The Ohio State football team hasn't won a Big Ten Championship in five years. 2020 was the last time that the Buckeyes were in Indianapolis. They won that game against Northwestern and eventually played for a national championship. This year, their opponent is much tougher.
Indiana is not the same Hoosiers team that got destroyed in Columbus a year ago. Indiana is the second-ranked team in the country, and they are the real deal. If there is any team in the country that can hang with the Ohio State Buckeyes, it's these Hoosiers.
A massive win over Michigan should give the Buckeyes a ton of confidence heading into this game. There is a lot at stake in this game. The winner of this game gets the number-one overall seed in the College Football Playoff in addition to the conference crown.
Final prediction: Ohio State football 24 Indiana 6
Heading into this game, the Buckeyes are four-point favorites. This is the fewest points that Ohio State has been favored by since the opener against Texas. That makes sense, because this is the best team that the Buckeyes have faced all season long.
Despite the fact that IU has such a good defense, no one has been able to score on Ohio State all season. Matt Patricia has introduced new wrinkles every single week. Indiana has the best chance to do so, but Ohio State is too good, especially up the middle of the defense.
Kayden McDonald, Arvell Reese, Sonny Styles, and Caleb Downs are some of the best defenders in the country. They haven't been figured out yet. On the other side, Julian Sayin is going to be able to throw to two of the best receivers in college football. They also showed they can run the ball last week.
Ohio State is just on a level above everyone else in college football since that loss to Michigan last year. That won't change this weekend.