The Big Ten missed the College Football Playoff last year and will again in 2018 if No. 5 Ohio State is upset on Saturday night in the Big Ten title game by No. 21 Northwestern in Indianapolis. Even an OSU win doesn’t guarantee it a spot in the playoff, but it’s a heavy NCAAF Betting favorite at Mybookie Sportsbook.
Ohio State at Northwestern 2018 Big Ten Championship Odds & Pick
The Man in the Middle. @Paddyfisher42 named First-Team All-Big Ten by @bigten coaches. #B1GCats pic.twitter.com/z7ZXyKucCB
— Northwestern Football (@NUFBFamily) 27 de noviembre de 2018
- When: Saturday, 8 PM ET
- Where: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis
- TV: Fox
- Live Stream: Fox Sports Go
- Radio: Tunein.com
- 2018 Big Ten Championship Odds: OSU -14 (Total 60.5)
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Weather Forecast
- Partly Cloudy: 12°C/54°F
- Humidity: 92%
- Precipitation: 13%
- Cloud Cover: 30%
- Wind: 11 mph S
Last Meeting
In 2016, the Buckeyes edged Northwestern 24-20 in Columbus – that OSU team also made the College Football Playoff. Curtis Samuel (now with Carolina Panthers) ran for a 3-yard touchdown with 9:43 left. Northwestern then got to the Ohio State 3, but settled for a 33-yard Jack Mitchell field goal to close to 24-20 with 3:31 left. The Buckeyes mounted a final clock-eating drive. Mike Weber rushed 14 times for 87 yards and two touchdowns. Clayton Thorson was 25 for 42 for 256 yards with a touchdown for NU.This will be the 77th all-time meeting between OSU & NU. Ohio State leads, 61-14-1. Only once previously have the two teams played at a neutral site: in 1991, the Buckeyes and Wildcats met in Cleveland.
Why Bet on Northwestern?
The Wildcats already had clinched the Big Ten West before beating Illinois 24-16 last week. The win over the Illini gave the ‘Cats their 11th-straight victory versus West Division foes and Northwestern earned its 15th win in its last 16 Big Ten games, matching the best 16-game conference stretch in program history.Senior quarterback Clayton Thorson rushed for his eighth touchdown of the season and finished his final regular season game as a Wildcat 12-of-18 with 110 yards and two passing touchdowns. Thorson started his 51st consecutive game. No quarterback in Big Ten history has started more games than Thorson.
Running back Isaiah Bowser rushed for his fourth 100-yard game of the 2018 campaign by the second quarter and he finished with a career-high 166 yards in the contest, surpassing his previous best of 165 at Iowa earlier this season. He also brought his season total up to 736 rushing yards, surpassing Greg Boykin (625 yards) for the third-most rushing yards from a first-year in program history. Bowser averaged a season-high 9.2 yards per carry, marking the best single-game mark by a Wildcat since Noah Herron had 17 carries for 163 yards (9.6/carry) at Illinois on Nov. 22, 2003.
Northwestern is the first team in FBS history to go winless in nonconference play and win a division title. NU has won its last nine games away from Ryan Field, including the 2017 Music City Bowl and eight-straight road wins. The Wildcats’ eight-straight road wins over Big Ten opponents is also a program record. NU’s defense has been particularly strong during the stretch, limiting opponents to under 20 points five times and allowing just 17.7 points per game.
Why Bet on Ohio State?
The Buckeyes looked shaky at times this season but destroyed No. 4 Michigan last week 62-39 in a stunner. Dwayne Haskins threw for 318 yards and five touchdowns en route to breaking a pair of Big Ten single-season records. He passed the previous record of 39 touchdowns in a season, held by Drew Brees, and 3,985 passing yards, held by Curtis Painter.Haskins has 41 touchdowns and 4,003 passing yards. Haskins tied Joe Germaine and Barrett with his eighth-career 300-yard passing game. All eight have come in 2018, breaking Germaine’s single-season record of seven 300-yard passing games. Michigan cut the OSU lead to 16 in the fourth, but 14 unanswered points from the Buckeyes helped Ohio State cruise to victory.
Ohio State passed for 222 yards in the first half, more than Michigan had allowed in any complete game this season. Ohio State’s offense has produced 500 or more yards of total offense in nine of 12 games this season. The Buckeyes are No. 2 nationally averaging 547.6 yards/game.
Ohio State’s 62 points scored marked the most by the Buckeyes in a game against Michigan. The Buckeyes scored 50 points in victories in 1961 and 1968. It marked the most points scored against Michigan in a regulation game and the second-most scored against the Wolverines all-time, behind Illinois’ 65 in a 67-65 Michigan victory in triple-overtime in 2010. Cornell had the previous most points in a regulation game against the Wolverines, scoring 58 in 1891.
Ohio State has an all-time record of 21-7 in indoor games and 60-27 in night games. Ohio State’s four Big Ten Championship Game appearances are second only to five by Wisconsin.
Ohio State at Northwestern NCAA Football Week 14 Betting Trends
- Favorite is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 meetings
- Over is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings
- Road team is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 meetings
- Wildcats are 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 meetings in Ohio State
- Wildcats are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 meetings
- Northwestern is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Northwestern’s last 6 games
- Ohio State is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Northwestern
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Ohio State’s last 5 games when playing Northwestern
