IU Football: Oddsmakers Like Hoosiers to Move Up In Big Ten Standings, But Not Too Much

Today’s reminder that the 2020 college football season is going to be canceled comes in the form of new data from the Vegas oddsmakers.

Sports betting service SuperBook USA has published odds for winning the 2020 Big Ten football crown, and another indication the Hoosiers are in a position to surpass Michigan State has emerged.

Overall, Indiana has the eighth best chance to win the Big Ten title, and the third most favorable odds on the Big Ten East.

Odds to win Big Ten via @SuperBookUSA:

Ohio State 2/5
Penn State, Wisconsin 7/1
Michigan, Minnesota 16/1
Nebraska 30/1
Iowa 50/1
Indiana 80/1
Michigan State, Northwestern, Purdue 100/1
Illinois, Maryland 300/1
Rutgers 1,000/1

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) May 11, 2020

While three of the East’s usual suspects can be found well above IU, the new odds are the latest data point to suggest that Indiana is expected to overtake Michigan State this season.

Bill Connelly’s assessment of returning roster production and ESPN’s FPI model also signal that the Hoosiers will be better than the Spartans in 2020.

MSU has experienced significant roster turnover and is in the midst of a coaching change.  Moreover, the annual meeting between Indiana and Michigan State is in Bloomington this year.  Based on the 2020 schedule, IU has a legitimate chance to enter that Oct. 24 game with a 5-1 record.

Indiana’s standing in eighth overall doesn’t necessarily mean that they are perceived as the eighth best team in the league.

Instead, the gap between the Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa from the West, and the Hoosiers, is likely in large part influenced by the fact that IU would have to surpass prohibitive overall favorite Ohio State to reach the Big Ten title game.  Indiana has to play Ohio State in Columbus in 2020.

While overtaking Ohio State is still more aspirational than realistic at this point, this latest data once again drives home just how important the Michigan State game will be this season.

If there is a season.

The decision on Tuesday by the California State University school system to go the distance learning route this fall could portend a wave of decisions that put the college football season in serious jeopardy.  And back in Indiana, for some that would almost feel natural.

As IU attempts to string together consecutive winnings seasons for the first time since 1994, the most cynical Hoosier fan no doubt believes that fate will somehow intervene.

When it comes to soul crushing outcomes, the odds have seemingly always been in Indiana’s favor.

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