College Football Predictions – Ohio State To Bury Hapless Minnesota Gophers

People are trying to make some seriously ballsy college football predictions out there when it comes to the prime time tilt between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Minnesota Golden Gophers this Saturday. Most have pointed to the fact that Ohio State has struggled in its two road games this season, but considering how good their competition away from home has been, I wouldn’t be too concerned.

Ohio State dropped back to the fringe of the top-10 in the AP Rankings two weeks ago after being derailed by the Wisconsin Badgers. Two weeks prior to that game, they failed to cover against a very resilient Illinois team. They won’t same the sort of challenges against Minnesota.

Any college football prediction that included Terrell Pryor wining the Heisman, or Jim Tressel game planning for a BCS title in 2010, went out the window. The Big Ten simply isn’t a good enough conference to yield a true number-one that isn’t undefeated.

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The Buckeyes responded to their loss to Wisconsin by pounding the Purdue Boilermakers in to thin air, Terrelle Pryor had 270 passing yards and 3 touchdowns, but continued to contribute to his interception total by throwing 2 picks in that game. Pryor now has 6 picks on the season and has lost plenty of headway to Cameron Newton of Auburn in the Heisman race, despite many college football predictions touting him as the next, breakout talent.

Ohio State Buckeyes (7-1) vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers (1-7)

Saturday, October 30th — TCF Bank Stadium — 8:00pm EST

College Football Line: Ohio State -25 (54.5)

It’s been a very disappointing year for the Buckeyes in that regard. The BCS Championship game has eluded them for the past two seasons, despite appearances in the 2007 and 2008 BCS National Championship games. A lot of it has to do with how the world feels about Jim Tressel. Everything else has to do with the lack of serious competition in the Big Ten.

Still, just because Ohio State hasn’t come through on their long term college football predictions for a national title and potential Heisman, doesn’t mean you should just turn your backs (and wallets) away from them. They’re still 6-2 ATS this season and there’s no reason to bet on Minnesota.

The Gophers are a pitiful 0-5 SU in their past 5 games at home, as well as winless and 1-4 ATS in their past 5 games at home against Ohio State. Overall, they are just 1-9 SU and 3-7 when playing the Buckeyes.

The Gophers have had to deal with plenty of problems as well. Touted as a reasonable college football prediction for an upstart, they’ve fired their head coach and only won a single game this year. Hosting a very motivated Ohio State team is going to be am embarrassment for the home team.

The Buckeyes are not dead yet. A single loss to a ranked team does not kill championship hopes. There is still plenty of football to be played, and while it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, my bet is that Ohio State begins to jump up the BCS standings as the Big 12 and Pac 10 conferences start kicking the crap out of each other internally.

Making Ohio State a pick this weekend with a -25.0 point spread isn’t a lofty suggestion, but I’m not backing away on the college football predictions I made at the start of the season – Ohio State will stomp enough mud holes around the country to get noticed and enter the Bowl Series yet again.

Furious College Football Predictions: Ohio State -25.0 (OVER)

Make more college football predictions in the BCS National Championships game here!