Ohio State Projected to be Undefeated in Big Ten Play
The Ohio State Buckeyes have been the kings of the Big Ten for quite some time now, and they’ll be vying for their fifth straight conference title in 2021.
WynnBET likes their chances to do just that, as they’re currently set as -120 favorites to win the conference this season. The only teams who are seemingly within reach are the Penn State Nittany Lions at +800 and the Wisconsin Badgers at +850.
Vegas also projects that Ohio State will have a chance to go undefeated in the 2021 regular season, something they haven’t done since 2012 under Urban Meyer. WynnBET has the Buckeyes’ win total set at 11.5, but the under is the slight favorite at -190.
Ohio State also has the third best odds to win the college football national championship at +600, behind Alabama +325 and Clemson +425.
The one issue that Ohio State will need to sort out before their regular season gets underway, is who will replace Justin Fields at quarterback. C.J. Stroud, Jack Miller III, and true freshman Kyle McCord will battle it out for the starting role.
If one of those three players can be a competent replacement for Fields, then the rest of the Buckeyes’ offense can carry the unit to a plethora of wins in 2021. Master Teague III is projected to be one of the best running backs in the country this season, and he’ll be running behind two of the best offensive tackles in Thayer Munford and Nicholas Petit-Frere.
On defense, Haskell Garrett will prove to once again be one of the most dominant interior linemen in the conference.
It’s the Ohio State secondary that could cause some headaches this season. They ranked 122nd (6th last) in opponent passing yards per game last season, giving up an average of 303.6 yards through the air per game. With no clear answer to the problem right now, the Buckeyes will need some underclassman to step up this season if they hope to avoid being torched through the air.
Ohio State is poised to dominate the Big Ten again in 2021, but questions at quarterback and the secondary will have to be answered before they can be considered National Championship contenders.