One of the games that has been circled on college football calendars for months is now less than six days away.
Three different TV networks are coming to Columbus this weekend for the Ohio State vs. Penn State game.
The Big Ten Network’s BTN Tailgate show, FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff, and ESPN’s College Gameday will all be at the Horseshoe on Saturday morning.
Everything screams “big game week in Columbus!”
Everything except the point spread, anyway.
The initial lines for this weekend’s games were released on Sunday afternoon, and the Buckeyes opened as a 19-point favorite over the Nittany Lions.
That is a massive number in a series that has come down to the final minute in each of the last three games.
PSU beat the Buckeyes thanks to a pair of blocked kicks in 2016, winning by a 24-21 margin.
In 2017, OSU turned the tables, blocking a punt and pulling off a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback to win, 39-38.
Last year, Penn State once again blew a late late, and then failed to convert a 4th-and-5 play in a 27-26 Buckeye win.
That’s a total of five points of margin of victory in a three-game span.
This, however, is a very different OSU team from the last couple seasons.
For one thing, the Buckeyes have both one of the best offenses and best defenses in the nation, which is not something you could have said a year ago.
The 2019 OSU team has covered the spread in eight of its first 10 games. The only two exceptions were the season-opener against FAU in which the Owls scored a couple times in garbage time to narrow the final score, and last weekend at Rutgers, which played out similarly.
Many computer ranking systems have the Buckeyes as roughly two touchdowns better than the Lions on a neutral field. Add in the three-point advantage for playing at home and suddenly the 19-point spread doesn’t look quite so outlandish.
Paired with the 59-point over/under, you’d get a final score in the neighborhood of 39-20 Ohio State.
You can find lines for all of the week 13 college football games in the tweet embedded below.
College Football ?
Week 13 Opening Lines
Point Spreads & Totals pic.twitter.com/Z1BA6kKzUM— Circa Sports (@CircaSports) November 17, 2019