Ohio State odds on added Big Ten football opponent: Purdue favored choice from West Division

The Big Ten on Thursday announced that its 14 member schools would play an in-conference football schedule only this season due to the coronavirus, wiping out three non-conference games for each program. Big Ten schools usually play nine conference games each year, but it has been widely reported that the conference will add a 10th game. Money talks, and the more games schools play the more money they make, and more games makes the league's TV partners happier.

The conference has not yet announced how it will rejigger the league schedule. There have been reports that it could shift all intra-divisional games to the front of the schedule in case the back half of the slate is interrupted/canceled by the coronavirus. The thinking there is that at least the Big Ten could crown division champions.

So, clearly, all division games are going to be played (coronavirus-willing). The conference could in theory overhaul each school's matchups against the opposite division, but the easiest solution would be to simply add a fourth inter-divisional matchup for each and that's expected to be the case.

Which brings us to Ohio State. The Buckeyes are three-time Big Ten champions and -270 favorites on the moneyline odds at William Hill sportsbook to make it four in a row. OSU might have caught a bit of a break with the non-conference schedule canceled because its toughest test of the entire regular season would have been Sept. 12 at Oregon. Ohio State is a +400 second-favorite behind Clemson to win the national title. The Buckeyes' road to get to the Playoff got a bit easier with the Ducks gone.

Currently, OSU is scheduled to play Iowa, Nebraska and Illinois from the West Division and will be heavily favored to win all three – only Illinois is on the road. If the Big Ten simply picks a West Division foe for the Buckeyes to get to 10 games as expected, which? Here are the SportsLine odds on Ohio State's added West opponent.

Purdue (Even): Why are the Boilermakers the favorites? First off, both Purdue and Ohio State are off as of now Oct. 3 when most of the rest of the conference is in action. They could play on that date. Second, these schools have played just once since 2013, a 49-20 Boilermakers upset (they were 12-point underdogs) of second-ranked OSU in West Lafayette on Oct. 20, 2018. That loss essentially kept the Buckeyes from the College Football Playoff and was their only defeat of the season. Distance also matters from a travel perspective, and West Lafayette is only about 240 miles from Columbus.

Northwestern (+300): While Ohio State is scheduled to play Purdue in 2021 in Columbus, the Buckeyes aren't due to face Northwestern again until the 2022 season in Evanston. On the negative side, OSU and Northwestern have played each of the past two years, with the Buckeyes winning both handily – one was the 2018 Big Ten Championship Game. The distance between Columbus and Evanston is 370 miles.

Minnesota (+500): The Big Ten surely would like to keep its teams from flying whenever possible, and it wouldn't be possible for this matchup as Columbus and Minneapolis are 765 miles apart. The teams also are scheduled to open the 2021 season at Minnesota. There's the competitive factor as well because this could be a preview of the conference championship game and ideally the Big Ten would like to avoid that.

Wisconsin (+800): No question this would immediately become one of the marquee matchups of the Big Ten schedule, but this is a bit of a "been there, done that" scenario. The Buckeyes and Badgers played twice last season, with OSU winning both – including 34-21 in the Big Ten Championship Game. Wisconsin is the favorite to come out of the West again, so the conference would like to avoid potentially four games between the schools in a calendar year or so. It wouldn't really be fair to Wisconsin, either, as it already has to play Michigan from the East. Finally, it's a fairly long trip with Columbus and Madison 500 miles apart.

Via SportsLine oddsmakers: If the Big Ten adds one West Division foe to Ohio State's current 2020 schedule, which school will it be?

• Purdue Even
• Northwestern +300
• Minnesota +500
• Wisconsin +800

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