The Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament in 2008 is like Adrienne
Barbeau: quite top heavy. The Wisconsin Badgers,
Purdue Boilermakers, Indiana Hoosiers, and Michigan State Spartans are all
nationally ranked and likely going the Big Dance.

For sports handicappers who believe in betting the
motivational factor, the Ohio State Buckeyes are one of the “last four in”
according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology.

The sportsbooks say that Purdue is the slight favorite to win
it all at 7/4, with Wisconsin
nearly neck and neck at 7/4. Michigan
State is only 7/2. If anyone has
had almost as much success in March Madness as GodsTips,
anchor of OffshoreInsiders.com, it is Tom Izzo, head coach of
the Spartans.

Despite all the distractions of the Kelvin Sampson firing,
the Indiana
Hoosiers are just 5/1 to earn the automatic bid. Purdue and Indiana have
the shorter odds as the tournament is being hosted at Conseco
Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers.

The Minnesota Golden Gophers will have to play their way
in to the 2008
Men’s College Basketball Tournament, but they are 14/1 odds to win it
all—the conference title that is.

Once highly regarded Illinois
is 20/1, the Iowa Hawkeyes at 22/1. Surprisingly ahead of both is perennial
doormat Penn State
at just 18/1. At 25/1 Michigan
is given little chance and Northwestern at 100/1 no chance. Odds are courtesy
of NewBodog.

Considering the Wildcats went 1-17 in conference play, perhaps the
bookmakers are being too generous.

The author, Joe Duffy, is former General Manager of the
Freescoreboard scorephone network and CEO of OffshoreInsiders.com,
the premier hub of world-class handicappers.