Surprises in Big Ten Basketball Betting Odds

The USC Trojans have odds of +2200 to win the Big Ten conference according to FanDuel Sportsbook. These are the eighth best odds behind the Purdue Boilermakers, Michigan Wolverines, UCLA Bruins, Illinois Fighting Illinois, Ohio State Buckeyes, Oregon Ducks, and Michigan State Spartans.

Purdue is the clear favorite with odds of +200. Behind them is Michigan at +440, UCLA at +550, and Illinois at +700. All four of these teams made the NCAA tournament last season as a No. 7 seed or better. The Boilermakers as the favorite does feel right. They have a track record of being dominant in the regular season and won the regular season title in both 2023 and 2024.

A surprise is how low the defending regular season champion Michigan State Spartans are in the odds at +1900. Michigan State is led by legendary coach Tom Izzo and they seem to always be in the mix at the top of the Big Ten. Last season they came in underrated and the same appears to be true again this season.

USC Looking To Get Back In NCAA Tournament 

USC has not made the NCAA tournament since 2023 under former coach Andy Enfield. It has been a struggle the past two seasons for the Trojans. They went 15-18 in the 2023-24 season, failing to make any postseason. They hired Eric Musselman as coach in the offseason. 

In Musselman’s first year in Los Angeles, the Trojans went 17-18 overall and 7-13 in the Big Ten. They were just able to sneak into the Big Ten tournament where they fell in the second round to Purdue. While not making the NCAA tournament, the Trojans were invited to the inaugural College Basketball Crown tournament in Las Vegas. 

They won their first round matchup against Tulane before falling in the quarterfinals to Villanova. USC and Musselman now aim to get back to the big dance. 

Trojans Aggressive in Transfer Portal

Musselman was aggressive in the transfer portal this offseason. The Trojans landed Rodney Rice from Maryland, Chad Baker-Mazara from Auburn, Ezra Ausar from Utah, and Jacob Cofie from Virgina. 

It looked like these transfers would be sharing the load with the highly touted incoming five-star freshman Alijah Arenas, but Arenas suffered a torn meniscus this offseason and his timetable to return is still in doubt. 

It will be a completely different group together this season so it will take some time for this group to build up chemistry. Hopefully, they do that before conference play begins.

• Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. 
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