2025-26 College Football Big 10 Championship Odds & Picks

The Buckeyes aren’t exactly hidden gems on the NCAAF odds board, but they haven’t won the Big Ten title since 2020, so maybe their betting public isn’t quite as red-hot as it used to be. The fine folks at Bovada have Ohio State pegged as narrow +185 favorites as we go to press; here at the ranch, the college football predictions we’re eyeballing have OSU winning the Big Ten about 37% of the time, for implied “fair odds” (no hold percentage) of +170 using the glorious BMR Odds Converter. Ask for it by name.

2025 Big Ten Teams to Watch

Oregon Ducks (+425)

Of the remaining 17 teams in the Big Ten (I know, I know), four carry betting value into Week 3 when you compare their projections to the college football odds. Oregon is the most likely of the four to cash in at about 29%, the equivalent of +245 using the American odds format.

Why so much value for the reigning Big Ten champions? East Coast bias plays a role; the Ducks migrated from the Pac-12 last year, so they’re still relatively anonymous compared to the Buckeyes – who also happened to crush Oregon at the Rose Bowl. Will head coach Dan Lanning get the Ducks all the way to their first national championship in Year Four? They’re definitely in the mix at No. 4 on the AP poll.

Southern California Trojans (+1600)

USC is the most famous program among the Pac-12 emigres, and they’ve got a familiar face in former Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley, but as with Ohio State, it’s been a few years since the Trojans won their conference – their last Pac-12 title was in 2017. They also went 7-6 SU (7-5 ATS) last year, with five of those losses by a touchdown or less.

Maybe it’s time for a rebound. USC only projects to win the Big Ten about 8% of the time, but that works out to +1150, so we’re getting chunky value with these Trojans. Don’t be silly; wrap that willy.

Illinois Fighting Illini (+3300)

Moving a bit further down the Big Ten odds board, we’ve got an Illinois team that appears highly under-rated by bettors, especially when the Illini are No. 9 on the AP poll and the Trojans aren’t even ranked this week. That’s the thing with Illinois – they haven’t won the Big Ten since 2001. But this is the highest the Illini have been in the polls ever since, and they have fifth-year head coach Bret Bielema to thank.

It would still be a surprise if Illinois won the Big Ten; their projected chances work out to around 4%, but that’s the equivalent of +2400, so we’re getting roughly the same betting value here that we are with USC.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (+4500)

What if we told you the ‘Huskers were the best value on the board? All these Big Ten contenders have started the 2025 campaign at 2-0 SU, but while Nebraska is the only one to drop a game ATS thus far, they’re also the only one that hasn’t played a cottony-soft schedule (plus-8.82 SOS at Sports Reference) through two games. Said ATS loss was their 20-17 season-opening victory over Cincinnati (+6 on neutral ground in Kansas City).

That competitive win is enough to vault Nebraska ahead of Illinois at about 5% to claim the Big Ten title. You don’t even have to do the math to see the ‘Huskers are the better choice, but we will: 5% works out to +1900 in American odds. Smell the value.

Bet Them All With Bookmakers Review

Good thing you don’t have to choose which of these five Big Ten teams to bet on – you can hammer all five at once, using our delicious assortment of betting tools here at BMR to pick the optimal size for each wager.

You can also lock in the best college football odds by signing up for accounts at multiple sportsbooks; let our comprehensive reviews be your guide, and may the prolate spheroid be with you the rest of the season.

*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.