Big Ten Tournament Predictions, Betting Odds & Favorites: Four Former Pac-12 Members Join Big Ten in 2024-25

• Oregon, Washington, UChington, UCLA, and USC joined the Big Ten to form an 18-team league beginning in the 2024-ular season.

• Since two-time Wooden Award winner Zach Edey is now in the NBA, the Purdue Boilermakers must rely on other returners like Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, and Trey Kaufman-Renn to stay competitive.

• Through the first two weeks of action, Purdue, Indiana, Wisconsin, Rutgers, and Illinois are all ranked in the AP Poll Top 25.

With four former Pac-12 members, including the Oregon Ducks, UCLA Bruins, Washington Huskies, and USC Trojans, jumping from their sinking ship to a sturdy conference, it will be even more challenging to win the Big Ten Tournament than ever before!

There will not only be more teams in the Big Ten this season but also more parity since Zach Edey departed for the NBA.

A handful of teams could win the Big Ten Tournament this season, with Indiana, Purdue, Illinois, UCLA, and Rutgers as the five early favorites!

Find the odds for every team in the Big Ten Tournament below!

Big Ten Tournament Odds 

While the Big Ten Tournament odds won’t be out until a few weeks before the 2025 Big Ten Tournament, we have listed our favorites below, including an analysis and why we believe they can win.

Big Ten Tournament Predictions - Big Ten Favorites to Win 

The Big Ten has 18 teams, which means that it will be more difficult than ever to win the conference tournament. Which teams are our favorites to run through the conference gauntlet next March? Let’s break it down below!

Indiana Hoosiers

After missing the NCAA Tournament last year, the Indiana Hoosiers found a way to retain existing players like Malik Reneau, Trey Galloway, and Mackenzie Mgbako while also bringing in a boatload of talent.

Transfers like Oumar Ballo (Arizona), Luke Goode (Illinois), Myles Rice (Washington State), and Kanaan Carlyle (Stanford) have already made their impact on the court felt, propelling the Hoosiers to a hot start to the 2024-25 campaign.

However, everyone knows talent is not the issue for the Hoosiers: 3-point shooting and coaching will be the two determinant factors for their success this season.

Still, this team has the personnel to match up with any opponent, boasting one of the nation’s most physical, tall, and talented frontcourt.

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Purdue Boilermakers

Few teams can afford to lose a back-to-back Wooden Award winner (Zach Edey) and remain ranked in the Top 25 the following season. 

Even fewer can say that they can do that with zero 5-star recruits and an entirely homegrown program that doesn’t rely heavily on NIL money or transfers to build out their roster.

However, that is exactly what head coach Matt Painter and the Boilermakers have done.

Entering the 2024-25 regular season, Purdue ranked 14th in the AP Poll. And the Boilers have already proven worthy, logging a huge home win against the then-second-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide.

Unfortunately, Purdue lost Edey’s replacement, Daniel Jacobsen, to a season-ending leg injury. 

However, it still has the pieces to make a deep Big Ten Tournament run due to the lethal backcourt duo of Smith and Loyer.

If a few other players, including Kaufman-Renn, can step up and improve throughout the season, the Boilermakers have a shot at dominating the Big Ten once again.

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Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Steve Pikiell has something cooking in Piscataway.

Despite missing the NCAA Tournament last season, Pikiell brought in two of the top three recruits from the 2024 class. That is a sentence many Rutgers fans never thought anybody would say or type in their lifetime.

Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey have been just as impressive as advertised, leading the Scarlet Knights to a solid start to the season.

Thus far, Pikiell has not been shy about digging deep into his bench and giving numerous players opportunities to cement their spot in the rotation moving forward. 

However, expect the rotation to tighten up throughout the season, as well as the defense, which has been subpar to begin the year.

Pikiell won’t let that continue much longer.

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Who Will Win the Big Ten Tournament - My Pick 

Indiana Hoosiers

At the beginning of May, Tony Adragna decided to see just how incredible the Hoosiers’ portal season had been (and they still have two scholarships left). Adragna found that Indiana had the most Power 6 production (total points per game) returning or incoming of any team in the nation. And that does not include incoming 5-star forward Bryson Tucker.

It will take a bit of time for this Hoosiers team to adjust to one another, as there are many newcomers, plenty of scorers, and only one ball to go around. However, the talent on this team is incredible and could put Indiana back on the map as a contender.

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Who Won the Big Ten Tournament in 2024

The two-seeded Illinois Fighting Illini secured the Big Ten Tournament championship in 2024, avoiding the top-seeded Purdue, who fell to Wisconsin by one point in the semifinals. Illinois leaned heavily on Terrence Shannon Jr. throughout the conference and NCAA Tournaments. In fact, he averaged 31.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists on a 53/41/82 shooting split in three Big Ten Tournament games and the first two NCAA Tournament games before being shut down by UConn, the eventual National Champions.

Big Ten Tournament History

The Big Ten Tournament was originated in 1998 and has been held every season since, with the exception of 2020 due to the COVID-19 virus. The Michigan Wolverines were the first Big Ten Tournament winner in 1998, with Robert Traylor winning the first Most Outstanding Player in the tournament’s history.

The United Center and Gainbridge Fieldhouse (formerly named Conseco Fieldhouse and Banker’s Life Fieldhouse) have each hosted the Big Ten Tournament 11 times, while the Verizon Center, Lucas Oil Stadium, and Madison Square Garden have held the tournament once apiece. This season (2024), the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota will be the host venue.

As a No. 8 seed, the Michigan Wolverines won the Big Ten Tournament in 2017, becoming the lowest seed to win the tournament.

Past 15 Big Ten Tournament Winners

Below is a look at all of the past 15 Big Ten Tournament champions, beginning with the most recent winners. Take a look.

How to Choose the Best Sportsbook for Betting on the Big Ten Tournament

It might seem like merely a decision rooted in personal preference or brand awareness but choosing the best sportsbook to sign up with can be one of the most important decisions a bettor makes. Some bettors have multiple sportsbooks so that they can shop odds between them and get the best value for their bets, but if you are a casual bettor and are only interested in one sportsbook, then this is a huge decision.

There are a number of things to consider when choosing a sportsbook, including the welcome bonuses, user interface, functionality, withdrawal options and timing, and more. Check out the table below to see which sportsbook you want to bet on for the Big Ten Tournament:

How to Read Big Ten Tournament Winner Odds

For new bettors, the display of odds can be overwhelming and confusing when they are starting out, so we will explain this concisely. If listed odds have a minus sign (-) in front of them, it means that team/player/etc… is a favorite. For instance, if Purdue is a -150 odds favorite to win the Big Ten Tournament, then you would have to bet $150 to win $100. That is the same case for any bet that has odds with a minus sign in front of them.

If a bet has a plus sign (+) in front of its odds, then it is an underdog, meaning that you have to bet $100 to win that number. For example, if the Northwestern Wildcats are +500 to win the Big Ten Tournament, then you would only have to bet $100 to win $500 because they are much less likely to win than other teams.