This week the madness begins. Oh baby. One of our other news writers covered the Big East Tournament and I decided to take the same path, except a different conference. The Big Ten has been an interesting conference to watch this season and we’re going to break down the potential value teams that could garner some extra cash moving forward to the BIG?tournament that starts next week.
For future bets,?I like using bodog because of the favorable odds offered. Currently, however, they don’t have the Big Ten Tournament odds up yet. Bummer. But in any case, I have more than one out. For the purpose of this blog, we will use Sports Interaction. They currently have Ohio State as the odds-on favorite. As a 1* unit = $100 per bet for me, we will use that as the standard bet in this article:
Odds to win Big 10 Tournament:
Ohio State (-125) Risk $100 to win $75
Purdue (+325)?Risk $100 to win $325
Wisconsin (+325) Risk $100 to win $325
Michigan (+800)?Risk $100 to win $800
Michigan State (+800)?Risk $100 to win $800
Illinois (+1000)?Risk $100 to win $1000
Penn State (+2000)?Risk $100 to win $2000
Minnesota (+3000) Risk $100 to win $3000
Northwestern (+5000)?Risk $100 to win $5000
Indiana (+8000)?Risk $100 to win?$8000
Iowa (+8000)?Risk $100 to win $8000
At first glance, we can see that Iowa,?Indiana, Northwestern, Minnesota, Penn?State and Illinois can all be crossed off the list. Neither of these six teams are going to win the tournament. Northwestern drew Minnesota in the 8/9 game to open the tournament while Michigan State will play Iowa in the 7/10 game. Penn State and Indiana will also play on opening day in the 6/11 matchup.
Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin all drew byes. Well, technically Michigan and Illinois did too as they’ll play in Game 5 against each other.
Best value team to win the tournament of teams playing on the first day: Michigan State at +800. They’ll beat Iowa and then have a revenge game against Purdue. After that they would meet up with Wisconsin, presumably.
Best overall value in tournament:?Michigan. Call me crazy, call me a homer, I don’t care. They play in a 4/5 matchup against an Illinois team they lost 54-52 to in the regular season. If they win that game, they’ll have double revenge against Ohio State plus revenge from the Buckeyes’ Evan Turner hitting a game-winning 3-pointer from half court to knock them out last season (video of this shot). Top that off, look at Thad Matta pumping his fists and screaming at Michigan coaches. At +800, Michigan might offer the most VALUE in this tournament.
Other teams to consider: Purdue at +325. They have the size and athleticism to hang with Ohio State. If these two matchup in the finals, I think the Boilers can feel confident.
My pick:?Purdue. I love Jujuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore in this tournament. The Boilers obviously have a sour taste in their mouths from getting punked by Iowa and I see them as the most likely candidate to knock off Ohio State in the tournament.
Related reading: Ohio State on "mission" in Big Ten tourney [WGN]
Comments . . .
Let me know what you think! Who is your pick to win the Big Ten?Tournament?