Ohio State vs. Michigan odds preview, game and player prop bets, and top football betting promo codes

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One of college football’s greatest rivalries writes another chapter Saturday in Ann Arbor when No. 2 Ohio State meets No. 3 Michigan in a battle of 11-0 teams. The Big Ten East title is on the line and a spot in the Big Ten championship game. After winning convincingly the last two years, Michigan is a 3.5-point favorite at home.

We have two of our best prop bets for the 128th meeting of these two schools.

This is the college football game of the year – at least until next week, when Alabama meets Georgia in the SEC championship game.

The winner here likely clinches a spot in the CFB playoff as whoever wins will be a double-digit favorite against toothless Iowa in the Big Ten title game next week.

Michigan opened as a four-point favorite against the Buckeyes, but that has dropped to 3.5. The total is 45.5 at BetMGM.

Michigan has had a season of turmoil. Off the field, the school has been dealing with an odd in-person scouting scandal and no one is really sure what they saw, what they knew, and whether they used it. Coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended from coaching the last three games of the regular season for his knowledge of the scheme. Of course, Michigan disputes this and has rallied around what they feel is a miscarriage of justice.

On the field, the Wolverines lead the nation in scoring defense, allowing just nine points per game. The running game follows a big and experienced offensive line, and quarterback J.J. McCarthy torched Ohio State last year, throwing for three scores and running for another.

The Buckeyes have the second-best scoring defense in the nation behind Michigan (although it’s fair to wonder about the quality of the Big Ten offenses). They feature Heisman candidate Marvin Harrison Jr. at wide receiver.

Kickoff at the Big House in Michigan is at 11 a.m. CT on FOX. Tickets are going for five times the face value on the secondary market.

Michigan has turned this rivalry around the last two years by dominating the Buckeyes up front. Last year, Michigan ran for 252 yards against the Buckeyes and the year before that, they ran for 297 yards.

Corum didn’t play last year against Ohio State because of a knee injury. He’s been fully healthy this season and has 888 yards on 180 carries, but that number is a little misleading because he often didn’t play late in games. He ran for 94 yards against Maryland last week and 145 the week before against Penn State.

Ohio State’s defense allows 108.5 on the ground, 21st in the nation, but when faced with a good ground game, they’ve bent. Notre Dame ran for 176 yards against the Buckeyes and Rutgers — yes, Rutgers — ran for 232. The biggest edge Michigan has in this game is its offensive line against the Buckeyes defensive line.

This number is probably more a reflection of the greatness of Harrison Jr. but expect him to be the focal point of the Michigan defense.

McCord has thrown for 2,899 total yards and has only gone over this total once in his last four games. Michigan knows that if they stop Harrison Jr., they will win. He’s caught 62 passes for 1,093 yards and 13 touchdowns, but Michigan isn’t going to let him get loose.

If Harrison Jr. is locked down, McCord isn’t getting close to 239.5 passing yards.

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