Maryland Terrapins (3-1 SU, 3-1 ATS) vs. Ohio State Buckeyes (4-1 SU, 2-3 ATS)
College Football Week 6
Date/Time: Saturday, October 7th, 2017 4:00 PM ET
Where: Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK
TV: BIG TEN NETWORK
by KEITH, NCAA Football Handicapper, Predictem.com
Point Spread: OSU -30.5
Over/Under Total: 58.5
The Maryland Terrapins will commence their Big Ten campaign as they head to the The Horseshoe also known as Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio to face off with the Ohio State Buckeyes. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network with a kick-off time scheduled for 4:00 PM ET. In the previous meeting between the two in 2016, the Buckeyes rolled the Terrapins by a score of 62-3. In the three recent meetings between the two sides, the Terrapins are winless against Ohio State. An annotation worth looking at is the fact that Ohio State has failed to cover in their last four meetings with teams with winning records. However, that trend may soon come to an end against a Maryland football team that has been simply outclassed by the Buckeyes whenever they meet.
Maryland hit the ground running in 2017 when they snagged a huge road win at Texas despite being a heavy underdog. The Longhorns had what was considered one of the worst first halves of football this year and in recent history across the board. In Austin, the Terrapins would hang 51 points on Texas despite closing as an 18-point pup. Outside of this win, Marylands two remaining victories are against Towson and Minnesota. The one loss on Marylands docket is a nasty one on September 23rd when the Terps were dismissed by the UCF Golden Knights in a 38-10 rout. In that game, the Terps were without their starting quarterback but they had no answer for Scott Frosts UCFast offense. The Terps were favored in the fixture by four points at the closing bell.
Since losing at home to the Oklahoma Sooners by a score of 31-16 in Week 2, the Buckeyes have responded nicely with three consecutive wins. The Buckeyes are looking to catalyze their efforts to produce a potential College Football Playoff bid if all goes well in Big Ten play. A trip to the conference championship is on the table and a win of said title could qualify them for a possible bid if a few things fall their way down the backstretch. One thing is a certainty, the Buckeyes cannot afford to lose again and they seemingly wont be overlooking Maryland as they continue to get back on track. In Ohio Stadium, the Buckeyes are known for a renowned home field advantage. Oklahoma found a way to undermine this but bookmakers are not in the belief that Maryland is capable of achieving such a feat.
The fact remains that the Terps are a popular selection with a conceived generous allotment of points. It is rare to ever find the public smother a dog to the degree we are seeing here but initial line movements suggest that the consensus figures are spot on. There is a lot of peril that goes into playing on a dog that the public favors, seemingly because the favorite is always a more enticing play and thus attracts more attention. As a whole, Maryland has not played a team as good as Ohio State this season and the Buckeyes will without question look to prove that to them. Maryland has had many woes in Big Ten competition and we shouldnt expect that to change anytime soon as they face Ohio State to kick off their efforts within conference play. While laying points is often something that is ill-advised, in this situation it bodes more value be that the underdog may actually be overvalued. Ohio State is poised to produce a result comparable to what we saw in 2016 and very quickly deflate the air out of Marylands sails as it moves forward into the coming months.
The Buckeyes will roll on at home and dominate on both sides of the football. Coach Urban Meyer has done his homework on this team and assuredly preparation will be at an optimum against what on paper is a solid football team. Marylands track record of beating cupcakes or sneaking up on teams that overlook them will catch up to them in Columbus against a Ohio State team that has them well-scouted.
KEITHs Pick to Cover the Point Spread: OHIO STATE -30.5. If you went to the store and on the shelf was the exact same product, one for $110 and one for $105 which would you buy? The cheaper one of course! So why would you pay -110 odds on your bets instead of -105? Start betting at discounted odds today at 5Dimes!
