purdue | 2023 |
Jay Sanin is the GM and Head of Sports at ATS.io. He has been writing about sports gambling since 2013, handicapping tens of thousands of sporting events. He plays sides and totals aggressively across most sports and is more selective in player prop markets. He does his own modeling across most sports, and his family is jealous of how much time he spends on his precious spreadsheets.
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