It’s tough for me because this game is often a bit of a let down. Usually, the Pac-10 school is a heavy home team favorite, as the game is always played in Pac-10 country, and these are often two conferences that aren’t nearly as strong as their “big conference” hype insists. I mean, when Boise State beats the crap out of the top team in the Pac 10 and yet still can’t get close to a title shot, that should give you an idea of the conference strength. And then you have the Big 10, and while Ohio State is definitely the class of that conference, the 4th place team in the Pac 10 beat the Buckeyes in Ohio. And while the Buckeyes made easy work of just about everyone outside of their loss (Purdue) and their overtime win against Iowa – but the Big 10 isn’t as good as the WAC this year, in fact I don’t know if it’s close. I can think of 10 small college teams that would have finished Top 3 in the Big 10. The Big 10 is three more bowl losses away from being relegated a Division 1-AA program, or sub-division, or whatever…
When it comes down to it, I don’t think the Buckeyes can score with Oregon. The Ducks are going to out-rush the Buckeyes, and that’s not good for Ohio State – they have only one win when that happens.
Oregon played awesome offensively this season, scoring more than 40 points in 6 of their last 8 games – Ohio State scored 40+ one time, against New Mexico State. Yep.
Ohio State Buckeyes @ Oregon Ducks (-3.5)