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Rutgers vs. Ohio State Prediction and Odds for Thursday, December 8 (Buckeyes Set to Roll in Big Ten Opener)

By Reed Wallach

Nov 16, 2022; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes center Felix Okpara (34) dunks over Eastern Illinois Panthers center Nick Ellington (11) during the second half of the NCAA men's basketball game at Value City Arena. Ohio State won 65-43. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-The Columbus DispatchBasketball Eastern Illinois At Ohio State
Nov 16, 2022; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes center Felix Okpara (34) dunks over Eastern Illinois Panthers center Nick Ellington (11) during the second half of the NCAA men's basketball game at Value City Arena. Ohio State won 65-43. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-The Columbus DispatchBasketball Eastern Illinois At Ohio State /
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Ohio State gets its Big Ten season started, hosting Rutgers on Thursday night at Value City Arena.

The Buckeyes have had a tough non conference schedule to prepare them for the grind of the Big Ten schedule while Rutgers is playing in their second true road game of the season but coming off their best win of the season, at home against Indiana.

Who has the edge in this conference showdown?

Let’s check out the odds and find out:

Rutgers vs. Ohio State Odds, Spread and Total

Rutgers vs. Ohio State Prediction and Pick

These are two bruising teams around the rim, each checking inside the top 15 nationally in offensive rebounding rate, but I trust the Ohio State offense to outpace Rutgers and their overvalued defense.

The Scarlet Knights are holding teams to the lowest national 3-point percentage in the entire country, 20% on the year, but they are running into a fantastic offensive group in the Buckeyes, who are third in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency metric as well as 20th in ShotQuality’s adjusted offensive score, meaning that this team has a good shot profile and is converting at a high rate.

The Rutgers offense won’t be able to keep up, 291st in effective field goal percentage, and this is an Ohio State defense that limits foul shots (95th in free throw rate allowed) and cleans the glass (96th in defensive rebounding rate). The Scarlet Knights did great work at home to hand Indiana their first loss, but the Buckeyes ability to shoot from the perimeter will offset their opponents stout interior defense. With regression looming for Rutgers’ 3-point defense, I’ll lay the points with Ohio State at home.

Track all of Reed’s bets at Betstamp HERE!

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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