Northwestern College Football Odds: Wildcats betting odds following Fitzgerald firing

Pat Fitzgerald is out as the coach of Northwestern Football after journalists at The Daily Northwestern uncovered a hazing scandal that dates back almost 15 years. The school is now coach-less and direction-less with less than two months until Week 1, so we decided to re-examine the Northwestern College Football Odds.

News alert! Vegas is projecting the Wildcats to be very bad.

• Read our expert rankings of the best sports betting sites here

Northwestern was never a contender to win the Big Ten, but things are bleaker than ever.

Northwestern is now tied with the longest odds to win the Big Ten conference at FanDuel Sportsbook.

The Wildcats and Indiana Hoosiers are listed at +30000. For context, a $100 bet would pay $30,000 at these odds.

From an implied odds perspective, this price means Vegas projects Northwestern wins the Big Ten about .33% of the time.

Caesars Sportsbook has opened a market for the Big Ten West Division winner, listing Northwestern with the longest odds to win at +10000. This price implies a 1% chance the Wildcats clinches the West.

Given that the Wildcats have no coach and are unsure which players will be on the roster for the season opener in seven weeks, these odds seem fair.

Northwestern won one football game last season, beating Nebraska in the Week 0 season opener. It was Northwestern’s worst season since they went winless in 1989.

For this season, oddsmakers saw some positive regression, setting the win total at 3.5.

While the win total hasn’t changed, the Fitzgerald firing has significantly altered the juice on the bet, as the Under 3.5 Wins now sits at -160 in the markets.

The Wildcats were due for some positive regression (-19 turnover differential, 1-5 in one-score games) and returned eight starters on the defensive side of the ball. So, I did project some modest improvement from this squad.

The schedule is fine, but not great. The biggest challenge will be a three-game stretch between Week 8 and Week 10 when they play three consecutive games against teams coming off byes (Nebraska, Maryland, Iowa).

Northwestern does have its bye week before the Nebraska game, but they face a tough scheduling quirk nonetheless.

Unfortunately, it’s impossible to predict how Fitzgerald’s firing will impact the team, meaning much of our pre-season analysis is meaningless.

However, a few off-season situations could drastically affect the betting odds.

For example, if the Wildcats don’t name defensive coordinator David Braun as the interim head coach, we should expect a mass exodus of players to the transfer portal. That would sink Northwestern’s market value even further.

It’s worth mentioning that Northwestern held on to Fitzgerald’s staff after the dismissal.

Another possibility is that the Wildcats hire someone like Ed Orgeron. That could cause a quick boost in the betting markets, but I’m unsure if it will make a big difference in the coming year.

There’s no actionable advice on Northwestern in the immediate future. It’s a wait-and-see situation in Evanston.