A look at the over/under win totals set for Ohio State and others in ‘21
Due to the COVID-19-stricken 2020 college football season, Ohio State was unable to continue its program-high run of eight-straight seasons with a double-digit win total.
That stretch began with Urban Meyer’s first year at the helm of the program in 2013, and was maintained through the head coaching switch that saw Ryan Day take over in 2019.
The Buckeyes played just eight games last year, rendering any quest for 10-plus wins futile, but with a full slate of games ahead in 2021, many will favor the Scarlet and Gray to return to –– if not surpass –– that benchmark once again.
In fact, BetOnline.ag placed the over/under number for regular season Buckeye wins at 11 ahead of 2021; a figure that Ohio State has hit or exceeded in seven of the past eight years prior to 2020.
Odds are even at -115 and -115 for the Buckeyes to reach more or less than that number during their 12-game schedule, which features Oregon, Akron and Tulsa in the nonconference, and Minnesota, Nebraska and Purdue out of the Big Ten West Division, along with the usual Big Ten East slate.
| Team | Conference | Win total | Odds over | Odds under |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Alabama |
SEC |
11.5 |
-125 |
-105 |
|
Clemson |
ACC |
11.5 |
-125 |
-105 |
|
Ohio State |
Big Ten |
11 |
-115 |
-115 |
|
Oklahoma |
Big 12 |
11 |
-140 |
+110 |
|
Georgia |
SEC |
10.5 |
-125 |
-105 |
Only two teams in the country were listed with a higher number of wins per BetOnline.ag’s over/under college football benchmarks, with both Alabama and Clemson being listed at 11.5 regular season wins.
The Crimson Tide, who won the College Football Playoff National Championship Game in dominant fashion last January, are listed with -125 odds to surpass 11.5 regular season wins, and -105 odds to come in under that number. Alabama went 10-0 in the regular season a season ago en route to an SEC Championship Game win.
For the Tigers, who dropped to the Buckeyes in one of last season’s College Football Playoff semifinal matchups, the odds are identical to Alabama’s in both categories. Clemson dropped just one of its 10 regular season games last year to finish 9-1 before avenging the loss in an ACC Championship Game win against Notre Dame.
Just one team besides Ohio State had its marker set at exactly 11 games, and that was the Oklahoma Sooners, who were given slightly better odds than the Buckeyes to exceed that mark, at -140. Despite losing two of its first three regular season games in 2020, Oklahoma won out from that point on, and finished No. 6 in the final AP poll.
The only other teams to have their over/under benchmark set in double-digits were Georgia, at 10.5, and Cincinnati, North Carolina and Coastal Carolina, which were each given 10.
| Team | Win total | Odds over | Odds under |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Wisconsin |
9.5 |
-140 |
+110 |
|
Penn State |
9 |
-125 |
-105 |
|
Iowa |
8.5 |
-115 |
-115 |
|
Michigan |
8 |
-150 |
+120 |
|
Indiana |
8 |
-150 |
+120 |
In the Big Ten, Wisconsin’s over/under mark was the second-highest other than the Buckeyes’ at 9.5, and Penn State’s number was set at nine. Behind the Nittany Lions, bets can be placed on Iowa to win more or less than 8.5 games, with both Michigan and Indiana set at eight.
Against Penn State, Indiana and Michigan, Ohio State is favored by double-digit margins per the South Point casino in Las Vegas, which released odds for a number of “Games of the Year” this past weekend.
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