This article is part of our College Football Picks series.
College Football Bets: 2024 College Football Win Totals Wagers for Big Ten
The 2024 NCAA Football regular season is nearly upon us, and the ever-changing landscape will take some getting used to. The Pac-12 Conference broke up, and now Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington are headed to join forces with the Big Ten, with the conference now at 18 teams.
Things are never going to be the same, but that's life. It's always changing, and sometimes not necessarily for the better. But, college football is still awesome. Young people are still young. The energy is still there, and football is still football, regardless of the color of helmets, locations of the games, etc. New rivalries will come along. Football will roll on.
Heading into the new campaign, we have a handful of exciting regular-season win total bets for the 2024 season. Let's make some money together!
In case you missed it, we also have an ACC Win Totals breakdown available here at RotoWire.
RotoWire has up-to-the-minutes college football win totals for every team with kickoff around the corner. Check out the best sportsbook promos to jumpstart your college football betting this season, like the offer available with the BetMGM bonus code.
Illinois Fighting Illini Win Totals (5.5 at FanDuel)
The Fighting Illini managed five victories last season, and it was a multitude of factors why this team went from eight victories and a bowl game to five wins.
Defensive production was a huge factor, as Illinois managed to allow just 12.8 points per game (PPG) in 2022, but it allowed a whopping 29.4 PPG in 2023. Not good. To make matters worse, two of the more effective defensive players from last season, DTs Jer'Zhan Newton (Commanders) and Keith Randolph Jr. (Bears) are now competing for jobs in the NFL.
QB Luke Altmyer was a disaster with 13 TD and 10 INT in 2023, and that was with the productive WR Isaiah Williams posting a 1,000-yard season. Now, there are question marks at receiver, too, and Altmyer doesn't really need any additional hurdles.
To make matters worse, Illinois has three teams in The Associated Press' Top 25 preseason rankings dotting the schedule, including road games at Oregon and Penn State. The team also welcomes defending national champ Michigan on Oct. 19, while Kansas also visits on the non-conference schedule.
It's easy to envision a scenario where Illinois takes a step back even further in 2024, going 4-8 or 5-7 this season. It's hard to find a lot of surprise wins, and potential bowl eligibility. Go low, and feel confidently in doing so.
Illinois Win Totals Best Bet
- UNDER 5.5 WINS (-128 at FanDuel)
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Indiana Hoosiers Win Totals (6 at Caesars)
The Hoosiers managed just three victories last season, including only one inside the Big Ten Conference. That did not cut the mustard, and it led to the dismissal of Tom Allen after seven seasons. He actually had a .402 winning percentage, which isn't great, but it was the best mark since the legendary Bill Mallory, who was 69-77-3 in 13 seasons from 1984-96, with a winning percentage of .473. Allen's .402 winning percentage was the 2nd-best since 1926.
New head coach Curt Cignetti has his work cut out. He did wonders at James Madison, but with the Dukes, he wasn't in the same division with defending national champ Michigan, perennial powerhouses Ohio State and Penn State, and now teams like UCLA, Washington, etc.
The good news is IU misses Penn State on the schedule this season. The early-season schedule against FIU and Western Illinois, as well as Charlotte, means the Hoosiers could start hot. But if this team has three wins by the end of September, that still means this team will need to find three wins in conference play. It doesn't look good at all.
QB Kurtis Rourke transfers in from Ohio, which is a good start, and he'll have a solid group of receivers with WRs Donaven McCulley and Elijah Sarratt in his arsenal. However, the defense was a disaster in 2023, and they lost LB Aaron Casey to the NFL. He was one of the only bright spots on that side of the ball. Indiana is going to be trampled, and Cignetti is going to have to address that side of the ball heading into 2025 if he hopes to outproduce even the likes of Allen in the win percentage column.
Indiana Win Totals Best Bet
- UNDER 6 WINS (+100 at Caesars)
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Nebraska Cornhuskers Win Totals (7.5 at DraftKings)
The Cornhuskers are expected to take a big step forward in 2024 under head coach Matt Rhule. He managed a 5-7 record last season in his first season in Lincoln, and there is a ton of hype and excitement around the program with QB Donovan Raiola under center.
Rhule was able to instantly grab reinforcements with RB Dante Dowdell coming in from Oregon, and WR Isaiah Neyor transferring in from Texas. That should make the offense somewhat competitive.
The Blackshirts defense is back, too, as Big Red allowed just 18.3 points per game in 2023. If the defense is able to continue to make noise, this team has the potential to be in the upper half of the Big Ten standings.
Nebraska could get off to a big start with four consecutive home games before Sept. 20, and trips to Purdue and Indiana in October are winnable. This team ends with trips to Ohio State, USC and Iowa, so it better win some games early on. The difference between winning this prop, and losing, might come down to home wins against Rutgers and/or Wisconsin. We're leaning high, as Rhule is a good college coach, and an even better salesman.
Nebraska Win Totals Best Bet
- OVER 7.5 WINS (-125 at DraftKings)
Rutgers Scarlet Knights Win Totals (6.0 at DraftKings)
The Scarlet Knights racked up seven victories in 2023, as head coach Greg Schiano continues to build a productive and competitive football program. His defense coughed up just 21.2 points per game (PPG), and is the biggest reason this team has gone from doormat to competitive.
Rutgers should breeze through its first two games with Howard and Akron, but then it gets significantly tougher. A trip to Virginia Tech, and a conference opener against Washington, makes things a lot more difficult. The Scarlet Knights gets to face three of the four newcomers from the Pac-12, with home games against the Dawgs and UCLA, with a trip to USC in late October on a Friday night.
QBs Athan Kaliakmanis provides more questions than answers, but if he can be somewhat productive, it will take the pressure off of RB Kyle Monangai, who still managed 1,262 yards last season despite instability under center.
Rutgers misses Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State on the schedule, and it faces just one team in the preseason Top 25, USC. It's possible that this team gets to seven regular-season wins, as long as we don't see a backslide on defense. There was a significant development on that front late in camp as star linebacker Mohamed Toure sustained a season-ending ACL injury.
Rutgers Win Totals Best Bet
- OVER 6 WINS (-150 at DraftKings)
Big Ten Win Totals Recap
- Rutgers OVER 6 WINS (-150 at DraftKings)
- Nebraska OVER 7.5 WINS (-125 at DraftKings)
- Indiana UNDER 6 WINS (+100 at Caesars)
- Illinois UNDER 5.5 WINS (-128 at FanDuel)
