Big Ten Season Begins as Ohio State Hosts Nebraska

The Ohio State Buckeyes are 5-1 SU and ATS against the Nebraska Cornhuskers since the Cornhuskers joined the Big Ten in 2011. The Buckeyes hope to continue this dominance over their conference rival when they host Nebraska on Saturday afternoon in Columbus.

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

Early bettors were quick to jump on the Buckeyes when they opened as 24.5-point favorites, betting Ohio State up to -26. The total has remained steady early in the week at its opener of 64.5 points. Each of the last two meetings between these teams has gone UNDER the posted total after the first four went OVER.

Nebraska News & Notes

Nebraska fizzled out over the second half of the 2019 season, going just 1-5 SU over its last six games to finish the year with a disappointing 5-7 SU and 3-9 ATS record.

Quarterback Adrian Martinez missed two games with an injury and struggled in the passing game with only 10 touchdown passes and nine interceptions just one season after throwing for 17 touchdowns with eight interceptions as a freshman. The dual-threat QB enters the 2020 season healthy and ready to take a step forward in his development.

If Martinez plays to his potential and the defense continues to trend in the right direction, the Cornhuskers could be poised to record their first winning record under head coach Scott Frost. But the team won’t have much room for error out of the gate with Ohio State, Wisconsin and Penn State all on tap in Nebraska’s first four games.

Ohio State News & Notes

The Buckeyes went a perfect 13-0 SU and 9-4 ATS last season before losing a competitive 29-23 game in the playoffs to the Clemson Tigers. The defense from last year’s team took some significant hits this offseason, including three key players who were selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft – defensive end Chase Young, cornerback Jeff Okudah and cornerback Damon Arnette. There is still plenty of elite talent on this year’s squad, but there may be some growing pains.

With that in mind, this year’s Buckeyes team may go as far as quarterback Justin Fields can take it. Fields was sensational last season with 3,273 passing yards, 41 passing touchdowns and only three interceptions to go along with 484 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns.

The Big Ten’s late start may have taken Fields out of the Heisman Trophy race, but football fans should still be treated to a Heisman-caliber season in Ohio.

Betting Pick: OVER 64.5 points

Justin Fields and the Buckeyes are going to put up a ton of points at home. Nebraska’s experienced offense should be able to score enough points – even if many of them come in garbage time – to send this game OVER its posted total.