2026 Big Ten Title Odds: Indiana surges as Polymarket favorite following Ohio State loss

Nine weeks into the 2026 college football season, a new Polymarket prediction market lists three Big Ten football teams with 22% or greater odds to win the Big Ten Championship. Following its 23-16 win over Minnesota, Indiana has emerged as the Big Ten favorites for the first time this season. The Hoosiers now boast 39% odds to repeat as champions, up 6% from last week. They sit ahead of Ohio State (30%) and UCLA (22%), who have the second and third best odds. The Buckeyes fell to USC 30-18 on Saturday, which marked their first Big Ten loss of the season. Their conference title odds fell from 47% to 30% following the defeat. UCLA, which shutout Nevada 27-0 in a non-conference clash on Saturday, rose from 14% to 22% odds this week. $19.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage Given the evolving nature of prediction markets, Polymarket’s national title odds will continue to fluctuate over the next month of games before the Big Ten Champion is crowned on Saturday, Dec. 5 in Indianapolis. With that in mind, here are Polymarket’s current Big Ten Championship odds. 1. Indiana Hoosiers – 39% Last Big Ten Championship: 2025 Saturday’s game against Minnesota served as another thrilling victory for the reigning National Champions, which improved their record to 8-1 on the season. It looked as if the Gophers were on the verge of pulling the monstrous upset, before Indiana kicker Paddy McAteer drilled a game-tying 60-yard field goal to send the game to overtime. In overtime, backup quarterback Grant Wilson found star receiver Charlie Becker for the go-ahead touchdown. Indiana‘s defense held strong, cementing the win. Looking ahead at Indiana‘s final three regular season games, the Hoosiers are currently slated to face No. 18 USC, Washington, and Purdue. Those three teams boast a combined 8-8 record against Big Ten competition this season. Since head coach Curt Cignetti took over the program in 2024, Indiana is 20-0 against unranked conference opponents. 2. Ohio State Buckeyes – 30% Last Big Ten Championship: 2020 For the first time this season, Ohio State is no longer the favorite to win the Big Ten Championship. That comes after the Buckeyes were stunned 30-18 by USC in Los Angeles Saturday night, which ended their 13-game winning streak against Big Ten opponents. Although Ohio State out-gained the Trojans 464-338 in the loss, it still found itself losing by 12 points. That marked the program’s biggest margin of defeat (12) since Nov. 26, 2022, when it fell to No. 3 Michigan 45-23. Ohio State now finds itself in dangerous waters heading down the stretch of the regular season, with matchups against Oregon, Northwestern, Nebraska, and Michigan still looming. Dropping just one of those games would put the Buckeyes in serious jeopardy of missing the College Football Playoff for just the second time in the past five seasons. 3. UCLA Bruins – 22% Last Big Ten Championship: N/A UCLA improved to 8-0 on the season following its 27-0 victory over Nevada on Saturday. Bob Chesney and DC Colin Hitschler‘s defense was suffocating in the win, holding the Wolfpack to just 176 total yards. The Bruins now sit at No. 5 in the AP Poll, their highest ranking since Oct. 2001 (No. 4). The program is also 8-0 to open the season for the first time since 2005. There is now serious optimism that the Bruins could very well be playing in their first Big Ten Championship Game in the final year of the event taking place. UCLA‘s final four games are to be played against Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, and No. 18 USC. 4. USC Trojans – 4% Last Big Ten Championship: N/A USC scored THE defining win of the Lincoln Riley era on Saturday, knocking off No. 2 Ohio State in Los Angeles 30-18. It marked the program’s first victory over a No. 2-ranked opponent since 2004, when the Trojans dominated No. 2 Oklahoma 55-19 in the BCS National Championship Game. That win, however, was later vacated. It appeared as if the sky was falling at USC following its 24-7 loss to Wisconsin the week prior, but it now seems as if the program could very well round out a nice season. Its remaining games will come against No. 6 Indiana, Maryland, and No. 5 UCLA. If the Trojans were to win out and finish at 10-2 with wins over three Top 10-ranked Big Ten opponents, there’s no doubt they could find their way into the College Football Playoff. 5. Northwestern Wildcats – 3% Last Big Ten Championship: N/A Although it jumped out to an early 20-6 lead over Oregon on Saturday, Northwestern ultimately fell to the Ducks 34-26 in Eugene. It marked the Wildcats’ first loss since Sept. 25, when they fell short of upsetting then-No. 5 ranked Indiana in Bloomington. They had rattled off four consecutive wins since that loss to the Hoosiers. Now sitting at 6-2 on the season, Northwestern will have to win at least four of its final five games (including its bowl game) to secure its first 10-win campaign 2017. That will certainly be an uphill battle for the program, though, as it still has conference clashes against No. 21 Iowa, No. 11 Ohio State, Minnesota, and Illinois remaining. T6. Iowa Hawkeyes – 2% Last Big Ten Championship: N/A Iowa bounced back from its 13-10 road loss at Minnesota two weeks ago with a complete and utter slaughtering of No. 25 Wisconsin on Saturday. The Hawkeyes out-gained the Badgers 362-235 in the 30-0 victory. Iowa has now defeated Wisconsin by at least 30 points in three consecutive games, which has tied the all-time series at 49-49-2. Kirk Ferentz‘s program heads into the final stretch of the season with a 6-2 record. There is certainly an interesting scenario in play for the Hawkeyes, which are slated to face four unranked conference opponents (Northwestern, Purdue, Illinois, and Nebraska) over their final four games. If Iowa were to end the season on a five-game win streak, putting them at 10-2, it would certainly be in the conversation for a CFP bid. T6. Nebraska Cornhuskers – 2% Last Big Ten Championship: N/A After a strong 5-0 start to the season, Nebraska‘s 2026 campaign has gone completely off the rails. The Cornhuskers fell just short of upsetting No. 7 Indiana on Oct. 10, and that 20-17 loss has now spiraled into a three-game losing streak. Nebraska lost to Oregon 17-14 on Oct. 17 and returned to the field on Saturday against Washington, where the Huskers were defeated 17-10. In all three of those losses, Nebraska held a lead late in the fourth quarter. The Huskers will look to break that three-game skid Friday night against Illinois, which has rattled off three consecutive Big Ten victories. Nebraska is still seeking its first eight-win regular season since 2016. T6. Oregon Ducks – 2% Last Big Ten Championship: 2024 Oregon bounced back from last week’s disappointing 21-10 loss to Illinois on Saturday with a 34-26 win over No. 20 Northwestern. By downing the Wildcats, the Ducks earned their second ranked victory of the season. Oregon now sits at 5-3 on the season heading into its final four games. Those games will come against No. 11 Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, and Washington. Even if Dan Lanning‘s team were to win out and finish at 9-3 on the season, it would take a miracle for the Ducks to sneak into the CFP. At this point, Oregon is just looking to keep its streak of eight-win regular seasons (in a full season) alive. The Ducks have done so in seven consecutive seasons, with their last sub eight-win campaign coming in 2017 (7-6). T6. Wisconsin Badgers – 2% Last Big Ten Championship: 2012 Finally, Wisconsin is the final Big Ten team with 2% or greater odds remaining to win the Big Ten Championship. The Badgers have now dropped two of their last three games after rattling off four consecutive wins from Sept. 12-Oct. 3. Saturday’s game was a thorough beatdown, as Wisconsin didn’t score a point in its 30-0 loss to Iowa. The Badgers have been shutout three times in the past two seasons, and two of those came against the Hawkeye defense. Luke Fickell‘s team is now 5-3 with four games remaining (Rutgers, Maryland, Purdue, Minnesota). Teams 11-18 T11. Illinois Fighting Illini – 1%T11. Michigan Wolverines – 1%T11. Minnesota Golden Gophers – 1%T11. Penn State Nittany Lions – 1%T11. Purdue Boilermakers – 1%T11. Rutgers Scarlet Knights – 1%T11. Washington Huskies – 1%T17. Maryland Terrapins – 0%T17. Michigan State Spartans – 0%