Oddsmakers and analysts highly favor Ohio State to reclaim their position as the Big 10 Conference champions, after having been dethroned of their position as the conference’s championship team after four consecutive years by Michigan last year.  But the betting public, it seems, aren’t ready to call it a lock for the Buckeyes.

Oddsmakers at BetUS have Ohio State listed at -250, with Michigan a distant second in the odds ranking at +800. 

But odds alone don’t always tell the whole story.  “Despite being strongly favored by oddsmakers, Ohio State (-250) has so far attracted just 27.69% of our customers’ wagers, followed by Nebraska (+1800), whose supporters account for an amazing 20.69% of the total wager count so far. Michigan, who is second in the odds at +800, nonetheless trails Nebraska in wager volume - having attracted just 13.79% of customer wagers, says Barry Barger, senior betting analyst at BetUS.com.

“Meanwhile, Penn State (+1200), which actually leads Nebraska in the odds, has attracted only 6.9% of our customers’ wagers, by comparison.”

“All I can make of this is that our customers believe that Nebraska is a real contender this year, or their fans - which we know are some of the most loyal in the game - will back the Big Red regardless of the odds.  More than likely we are seeing both, as Nebraska has made a lot of progress, and if they could pull something off this year it would make a lot of their fans a lot of money with  +1800 (18-to-1) odds,” says Barger concludes.