The Big Ten expanded to 12 teams in 2011 with the addition of Nebraska. This finally allowed the conference to form two separate divisions; the Legends and Leaders. <\/p>\n
This not only set the stage for a Big Ten Championship Game, it also helped establish it as one of the four emerging power conferences in the ever-changing landscape of college football.<\/p>\n
The following is a brief look at a couple of the top contenders to win the Big Ten this season along with their current odds as provided by Bovada. <\/p>\n
The Wolverines have ascended to the top spot in the futures odds primarily because of the one-year ban of Ohio State from postseason play, but also because of the wealth of talent they return from last season\u2019s 11-2 squad. They will have six starters back on offense including Heisman hopeful quarterback Denard Robinson, who threw for over 2000 yards while adding another 1,163 yards with his feet. The defense returns eight starters from a unit that was ranked sixth in the nation in points allowed in 2011. <\/p>\n
Last season\u2019s Big Ten champs are locked and loaded for a repeat performance in 2012, but it will have to accomplish this feat with a relatively brand new cast of characters. The Badgers lost half their starters from last season\u2019s 11-3 squad. Quarterback Russell Wilson is off to the NFL, but one of the key offensive players that is returning is running back Montee Ball. He led the nation in rushing last season with 1,923 yards while averaging well over six yards a carry. He also led the country in rushing touchdowns with 33. [soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n
Bo Pelini\u2019s Cornhuskers had a less than stellar debut in its new conference with a 5-3 record in Big Ten play and an overall record of 9-4, but this team is ready to make its mark this season as the third-favorite to win the conference title. Nebraska returns eight starters on offense including running back Rex Burkhead, who led the team with 1,387 yards on 284 carries. There will be eight starters back on defense, but this side of the ball will have to show some dramatic improvement after finishing the regular season ranked 42nd in the country in points allowed. <\/p>\n
The Spartans will be sporting a whole new look on offense in 2012 with just five starters back from last year\u2019s roster. The one player that is back is tailback Le\u2019veon Bell, who is primed for a breakout year. He rushed for 900 yards last season but split the carries with Edwin Baker, who has moved on to the NFL. The quarterback spot remains a question mark with Kirk Cousins moving on as well. Michigan State\u2019s defense returns eight starters from a unit that was ranked 10th in the country in points allowed, so this should once again be one of the primary strengths of this team. <\/p>\n
The odds to win the conference for the rest of the teams in the Big Ten are as follows; Penn State 12\/1, Illinois and Iowa 20\/1, Northwestern 35\/1, Purdue 50\/1, Indiana 65\/1, Minnesota 100\/1.<\/p>\n
Michigan 2\/1
\nWisconsin 5\/2
\nNebraska 7\/2
\nMichigan State 15\/2
\nPenn State 12\/1
\nIllinois 20\/1
\nIowa 20\/1
\nNorthwestern 35\/1
\nPurdue 50\/1
\nIndiana 65\/1
\nMinnesota 100\/1<\/p>\n
CappersPicks.com brings you the only\u00a0college football handicapping<\/a>\u00a0guide you\u2019ll need.<\/p>\n Use the\u00a0College football previews<\/a>\u00a0for the 2012 NCAA football season to help you with your college football handicapping at our top sportsbooks online this season.<\/p>\n Here are the 2012 Odds from\u00a0BOVADA<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0\/\u00a0BODOG<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(Canadians)<\/p>\n 2012 NCAA Football Betting Futures- Big Ten Season Preview The Big Ten expanded to 12 teams in 2011 with the addition of Nebraska. This finally allowed the conference to form two separate divisions; the Legends and Leaders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":23645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[39626,55599,55600,2540,50236,50237,55601,15948,4916,55507,1565,3007,50095,15290],"class_list":["post-52811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaa-football","tag-39626","tag-2012-big-10-conference-picks","tag-big-10-conference-football-betting-odds","tag-big-10-football","tag-big-10-football-picks","tag-big-10-gambling","tag-big-10-gambling-predictions","tag-big-10-odds","tag-big-ten-conference","tag-bovada-futures","tag-college-football-handicapping","tag-college-football-previews","tag-conference-futures","tag-ncaa-football-futures"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52811"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52836,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52811\/revisions\/52836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}And…as always check out our top cappers COLLEGE FOOTBALL daily plays CLICK HERE! —–><\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"