Photo courtesy of Ohio State athletics
College football is creeping up on us.
It won’t be long before we get all the rivalries, pageantry and…win totals! In this series, we’ll be exploring over/unders from Las Vegas looking at projected regular-season win totals.
We’ll tell you where to put your cash. We start in the Big Ten:
Michigan: 7.5 Wins — Over
Jim Harbaugh and Michigan should be embarrassed by how little faith Vegas has in them. Michigan will cover this with ease. We know how bad Michigan was last season and saying, “this is the year” has become an annual tradition in Ann Arbor. That being said, expect Michigan to be far better than last year. The Wolverines will build some early momentum with a home win against Washington and at the very least, will be able to navigate the Big Ten schedule with four or fewer losses.
The only guaranteed loss on the schedule is probably Ohio State. Contests at Wisconsin and Penn State and at home against Northwestern, Indiana, and Washington will be tough. Expect Michigan to win at least two of those and it could potentially win all of them. Harbaugh’s team has exceeded 7.5 wins in every season except for last year when they did not even play eight games. Lock this bet in.
Ohio State: 11.5 Wins — Under
Ohio State has yet to lose a regular season game under Ryan Day and is returning by far the most talented team in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes will again win the Big Ten and make the College Football Playoff, but it will not go unblemished. A new quarterback will be squaring off against pretty good opponents in Minnesota and Oregon over the first two weeks. There are some other notable tests along the way like Penn State, Indiana, and Michigan. The Buckeyes will be favored in virtually every game, but three straight perfect regular seasons is tough to pull off.
Nebraska: 6 Wins — Over
This is simple: Scott Frost is a great coach and is playing in a weaker Big Ten West. This is a no-risk bet because there is absolutely zero chance that this bet pushes. Nebraska under .500? Absolutely not. This will be a turning year for the program and help the Cornhuskers build momentum into becoming a Big Ten title contender.
Indiana: 7.5 Wins — Under
The jig is up: Indiana is not a football school. It had a fluke of a COVID-19 season because the Hoosiers had a decent quarterback and played Ohio State deceivingly close. With games against Ohio State, Cincinnati, Penn State, Michigan, expect Indiana to take a significant step back. The Hoosiers showed their true colors against Ole Miss in the Outback Bowl last season. A 14-6 victory over Wisconsin last season served as Indiana’s lone victory over a team that finished with a winning record.