The Nebraska Cornhuskers believe it is their College Football Betting birthright to dominate the Iowa Hawkeyes and Wisconsin Badgers. While the actual football program won’t publicly admit it, most fan base will certainly confirm that sincere conviction. Nebraska fans refuse to surrender their historic national championship heritage and DNA. However, the Big Red’s self-perception is not based on recent reality. Since joining the Big Ten in 2011, the Iowa Hawkeyes became Nebraska’s new rival. Iowa replaced Colorado, who replaced Oklahoma in 1996 at the formation of the Big 12 Conference.
2024 College Football National Championship Future Odds
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Georgia Bulldogs | +325 |
| Ohio State Buckeyes | +450 |
| Texas Longhorns | +800 |
| Oregon Ducks | +1000 |
| Alabama Crimson Tide | +1100 |
| Ole Miss Rebels | +1400 |
| LSU Tigers | +1200 |
| Florida State Seminoles | +1800 |
| Penn State Nittany Lions | +2200 |
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish | +2500 |
| Michigan Wolverines | +1400 |
| Missouri Tigers | +4000 |
| Tennessee Volunteers | +4000 |
| Clemson Tigers | +2500 |
| Texas A&M Aggies | +3300 |
| Oklahoma Sooners | +4000 |
| USC Trojans | +3300 |
| All Other Teams | +5000 or higher |
Nebraska Ready To Challenge in 2024
Although Nebraska won three of their first four meetings against the Hawkeyes, they have since lost eight of their last nine. Wisconsin modeled its program after Nebraska when Cornhusker alum and former linebacker Barry Alvarez arrived in 1990. In turn, Nebraska resents how its DNA was stolen and believes the Badgers are cheap sports betting imitators. Since 2011, the Big Red has only one win against Wisconsin (2012). While the last three meetings were once score games, before that, blowouts were the rule rather than the exception.
But there is a College Football Betting sense that the times have aligned in Nebraska’s favor in 2024. While Nebraska is vastly improved and a near certainty to make a bowl game, Iowa, and Wisconsin face increased doubts.
Cause of its offensive impotence, Iowa wasted the efforts of championship-level defense and kicking teams. Still, the Hawkeyes won ten games in 2023. It was the third time in five seasons that Iowa posted ten wins. But much of that was based on playing in the Big Ten West Division. Starting in 2024, the Big Ten eliminated divisions. Thus, Iowa and the rest of the inferior teams from the former West Division have nowhere to hide.
New offensive coordinator Tim Lester must keep his unit within the ultra-conservative Kirk Ferentz guard rails. Correlate that moderate improvement will come with Michigan castoff QB Cade McNamara in 2024. But it may not be enough to make Iowa a serious contender.
Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh decided to go all-in on emphasizing the pass. New head coach Luke Fickell arrived highly acclaimed from his work at Cincinnati. To illuminate, he produced a College Football Playoff bid and was known as a strong recruiter.
But 2023 was a painful transition that included admissions of locker room strife and players not caring. Previously, such problems were unheard of in Badgerland. Fickell went 7-6 in his first season.
Of major concern was that Wisconsin lost physicality and character in 2023. But Wisconsin had three different coaches after Alvarez retired with no interruption in production. Most important of all, the results were caused by the Badgers forsaking their proven formula and culture.
This year Wisconsin will turn the offense over to a transfer QB for the second straight season. Namely, Tyler Van Dyke, who flamed out and lost his starting job at Miami-FL, is now number one on the Wisconsin depth chart.