Big Ten March Madness Odds: Are Ohio State and Oregon Bubble Teams?

· Feb 11 - 5 minutes read

Get the best Big Ten basketball odds at BetUS.
Eight Big Ten teams are in the top 30 in the NCAA NET rankings.
Read on for my March Madness breakdown for Big Ten teams this week.

Just 3½ games separate the top seven teams in the Big Ten standings, with 2024 March Madness national finalist Purdue moving into first place thanks to a four-game winning streak. There will be some tough calls when it comes to the college basketball predictions in the Big Ten.

Big Ten March Madness Odds: Are Ohio State and Oregon Bubble Teams? — Ques Glover #6 of the Ohio State Buckeyes / Ben Jackson/Getty Images/AFP

There are six Big Ten teams in the top 20 in the NCAA NET rankings and that is tied with the SEC for the most in the nation, so expect the Big Ten to have a strong group of representatives when the NCAA Tournament field is announced next month.

Purdue leads all Big Ten teams at +4000 for the shortest odds of winning March Madness. Illinois (+5000), Michigan (+5000), UCLA (+5000), Michigan State (+6000) and Ohio State (+7500) aren’t far behind in the NCAAM championship odds.

Purdue (+125), Michigan (+210) and Michigan State (+260) have the shortest odds of winning the Big Ten title, followed by Wisconsin (+2400) and UCLA (+2800).

BetUS will be keeping tabs on the comings and goings as Big Ten teams look to position themselves to make noise when the March Madness bracket is announced.

Big Ten March Madness Breakdown: Best Bets to Bubble Teams

The Contenders

This could be a pretty long list with No. 9 Purdue, No. 12 Illinois, No. 15 Wisconsin, No. 16 Maryland, No. 18 Michigan, No. 19 Michigan State and No. 25 UCLA all in the top 25 in the NCAA NET rankings.

With so many teams in the rankings, there will be plenty of opportunities for the Big Ten title contenders to add to their Quad 1 win totals.

Purdue is 7-5 in Quad 1 games with all five losses coming to Quad 1 teams. Since losing back-to-back games to Texas A&M and Auburn, Purdue is 11-1 with a pair of wins over ranked teams, per NCAAB betting trends.

Beginning with Tuesday’s game at Michigan, the next three matchups come against ranked opponents. The BetUS sportsbook lists Purdue as the 1.5-point underdog on Tuesday.

Biggest game of the season coming up on Tuesday vs. Purdue 🍿🚂 pic.twitter.com/l944jrV59y

— Michigan Men’s Basketball (@umichbball) February 9, 2025

Illinois leads all Big Ten teams with 13 Quad 1 games. The Fighting Illini also have six Quad 4 wins and that could be an issue when it comes to March Madness seeding.

Among the top Big Ten teams, Wisconsin is the only one without multiple wins against ranked opponents. Maryland has beaten three top-25 teams but a 2-5 record at home and a 5-5 mark in Quad 1 games could become a cause for concern.

There’s not much to separate Michigan and Michigan State. Both teams are undefeated at home and have winning records against ranked foes.

Not long ago, there were some ready to write off UCLA, which has won seven games in a row – the longest active winning streak among Big Ten teams – entering Tuesday’s matchup at Illinois. The Bruins are only 3-3 on the road, per UCLA vs Illinois stats.

Ohio State, Oregon Could Become Bubble Teams

Ohio State’s 14-10 record might not look too impressive, especially with nine of those wins coming at home. However, the Buckeyes are tied for second among Big Ten teams with four wins against top-25 teams.

Ohio State is 28th in the NCAA NET rankings. The three Quad 2 losses and a 5-7 record in Quad 1 games could have Ohio State among the teams on the March Madness bubble.

Buckeye Nation we need you for our upcoming 3️⃣ game home stand ‼️

🗓️ Feb 12 🆚 Washington, 8:30 PM
🗓️ Feb 16 🆚 Michigan, 1 PM
🗓️ Feb 20 🆚 Northwestern, 6:30 PM
🎟️ https://t.co/puu0lOX9p0 #Team126 | #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/MH1hojFPaH

— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) February 10, 2025

Keep an eye on Oregon as the Ducks are 7-6 in Quad 1 games. However, Oregon has dropped its last five games so things will need to turn around in a hurry.

Some Work To Do

Nebraska is 16-8 but half of those wins are in Quad 3 and Quad 4 games. The Huskers have just two games remaining against ranked teams.

The Huskers are still in better shape than Northwestern with Wildcats 4-9 in Big Ten play and 0-7 on the road.

At Indiana, per college basketball news, this will be the final season with Mike Woodson as the head coach. It doesn’t look very promising for Woodson to lead the Hoosiers into the NCAA Tournament with a 2-10 record in Quad 1 games.