Miami Ohio
vs.
Ohio State
Pick with Betting Analysis
9/1/12
Ohio State will usher in the Urban Meyer era on Saturday, September 1st by hosting the Miami Ohio Redhawks from the MAC. Ohio State is a hefty 23 point favorite at SBG Global and 5 Dimes with a posted total of 47.5 at Betonline. Not surprisingly, over 95% of the wagers being taken on this Game are coming in on the Buckeyes side.
If you’re a Miami Ohio fan or backer, there’s plenty to look forward to this year. your team is stacked with veteran players, returning 9 offensive starters and 7 on the defense. This team was just 4-8 last season, with 4 of those losses coming by a touchdown or less. They were also competitive against a high profile opponent, Missouri, losing by a score of 17-6.
Big things are obviously expected from the Buckeyes this year. Ohio State is one of the most storied programs in all of college football and has routinely won 11 or 12 Games each year going back more than a decade. Last season was their first losing year since 1988, going 6-7 overall. No better way to add some juice to the program than to go out and get the highest profile coach available, a proven winner, Urban Meyer.
So does Miami Ohio have a shot here? Well, sure. MAC teams have risen to the occasion plenty of times in the past when taking on Big 10 teams. Many MAC players were ignored by these Big 10 programs so getting the opportunity to go out and show these guys what they missed always provides added motivation. Just using Ohio State as an example, they only beat Toledo by 5 last year and they beat Ohio U 26-14 in 2008.
But the Buckeyes are loaded with veteran players as well, and are always going to have some of the most talented players in the country on their roster. No MAC team will ever have more talent than Ohio State on the gridiron. Not in Our lifetimes.
The big question here, isn’t whether Miami Ohio will win this one, (they won’t) but whether they will cover this big number. Under normal circumstaNCes, normal being Ohio State coming off an 11+ win season, we’d look for a team like Miami Ohio to come in and catch the Buckeyes sleeping. Perhaps taking the Redhawks lightly. But with all of the hoopla surrounding Urban Meyer, with the high expectations that go along with that, we expect the Buckeyes to have the pedal to the metal from start to finish. We expect Urban to send a message here and let the rest of the Big 10 and college football in general know he’s back.
Meyer is a blistering 142-86 against the spread as a head coach, iNCluding a 71-43 mark at Florida. He’s never been afraid to run up the score. Here’s a quote from Ohio State receiver Corey Brown. “Fans should prepare for an explosion, and that Meyer’s philosophy is to “Score100 points and do this and try to run up the Scoreand have a good time out there and try to defeat Our opponent’s will – no mas everybody.”
We would have loved to have see this Game come in under 3 touchdowns. But that won’t happen. at -23, it’s a bit risky but we’re going to go ahead and lay the big number here. Ohio State should be able to name their score. Jim Tressel teams would take their foot off the GAs. Urban Meyer won’t. Not in his debut in the Horseshoe. Ohio State -23. Also, Over 47.5 is starting to look attractive as well. Ohio State could reach that number on their own.