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Opening betting lines for a pair of pivotal Big Ten basketball games have been announced.
The conference has two games on Saturday: No. 21 Ohio State at No. 14 Illinois and No. 7 Michigan at No. 23 Minnesota.
According to CircaSports, the Illini (-6) and the Wolverines (-5) are the favorites in those games. Here’s a look at the numbers for the remainder of college basketball’s slate on Saturday:
College Basketball 🏀
Sat Jan 15 Lines pic.twitter.com/Y1ag9R3bRc— Circa Sports (@CircaSports) January 15, 2021
With the pandemic limiting attendance this season, it’s not quite as surprising to Michigan be a significant road favorite. Still, a ranked home underdog by 5+ points would have been much more rare in previous seasons.
Michigan currently sits in first place in the Big Ten with a 6-0 record. The Wolverines have been dominant all year, and have won five straight games by double digits.
One of those wins came against these same Gophers back on Jan. 6 in the form of an 82-57 beatdown in Ann Arbor.
Illinois is in third place in the conference with a 5-2 record. The Illini are coming off an upset loss to Maryland at home last weekend.
Ohio State is 4-3 on the year and would tie Illinois in the Big Ten Standings with a win.
Ohio State-Illinois tips off at 12 p.m. ET while Michigan-Minnesota will get going at 2 p.m. ET.
Lines for Sunday’s Big Ten games have not yet been released.
Spenser is the news manager at Saturday Road and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.