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2023 Big Ten Championship: BTN analysts give preseason picks for B1G title game

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

The 2023 Big Ten Championship odds predict the conference to be mainly a 2-horse race between Ohio State and Michigan this season. However, the experts at the Big Ten Network do not necessarily feel the same way.

While at B1G Media Days in Indianapolis, the BTN crew was polled on their preseason picks to win the East and West divisions. While Jake Butt and Howard Griffith did have Michigan repeating in the East once again, Mike Hall and Gerry DiNardo went with Penn State to take the title.

Somewhat surprisingly, 3 of the 4 BTN analysts picked Illinois to ascend to the top of the West this year. The other prediction in the West was for Iowa with Butt predicting a Cade McNamara vs. JJ McCarthy matchup for the championship.

None of the analysts predicted Ohio State — the team with the best championship odds in the preseason — to make it to Indy.

Here are the BTN picks:

  • Jake Butt – Michigan vs. Iowa
  • Mike Hall – Penn State vs. Illinois
  • Gerry DiNardo – Penn State vs. Illinois
  • Howard Griffith – Michigan vs. Illinois

Big Ten Championship prediction reasoning

Illinois is a particularly surprising pick to represent the West. The Illini have the 3rd-best odds to win the B1G out of their division behind Wisconsin and Iowa, and the +3500 odds are 6th overall in the league.

At the end of the day, Mike Hall simply likes what Bret Bielema is putting together and believes it all hinges on the QB:

“I really like what Bielema’s doing, I think everything rests on the QB. If Luke Altmyer is the guy, they’re good,” Hall explained. “They’ve got a good o-line, they’ve got a good running game. If they have a defense close to what they were last year, I think the whole program is going up.”

As for Penn State, Gerry DiNardo believes the Nittany Lions have the best offensive line in the conference. That unit and the ground game should be enough to support new starter Drew Allar under center.

“I think Penn State has the best offensive line, that’s what they’ve really been trying to build for a while,” said DiNardo. “I think Drew Allar’s going to get the support by the offensive line and the running backs, and I think Manny Diaz will have the defense ready to go.”

Here’s the full preview from the BTN crew:

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.