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

Anytime a team has to play at Camp Randall, it’s a scary proposition, but having to go on the road to Madison the weekend before Halloween for a primetime matchup is especially perilous. Badgers fans have been known to supply both tricks and treats to opposing fans in players, sometimes in the same marshmallow-covered quarters being hurled at the heads of players walking off the field.

As of publishing time, the Bucks are 14.5-point favorites, and the total points line is set at 45.5. 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. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes’ night road game on Saturday, Oct. 28, perhaps you would be interested in what unusual prop bets our friends at DraftKings Sportsbook have to offer.

Who Will Score First?

This is always a fun one for me because trying to predict who scores first has to take into account a ton of football factors, but also things that are completely left to chance. Yes, you have to be able to analyze both teams’ offenses and defenses, but you’ve also got to keep in mind that who gets the ball first is essentially determined by a random flip of a coin.

Now, against Notre Dame, the Buckeyes won the toss and Ryan Day decided to take the ball (which I wholeheartedly support), but since then, he has opted for the more traditional deferment when given the opportunity. So, there is a bit of strategic thinking that you have to figure in when making this bet. If most teams defer to the second half, but OSU opts to start on offense, that significantly increases the chances that the Buckeyes score first; and, considering that Ohio State’s offense is significantly better than Purdue’s, that feels like a fairly solid bet.

Of course, the most fun bet would be to put a buck or two on each safety option. While almost wholly unlikely, a $1 bet could profit you up to $280, so that’s certainly worth one dollar of sweat. This is actually a pretty low payout for this type of bet, so it looks like Vegas is expecting someone to be pinned pretty deep early on.

How Much Will the Largest Lead of the Game Be?

According to DraftKings Sportsbook, the line for the game has risen slightly from 14 to 14.5 points, so the largest lead question is essentially whether or not Ohio State (or I suppose Wisconsin) will ever have a lead five points above the spread. While the Buckeyes did get the cover against Penn State, they have not been an especially great covering team in recent years, so to expect them to go above and beyond the spread at any point seems like something that might not be worth the wager, especially at fairly thin margins.

However, the defense has looked so good lately, that a shutout, or one-score output, from the Badgers is in the cards, meaning that the OSU offense would only need to score three touchdowns to potentially hit this number.

How Many Touchdowns Will Be Scored?

I think this one is fun because of how mixed up the touchdown totals are. 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 14.5 points for the Buckeyes, so it is interesting to me that there isn’t really a huge gap between OSU winning by 1 to OSU winning by 18. Personally — because I am a terrible gambler — I would probably put a little bit on the 37 to 42 and 43+ options just because I think that there is a moderately decent chance of it happening and the payout is good.

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 not-insignificant favorite here.