The Ohio State Buckeyes trailed the Indiana Hoosiers 14-13 last Thursday before waking up in the second half, cruising to a 49-21 rout and covering the spread after failing to do so in the previous six meetings.
Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com
This week, they welcome the Oklahoma Sooners to Columbus in the biggest game on the slate and hope to duplicate last year’s performance in Norman as 7.5-point home favorites according to oddsmakers.
Ohio State crushed Oklahoma 45-24 as a small road favorite in 2016 behind a powerful rushing performance, and bettors have kept the betting line for the rematch right near the opening number so far.
While the Buckeyes got off to a slow start in Week 1, the Sooners jumped out to a 35-7 halftime lead in a 56-7 blowout win over the UTEP Miners behind 329 yards and three touchdowns from quarterback Baker Mayfield on 19-of-20 passing in the first two quarters alone.
Ohio State is not UTEP though, and that big step up in competition may doom Mayfield again and end his Heisman Trophy campaign.
A Top 5 team that fell back a couple spots in the rankings this week is the USC Trojans, after struggling at home against the Western Michigan Broncos in a 49-31 victory. The Trojans host the Stanford Cardinal next as 6-point favorites, and bettors seem to be slightly siding with the home side in early action.
But keep in mind Stanford has won seven of the past nine meetings straight up and covered four straight games on the road overall.
So what about the three schools that suffered major upsets as giant home favorites in Week 1? Well, the jury is still out on them obviously after only one game.
In Austin, it was supposed to be a new start for first-year head coach Tom Herman. Instead, the Longhorns saw the Maryland Terrapins stun them 51-41 in front of their home fans. No matter, Texas is a 28-point home favorite this week against the San Jose State Spartans.
The UNLV Rebels and Baylor Bears suffered similar setbacks, with the latter listed as 17-point home favorites versus the Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners. Bettors believe Baylor will bounce back.
Meanwhile, the Rebels were victims of the biggest upset in college football history in a shocking 43-40 loss to the Howard Bison. But UNLV has been bet down from a 9-point road underdog visiting the Idaho Vandals to +6.5.
