3. Ohio State at Michigan
LINE Ohio State -7
ATS PICK Ohio State
Let’s just start with this.
It’s Ohio State vs Michigan. We can rationalize this all we want and come up with the right arguments and talking points, but until Charlie Brown actually kicks the football in this rivalry, you just can’t go against Lucy.
It’s been a weird week for the line movement. It opened at Ohio State -6, got up to 8.5, and the late Michigan fan rush that always comes in knocked it down a bit, and it’s been 7.5 and dropping in the hours leading up to the game.
Is this going to be a total wipeout like Ohio State’s performance art day against Michigan State? No. That was fantastic, but sort of glossed over was that the Buckeyes rolled against the worst pass defense in college football.
If Michigan gets wiped out, it’s not going to happen until late.
Think of this more like Ohio State’s battles with Nebraska and Penn State. Both of them nine point wins, both of them were fights, but both of them were never really out of the Buckeyes’ control.
Michigan has the ground game to pound away and control the clock, and it has the overall offense to test the Ohio State defense – it hasn’t really had to deal with a balanced, dangerous attack since losing to Oregon in Week 2 – but if we’re only talking about 7 or 7.5, until something funky happens to prove otherwise …
It’s Ohio State vs Michigan. You know how this works.