I am not a bettor.  Besides the occasional “I’ll donate $50 to your favorite animal shelter if that happens because your opinion makes me so angry” Illini message board bet, I’ve pretty much never bet anything sports related.  Case in point: when I saw the article discussed below, I had to ask someone what “-130″ meant in relation to over-under bets (again).  I’ve been told this information at least seven times, but I always forget.

I do like going through Vegas odds, though, because they can give a (somewhat) accurate picture of the upcoming game/season.  Yes, I understand that point spreads are set and moved so that the action is fairly even on either side, and that over/under spreads are similarly spaced, but above all of that, I’d say a Vegas over/under is much more accurate than Professor Beatwriter’s Biased Big Ten Standings Predictions That Have To Be Slanted A Certain Way To Keep The Fanbase Happy.

So let’s look at the odds listed in this article, and see where each of the Big Ten teams stacks up:

ILLINOIS
Over 6.5 (-125)
Under 6.5 (+105)

INDIANA
Over 3.5 (-150)
Under 3.5 (+110)

IOWA
Over 7.5 (+105)
Under 7.5 (-125)

MICHIGAN
Over 9 (+120)
Under 9 (-140)

MICHIGAN STATE
Over 8.5 (-130)
Under 8.5 (+110)

MINNESOTA
Over 5.5 (+165)
Under 5.5 (-215)

NEBRASKA
Over 8.5 (-125)
Under 8.5 (+105)

NORTHWESTERN
Over 6.5 (-110)
Under 6.5 (-130)

OHIO STATE
Over 9 (-130)
Under 9 (+110)

PENN STATE
Over 7 (+145)
Under 7 (-165)

PURDUE
Over 6.5 (+110)
Under 6.5 (-150)

WISCONSIN
Over 9 (-115)
Under 9 (-105)

So if we use the odds as tiebreakers (Illinois leans towards the over side of 6.5, Purdue towards the under), here’s what the Big Ten standings would look like:

Legends
1. Michigan
2. Michigan State
3. Nebraska
4. Iowa
5. Northwestern
6. Minnesota

Leaders
1. Ohio State
2. Wisconsin
3. Penn State
4. Illinois
5. Purdue
6. Indiana

Pre-training camp reports, I think that’s pretty accurate.  Balance of power has shifted to the Legends division (Leaders combined over/under is 41.5; Legends is 45.5).  Three horse race between Michigan, Michigan State, and Nebraska for the Legends, while Wisconsin has an open run to the Leaders title with Ohio State banned from postseason and Penn State a mess.  We’d have a good shot at 3rd if Penn State falters, but Purdue is annoyingly right on our heels.  I think all of that is accurate.

What if we broke that into bowls?  Ohio State is banned from the post season (I just wanted to say it again), so going by these odds, that would put Michigan and Wisconsin in BCS bowls.  That sends Michigan State to the Cap One, Nebraska to the Outback, Iowa to the Gator, Penn State to the Insight (now called the Valley of the Sun Bowl), Illinois back to the Meineke Car Care Texas Bowl, Northwestern to the Ticket City Bowl, and Purdue back to Detroit.

*feels first twinge of August Syndrome, starts to retreat*

Bowl game?  Did I, an Illini fan, just casually mention a bowl game?  Well, I am a grown man.  You don’t think I don’t think they don’t think about the bowl game?

Wait – I’m not sure all of you caught that.  Always worth a watch:

ANYWAY, let’s not talk about a bowl game. Let’s talk about the standings.

I think they’re pretty accurate. Which means we might go to our third consecutive bowl game. I’d like one Gator Bowl, please.