Games To Bet in the Big Ten: Road Test Awaits Purdue

Purdue received a total of 25 first-place votes to remain at No. 2 behind UConn in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls. Illinois went from 14th to 10th in the AP poll and from 14th to 11th in the coaches poll. The coaches have Wisconsin a spot ahead of Illinois in their poll while the writers have the Badgers at No. 13.

When looking at the college basketball futures odds, Purdue (+850) has the best odds of winning the NCAAM championship. Illinois (+4000) and Wisconsin (+4000) are the next Big Ten teams listed.

Wisconsin (14-4 SU, 10-7-1 ATS) at Minnesota (12-6 SU, 15-3 ATS)

• Date/Time: Tuesday, January 23, 7 p.m. ET
• TV & Live Stream: Big Ten Network

When it comes to the NCAAB picks today, Wisconsin is listed as a 2½-point favorite on the road against the team with the best record against the college basketball spreads this season.

Wisconsin has won its last two road games against Minnesota but failed to cover in each of them.

The Golden Gophers have covered in each of the last four meetings with Wisconsin.

The Badgers rebounded from its road loss to unranked Penn State with an impressive win over Indiana with Max Klesmit leading the way with 26 points.

Minnesota has dropped three straight games after being outscored 14-4 in the last four minutes against Michigan State.

Dawson Garcia has averaged 22 points in the last three games for Minnesota.

The Golden Gophers have covered against the Las Vegas odds in 12 of their 13 home games.

Illinois (14-4 SU, 10-5-3 ATS) at Northwestern (13-5 SU, 7-9-2 ATS)

• Date/Time: Wednesday, January 24, 9 p.m. ET
• TV & Live Stream: Big Ten Network

When Illinois and Northwestern rang in the new year with a Jan. 2 matchup in Champaign, the Fighting Illini rolled to a 30-point win.

However, the last time Illinois played at Northwestern, it was the Wildcats coming away with a 13-point victory when listed by the college basketball lines as a 3½-point favorite.

Six of the last seven games between Illinois and Northwestern landed under the total.

The big news for Illinois is that leading scorer Terrance Shannon returned after missing six games after he was accused of rape. A judge granted a temporary injunction to allow Shannon to return to the court after the university suspended him indefinitely.

Statement from Terrance Shannon Junior.
He’s now allowed to return to the team after a judge found the @UniversityofIl‘s suspension was causing “irreparable harm” and granted a temporary restraining order. pic.twitter.com/h7K1oKLE7c

— Brandon Merano (@Brandon_Merano) January 19, 2024

Shannon did not play in the first game against Northwestern.

Boo Buie had at least 20 points five times during an eight-game run of double-digit scoring games for Northwestern before being held to nine points in a loss to Nebraska the last time out.

Illinois is 3-0-1 ATS in its road games this season.

Purdue (17-4 SU, 11-6-2 ATS) at Rutgers (10-5 SU, 8-10 ATS)

• Date/Time: Sunday, January 28, 1 p.m. ET
• TV & Live Stream: FOX

Rutgers might be tied for Michigan for last place in the Big Ten standings. Try telling that to the Boilermakers. The last two times that Purdue played in Piscataway, Rutgers won 81-76 as a 1.5-point favorite, and 70-68 when listed by the college basketball spread as the 13.5-point underdog.

Rutgers is 9-1 at home while Purdue is 3-2 on the road so far this season.

National Player of the Year front-runner Zach Edey had 16 points and 11 rebounds the last time Purdue met Rutgers. That matchup came in the 2023 Big Ten quarterfinals.

Edey is averaging 27 points in the games away from home. He should be seeing plenty of 6-foot-11 Rutgers big man Clifford Omoeuyi, who is averaging 12.5 points on 53.5% shooting at home compared to 8.1 points on 43.8% on the road.

Rutgers has covered against the NCAAB lines in six of the 10 home games.

Questions of the Day

The odds and predictions in the article are based on the time of writing and publication. They may differ as to when the actual event takes place.