The last second round College Football Playoff matchup will be determined with the outcome of the Tennessee Volunteers at Ohio State Buckeyes game, which will kickoff at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday night from Ohio Stadium in Columbus. The Buckeyes should be pissed after losing again to Michigan in their most recent outing. The setback cost them a chance at the Big Ten title but worse than that it was their fourth straight loss to the team up north. The Vols and Buckeyes both went 10-2 and possess high-powered offenses, but this could be a battle between two of the best defenses in the country, which is why the total at the Bitcoin Sportsbook hit the board at 46.5. Having homefield advantage also helped position Ohio State as a 7.5-point favorite on the early line.
College Football Betting Lines
CFP First Round Betting Odds
Tennessee Volunteers +7.5 / ML +237
Ohio State Buckeyes -7.5 / ML -277
Over / Under 46.5
Ohio State can’t really erase the memory of what happened a few weeks ago when they lost at home to archrival Michigan as a 19.5-point favorite. Beating Tennessee and advancing to a second round matchup with Oregon would be a good start, though. The Buckeyes did more than enough defensively to end their losing spell to the Wolverines holding them to 234 total yards and 13 points. That kind of effort typically results in an OSU victory. Not this time, though. The offense struggled to consistently move the football, likely due to season-ending injuries to starting linemen Josh Simmons and Seth McLaughlin.
Problems moving the football were prevalent against some of the better defenses the Buckeyes faced this season, so the UM game wasn’t an aberration. The group was less productive in games against Oregon, Nebraska, Penn State and Michigan, averaging just 20.5 points. For the season OSU averaged 35.5 points showing how they cleaned up against lesser foes. The Buckeyes will need Will Howard to bounce back from his poorest outing of the year. He completed just 57.6 percent of his passes with a pair of picks against Michigan.
To relieve some pressure from a relentless Tennessee pass rush, expect OSU to try and establish the run game. Across the board the offensive numbers have dipped but especially on the ground. OSU is 59th nationally running the football and did almost nothing against Michigan averaging less than 3.0 yards per carry. Quinshon Judkins leads the team with 805 rushing yards and eight TDs and TreVeyon Henderso has 751 yards and six scores while averaging 7.0 yards per carry.
Tennessee’s up-tempo attack also hit some snags during the season with inconsistent play from Nico Iamaleava having something to do with that. In their losses to Arkansas and Georgia the Vols scored a total of 31 points, which was below their season average of 37.3 points. The average was boosted by non-conference routs of Chattanooga, NC State and Kent, who the Vols outscored 191-13. They topped the 30-point mark twice in eight SEC games.
Still, the Vols have an offense loaded with playmakers. Iamaleava threw for more than 2,500 yards with 19 touchdowns and an additional 317 yards on the ground. Dylan Sampson anchors a run game that led the SEC with an average of 232 yards. Sampson has rushed for nearly 1,500 yards and 22 touchdowns earning SEC Offensive Player of the Year. And Dont’e Thornton Jr. is a big play waiting to happen on the outside. He has just 25 catches with six of them ending in touchdowns, and his average of 25.9 yards per grab is tops in the FBS.
Given how both offenses did less against stronger stop units, backing the UNDER looks like a smart play. OSU has the best defense in country allowing 241.1 yards and 10.9 points while the Vols are fourth nationally in both categories. And laying 7.5-points in a game between evenly-matched clubs seems a bit excessive.
Tennessee at Ohio State Same Game Parlay Picks
Tennessee +7.5
Tennessee / Ohio State UNDER 46.5
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