The 2022 college football season kicks off on Saturday and lucky for us Week 0 includes some intense and very important Big Ten conference play. Before the season is in full swing, I wanted to provide a somewhat in-depth preview of what we can expect from the Ohio State Buckeyes.
I am not looking at the Buckeyes from a state of whether are they good or not in this piece, but can they make me any money? The Vegas consensus for the Ohio State season win total is set at 10.5 and we want to break down the likelihood that they exceed that number. We already provided in-depth breakdowns for the Nebraska Huskers, Northwestern Wildcats, and Illinois Fighting Illini, but what can we expect from the Buckeyes?
The Good
To put into perspective how good the Ohio State Buckeyes are, last season was a complete disappointment and they still won 11 games, had a Rose Bowl victory, and had a Heisman finalist quarterback. With C.J. Stroud back in the fold, the sky is the limit for Ohio State.
Rumor has it that Stroud fully expects to be even better, even more, comfortable, and even more athletic, and if this is true and he can take home a Heisman then it is highly likely that the Buckeyes will be playing for a national championship.
Stroud’s supporting cast should be even better than last year as well, despite losing two receivers to the first round. This season Jaxon Smith-Njigba will take the lion’s share of the receiving focus and TreVeyon Henderson is expected to take another step forward as a runner.
The Bad
Despite this team looking great on paper last season, the fact is it was not on the same tier as some of the nation’s best. Ohio State needs to bounce back and beat Michigan and win the Big Ten. The biggest reason the Buckeyes struggled when they did was their defense, and despite adding Jim Knowles as their new defensive coordinator, transforming this defense from bad to good could take longer than most want.
The Bet
Likely Wins: Arkansas State, Toledo, Wisconsin, Rutgers, Michigan State, Iowa, Penn State, Northwestern, Indiana, Maryland
Likely Losses: None
50/50: Notre Dame, Michigan
I like the over on this number, it is obviously high, but Ohio State should be able to sleepwalk to ten wins and it would be shocking if they lost to both Notre Dame and Michigan.
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