Thanks largely to the shutdown of sports and the need to drum up business, sportsbook BetOnline has released some opening lines for college football’s biggest games this coming season.
Included among them are arguably the five biggest Ohio State games
The Buckeyes’ schedule this coming season features non-conference home games against Bowling Green and Buffalo, and a road non-conference game at Oregon. Following the Buffalo game in week three, Ohio State then plays home against Rutgers and Iowa, then takes trips to Michigan State and Penn State before playing Nebraska and Indiana in Columbus. Following the battle against the Hoosiers, Ohio State heads to Maryland and Illinois before hosting the Michigan Wolverines.
You can look at that schedule and not be surprised that the Buckeyes are favored in every single game this season.
The big games for Ohio State kick off in week two at Oregon where the Buckeyes have opened as a 6-point favorite over the Ducks. Ohio State is 9-0 all-time against the Ducks, including a 30-0 win the only ever time they’ve been to Eugene.
In week six, Ohio State hosts Iowa, where they are a 14.5-point home favorite. The Buckeyes haven’t lost at home to Iowa since 1991.
Week eight sees OSU headed to Happy Valley where they are a 3-point favorite over the Nittany Lions. Penn State is a 2-point underdog at Michigan this year.
The Buckeyes are again a double-digit favorite in week nine, as BetOnline has installed them as a 13.5-point favorite at home against Nebraska. Ohio State is 4-0 all-time at home against the Huskers, and no, they don’t always score 63 points against them.
Finally, Michigan comes to town in week 13. The Wolverines opened as a 7.5-point underdog against the Buckeyes. When this game kicks off, it will have been 20 years since Michigan’s last win in Columbus.
There are also some other big games listed below that will decide how this season goes. There are also some Notre Dame games listed that won’t. One of the more interesting games kicks off right out of the gate, with Michigan at Washington, where nobody is favored in the pick’em game. The Wolverines are, however, favored by 2.5 over Wisconsin and 2 at home to PSU as mentioned above.
Week 1
Navy vs Notre Dame (in Dublin)
Navy +13½
Notre Dame -13½
BYU at Utah
BYU +6½
Utah -6½
Alabama vs USC (in Arlington, TX)
Alabama -14½
USC +14½
Baylor vs Mississippi (in Houston)
Baylor pk
Mississippi pk
Michigan at Washington
Michigan pk
Washington pk
Week 2
Louisville at Clemson
Louisville +21
Clemson -21
Texas at LSU
Texas +6
LSU -6
Tennessee at Oklahoma
Tennessee +8½
Oklahoma -8½
Ohio State at Oregon
Ohio State -6
Oregon +6
Week 3
Iowa at Minnesota
Iowa +4
Minnesota -4
Georgia at Alabama
Georgia +7
Alabama -7
USC at Stanford
USC -6½
Stanford +6½
Florida State at Boise State
Florida State pk
Boise State pk
Week 4
Wisconsin at Michigan
Wisconsin +2½
Michigan -2½
Cincinnati at Nebraska
Cincinnati +6
Nebraska -6
Week 5
Washington at Oregon
Washington +6½
Oregon -6½
Penn State at Michigan
Penn State +2
Michigan -2
Notre Dame vs Wisconsin (in Green Bay)
Notre Dame +2½
Wisconsin -2½
Week 6
LSU at Florida
LSU +2½
Florida -2½
Auburn at Georgia
Auburn +4
Georgia -4
Texas vs Oklahoma (in Dallas)
Texas +4
Oklahoma -4
Iowa at Ohio State
Iowa +14½
Ohio State -14½
Stanford at Notre Dame
Stanford +10
Notre Dame -10
Week 7
Texas A&M at Auburn
Texas A&M +3
Auburn -3
Week 8
Oklahoma State at Oklahoma
Oklahoma State +8½
Oklahoma -8½
Ohio State at Penn State
Ohio State -3
Penn State +3
Week 9
Florida vs Georgia (in Jacksonville)
Florida +2
Georgia -2
Nebraska at Ohio State
Nebraska +13½
Ohio State -13½
Week 10
BYU at Boise State
BYU +6
Boise State -6
Alabama at LSU
Alabama -2½
LSU +2½
USC at Oregon
USC +3½
Oregon -3½
Penn State at Nebraska
Penn State -3
Nebraska +3
Clemson at Notre Dame
Clemson -6
Notre Dame +6
Week 11
Washington at USC
Washington +6
USC -6
Week 12
Texas A&M vs Alabama
Texas A&M +9
Alabama -9
USC at UCLA
USC -6½
UCLA +6½
LSU at Auburn
LSU pk
Auburn pk
Week 13
Texas at Oklahoma State
Texas +2
Oklahoma State -2
Michigan at Ohio State
Michigan +7½
Ohio State -7½
Auburn at Alabama
Auburn +7
Alabama -7
Kentucky at Louisville
Louisville pk
Kentucky pk
LSU at Texas A&M
LSU pk
Texas A&M pk
Week 15
Army vs Navy (in Philadelphia)
Army +4
Navy -4
At oregon and at Penn St. will be the 2 toughest games..Oregon is actually legit on defense believe it or not and has a really good class coming in..they do have to replace 4 oline starters but the 1 coming back is all-america caliber …Herbert to mew as overrated so not sure how much his loss affects anything , outside the experience factor
Well Jim, at least it gives us something to read about Ohio State football when we’re all quarantined for a few weeks