[Like I'm not gonna bump something about gambling - L8]

This is an update to last week's post in which I used all available future B1G game spreads to extrapolate how sportsbooks rank the conference. Unlike last week, I've rounded results to the nearest 0.5.

I've put the results below. The number immediately to the left of each team is how many points worse they are than Wisconsin. The number in parentheses is the point change from last week. Since we are talking about deficits here, keep in mind that negative change=good; positive change=bad. Note that every team had a positive change, indicating a widening of the gap between Wisconsin and every one else.

Ranking

(Leader) Wisconsin

3 Nebraska (+1.5)

10 Ohio St (+5)

10.5 Michigan St (+2.5)

11 Illinois (+0.5); Michigan (+0.5); Penn St (+1)

12.5 Iowa (+0.5)

14 Northwestern (+1.5)

Visual Ranking

WISC------------NEB----------------------------OSU--MSU--ILL/MICH/PSU------IOWA------NU

Observations

For some reason (hint: #persastrong), the sportsbooks didn't lower Northwestern's value much in the wake of Saturday's loss to Army. In fact, Northwestern only lost 1 point relative to Illinois, who had the best win of the weekend.

OSU was downgraded the most for their performance last weekend, followed by Michigan State. OSU and MSU, last week's clear 3rd and 4th ranked teams, respectively, are now in a virtual 5-way tie for 3rd with Illinois, MIchigan, and Penn State.

Expected point spreads for Northwestern's Conference Schedule:

NU (+6) @ Illinois 

Michigan @ NU (pick)

NU (+4.5) @ Iowa

Penn St @ NU (pick)

NU (?, but likely a healthy favorite) @ Indiana

NU (+17) @ Nebraska

Minnesota @ NU (- a lot)

Michigan St @ NU (+0.5)