Mark Dantonio had been Ohio State’s Kryptonite for years. In the previous five meetings, the underdog Spartans had wrecked two Ohio State national title shots and forced more talented Buckeyes teams to grind out a pair of 17-16 wins.
Nobody could believe the Buckeyes were 16-point favorites against Michigan State. They almost tripled it.
Sometimes, numbers trump narratives.
Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images
So when Vegas installed Ohio State as a 16-point favorite over the Spartans, a week after the similarly grit-inclined Iowa Hawkeyes shocked the talented Buckeyes, the national reaction was similar to Dantonio’s:
But Ohio State didn’t just cover, the Buckeyes made it hurt with a 48-3 walloping of the Spartans. The Buckeyes got up early and never let up.
Our pregame picks post saw it in the tea leaves.
OSU is No. 2 in the country in S&P+, an opponent-adjusted advanced stat that has been better than Vegas at predicting team quality going forward. Michigan State is 22nd. The same stat projects the Buckeyes to win about 33-19, right on the spread margin.
And Ohio State’s got a thing about abject blowouts, one way or another. Since New Year’s Day, only three games Ohio State has played have had a scoring margin of fewer than 28 points.
With Dantonio, anything is possible (and hindsight is 20-20,) but the signs were kinda there that this was gonna be a walloping.
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