Ohio State Win-Total Prediction
Can the Ohio State Buckeyes once again be one of the top teams in college football for the 2017 season? Here is a breakdown of what to expect from Ohio State.
According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, Ohio State is listed with 9/2 odds to win the College Football Playoffs this season. The Buckeyes also have -110 odds to win the Big Ten, while their over/under total for wins has been set at 11. The over is listed with a line of -110, while the under is set at -120.
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Urban Meyer is coming into his sixth season with Ohio State. He has gone 61-6 in five years with the Buckeyes, including a national championship in the 2014 season. He has won at least 11 games every year with the team and is coming off an 11-2 record in 2017, his worst outing with Ohio State yet.
Like any team, Ohio State experienced some big losses from the 2016 roster. However, the Buckeyes return a great backfield in QB J.T. Barrett and RB Mike Weber. Weber led the team in rushing last year with 1,096 yards and nine touchdowns. Barrett threw for 2,555 yards and 24 touchdowns while rushing for 845 yards and nine scores. Barrett is certainly a preseason Heisman contender. Those two alone should help Ohio State maintain their 39.4-point average from 2016. As usual, Ohio State had one of the best defenses in 2016, allowing just 14.2 points and 282 yards per game. Leading the defense will be linebacker Tyquan Lewis, who had a team-high eight sacks in 2016. The Buckeyes should also be able to reload on both sides of the ball thanks to one of the nation’s top recruiting classes.
Ohio State actually opens the season on Aug. 31 with a Big Ten road game at Indiana. That will be followed up by non-conference home games with Oklahoma, Army and UNLV. Other Big Ten road games include Rutgers, Nebraska, Iowa and Michigan. Ohio State will host Maryland, Penn State, Michigan State and Illinois. The Buckeyes surprisingly slipped up last season at Penn State, which kept it from a Big Ten title. Ohio State still reached the playoffs, but lost to Clemson, 31-0. Is it a sign of Ohio State taking a step back this season? We will find out quickly what Ohio State has when it takes on Oklahoma in Week 2. If Ohio State can win that game, it should be able to handle its business in the Big Ten. A trip to Michigan raises some eyebrows, but the Wolverines have a lot more talent to replace than Ohio State. Meyer is a coach that knows how to win. He has gotten to at least 11 wins in seven of his last eight seasons as a coach, dating back to his time in Florida. History says Ohio State will get to 12 wins, so I will stick with history and Coach Meyer.
2017 WIN TOTAL PREDICTION: OHIO STATE OVER 11 (-110)