What prop bets can you make for Ohio State vs. Michigan State game?

Let’s be honest, in 2023, a matchup against the Michigan State Spartans isn’t what it was five years ago. The program is down bad, so playing them in primetime feels like a bit of a waste of electricity to turn the lights on in Ohio Stadium.

As of publishing time, the Bucks are 31-point favorites, and the total points line is set at 47. But betting on those boring traditional lines isn’t any fun. So, if you want to do everything that you possibly can to enjoy the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes’ night road game on Saturday, Nov. 11, perhaps you would be interested in what unusual prop bets our friends at DraftKings Sportsbook have to offer.

How Much Will the Largest Lead of the Game Be?

According to DraftKings Sportsbook, the line for the game has risen a bit from 29.5 where it opened to 31 points, so the largest lead question is essentially whether or not Ohio State (or I suppose Michigan State) will ever have a lead three points above the spread. While the Buckeyes are 5-3-1 against the spread this season, they have not been an especially great covering team in recent years, especially when the numbers are this big.

However, Michigan State has been so lately, that a shutout, or one-score showing from the Spartans is in the cards, meaning that the OSU offense would only need to score five touchdowns or so — which seems reasonable — to potentially hit this number.

How Many Touchdowns Will Be Scored?

Knowing that the spread is just 31 points, this one tells you a lot about how Vegas sees it playing out. Either, the bookies think there will be a lot of field goals kicked, or they don’t suspect that MSU is going to do much in the scoring department. If Ohio State covers and the exact total touchdowns number is at five, then the Buckeyes could get all of those touchdowns on their own with Sparty maybe contributing a field goal. Seems reasonable, and essentially what the oddsmakers are predicting.

Another reason why I always love this prop is because of how mixed up the touchdown totals are; it’s fun to see where things start bouncing around. It goes 5 to 6 to 4 to 7 to 3 to 8 to 2 all the way up to 9, then to 10 or more, one, and no TDs scored being the longest shot. The distribution of odds is fascinating.

The 5.5 total touchdowns aren’t all that interesting to me from an over/under perspective because I think that’s probably a fairly accurate line. However, I will be trying to decode the pattern in the odds breakdown until kickoff.

What Will the Winning Margin Be?

Again, the line currently sits at 31 points for the Buckeyes, so it is telling that the lines get progressively smaller the more that the Buckeyes win by. Ohio State winning by 42 points is 3.5 times more likely than them winning by 1, and even that is more than twice as likely that Michigan State winning by 1. Vegas, like most of us, has no faith in Sparty tonight.

Who Will Score X Number of Points First?

The answer to all of these is Ohio State. Just take Ohio State in all of them.

Who Will Have the Longest Touchdown?

Again, why would you put money on this being the team that doesn’t have Marvin Harrison Jr.?

Will the Final Score Be an Even or Odd Number?

This is for absolute degenerates only, but I need someone who is not completely worthless when it comes to math to walk me through why odd is a favorite here.