2011 Big Ten Championship Odds

Starting this Thursday at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, the 2011 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament gets underway with the first game tipping off at 2:30 p.m. (ET). Ohio State, Purdue, and Wisconsin have already secured a place in the field of 68 for this year’s NCAA Men’s Tournament, but for teams like Michigan and Illinois, this tournament provides an opportunity to secure a bid with a deep run this week. For the rest of the field, it would take an outright win and an automatic bid to get an invitation to the Big Dance.

The last six seeded teams will be in action in round one with No.8 Northwestern taking on No.9 Minnesota, No.7 Michigan State going up against No.10 Iowa, and No.6 Penn State squaring off against No.11 Indiana.

Thursday’s quarterfinals pit No.1 Ohio State against the 8/9 winner, No.4 Michigan against No.5 Illinois, No.2 Purdue against the 7/10 winner, and No.3 Wisconsin against the 6/11 winner.

The semifinals are scheduled for Saturday, March 12 and the championship game is set for Sunday, March 13 at 3:30 p.m. (ET).

It is no surprise that Sportsbook.com has opened Ohio State as the prohibitive odds-on-favorite to win this week at -175. The Buckeyes come in as the No.1 ranked team in the country in both major polls and a virtual lock to be one of four No.1 seeds for the NCAA Tournament no matter what happens this week. They finished the season on a high-note by crushing Wisconsin 93-65 as an eight-point home favorite to avenge an earlier 71-67 loss to the Badgers as a two-point road underdog.

Ohio State finished the regular season at 29-2 straight-up overall (15-13 against the spread) and 16-2 SU in conference play. The only other blemish on its record was a 76-63 loss to Purdue as a one-point road underdog.

The Buckeyes, behind freshman sensation Jared Sullinger, are shooting 50 percent from the field, which is the second-best percentage in the nation. Sullinger is averaging a team-high 17.3 points and 9.7 rebounds a game.

Purdue is the second favorite at +300 after finishing the season at 25-6 SU (18-10 ATS) and 14-4 SU in the Big Ten. The Boilermakers will need to put their season-ending 67-65 loss to Iowa as a nine-point road favorite behind them to regain the momentum of their previous seven-game winning streak that included victories over the Buckeyes and the Badgers.

Purdue will go as far as JuJaun Johnson and E’Twaun Moore will take it. These two have combined for over 50 percent of the team’s points and 40 percent of its rebounds.

The third favorite to win this week is Wisconsin at +400. The Badgers finished one game behind Purdue in the conference at 13-5 SU and went 23-7 SU overall (15-11 ATS).

Wisconsin has already beaten both the Buckeyes and the Boilermakers and is more than capable of making a run to the title this week behind its two scoring threats; Jon Leuer and Jordan Taylor. Each is averaging over 18 points a game and Leuer leads the team in rebounds with 7.3.

The value pick this week could be Michigan at +1500. The Wolverines finished the year 19-12 SU (18-8 ATS) and played both Ohio State and Wisconsin tough in two losses to each this season. If Michigan can get by Illinois in the first round, it has a chance to do some damage against some teams that may get caught looking ahead to next week.