Is Fernando Mendoza the Heisman betting favorite going into Big Ten title game?
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BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football quarterback Fernando Mendoza heads into the Big Ten title game as a co-favorite for the Heisman trophy.
The other favorite? Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin, who will be facing off against the No. 2 Hoosiers on Saturday night.
Mendoza has been one of the favorites for the award since throwing five touchdowns while completing 91.3% of his passes in a 63-10 win over Illinois. He led IU to a perfect record while putting up the most total touchdowns (38) and passing touchdowns (32) in the country.
They have built near-identical resumes.
Mendoza has thrown for 2,758 yards (72%) and five interceptions while Sayin has 3,065 yards passing (78.9%) with 30 touchdowns and five interceptions. Sayin has the top quarterback rating in the country (184.3) and Mendoza is second (183.7).
It will make for a strong closing argument if one of them leads their team to victory at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The dark horse candidate is Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia at +200, but it will be hard for him to make up ground in the race without playing on conference championship weekend. He closed out the regular season as just one of two players in the FBS with 4,000-plus yards (4,018).
| Player (Team) | Current Odds | BETMGM Opening odds |
| Julian Sayin (Ohio State) | +165 | +2000 |
| Fernando Mendoza (Indiana) | +165 | +5500 |
| Diego Pavia (Vanderbilt) | +200 | +12500 |
| Jeremiyah Love (Notre Dame) | +5000 | +1300 |
| Jeremiah Smith (Ohio State) | +25000 | +3500 |
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Latest Heisman betting odds puts spotlight on Big Ten title game, Fernando Mendoza
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