Throughout the year, we will be asking and answering questions about various Ohio State teams, the players, and anything else on our collective minds of varying degrees of importance. If you have a question that
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Through nine games, Ohio State’s season has been pretty predictable so far. Suffocating defense, efficient offense, and steady growth in the passing game lead to dominant victories. So, as we head into tonight’s game against 3-6 UCLA, we wanted to check in with Buckeye Nation on some not-so-predictable topics.
So, in this week’s fan survey, we asked you to pick the most probable outcome from a list of different potential college football happenings, some involving Ohio State, and some not. And since it is a game week, we also asked fans for their winner and margin of victory predictions for today’s game.
Today, we have the results for those survey questions. So, check them out below (along with my thoughts and feelings), and if the answers that your fellow fans put forth don’t jive with how you see things, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments at the bottom of the page. Also, if you feel confident about your score prediction, put some money where your mouth is, over at FanDuel Sportsbook, as they are the sponsor for today’s article.
Question 1: What do you think is most likely to happen the rest of this season?
Death, taxes, and Ohio State’s defense embarrassing opponents. Those are perhaps the only three reliable constants in the world, especially according to Buckeye Nation. While the above graphic streamlines the answer a little bit, the answer in the survey that garnered 41% of the votes was “Ohio State finishes the regular season allowing less than 8 points per game.”
That would mean that against UCLA, Rutgers, and Michigan, the Silver Bullets would only allow a combined 30 points. If the Bruins, Scarlet Knights, and Weasels averaged 10 points per game or less, OSU would finish the season giving up 7.917 points per game.
I don’t know about you, but I actually think that there’s a decent chance that the Bucks allow less than 7 points per game, which would mean giving up just 18 points over the course of the final three contests. But that’s beside the point.
Personally, I would have voted for this option as well, but Julian Sayin winning the Heisman is rightly super close. Also, don’t be surprised if the refocused Buckeyes put an absolute spanking on the Corn and Blue and exorcise five years of demons in Ann Arbor.
And I did throw out the possibility of the ACC not being represented in the College Football Playoff on yesterday’s episode of “No Fall Weddings,” so keep an eye on that one too.
Question 2: What will the margin of victory be in Saturday’s game against UCLA?
When the FanDuel Sportsbook opened its betting for this game, Ohio State was installed as a 31.5-point favorite, and despite going to 32.5 at one point, it is resting back at the original margin as of this article’s writing. The gold standard college football analytics system, SP+, has it as a 44-8 game in favor of the Buckeyes, which would be a solid cover for the home team.
So, my official pick and prediction that I made on this morning’s “Land-Grant Tailgate Podcast” was 49-3 in favor of the good guys.
Throughout the year, we ask questions of the most plugged-in Ohio State fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys. Visit FanDuel Sportsbook for all of your college football betting needs.
