The Ohio State football program only lost two games last season. After starting out 12-0, they lost to Indiana in the Big Ten Championship. That was followed up with a loss in the Cotton Bowl to Miami. Neither game was a strong offensive effort from the Buckeyes.
Quite frankly, it was a disappointing finish to the year as the Ohio State Buckeyes were trying to win back-to-back national championships. This year, they are confident that they won't allow the same issues to affect them late in the season that they did in 2025.
Vegas oddsmakers don't believe that the Buckeyes are as talented as last year. They are already underdogs in Week 2 against Texas. Now, sportsbooks believe that Ohio State will have a tough time winning a game at Indiana in a rematch of the Big Ten Championship Game.
Ohio State sits underdogs to to the Indiana Hoosiers
According to FanDuel, the Buckeyes are 1.5-point underdogs to the Hoosiers. Indiana gets to host Ohio State in October, so that line seems to be indicative of home-field advantage. With it being such a small line, Vegas thinks that the home crowd will give Indiana the edge.
The issue with that line of thinking is that Ohio State football fans always take over Indiana's stadium during road games. Buckeye fans usually make up 40 percent of the fans in the stands. It's usually not a big home-field advantage for the Hoosiers, especially because Ohio State is so good.
Will that change a year after Indiana won the national championship? That seems to be what oddsmakers think. Ohio State will be the best game that Indiana has at home on their schedule, but it doesn't seem as though the Hoosiers are as talented as they were a year ago coming out of the portal.
Ryan Day can use oddsmakers as additional motivation for Ohio State
Day will be able to use this as extra motivation when the Buckeyes head to Bloomington, although they shouldn't need it. They already have revenge on their minds after losing the conference championship to them a year ago. That was not what they had in mind.
Offensively, Ohio State is expecting to score more than 10 points in this rematch. Julian Sayin had his worst game of the season up to that point. The offensive line was a disaster, as well. Both Sayin and the o-line should be improved from a year ago, based on who is returning.
Sayin is going to be a Heisman candidate again. Defensively, Matt Patricia should have the guys ready to play yet again, as he did last year. Indiana will have a new starting quarterback and several new faces on defense. That could make it tough to beat the Buckeyes again.
Ohio State will almost certainly be favored in every other game they play in the regular season. They are already huge favorites over Ball State. They are predicted to crush TTUN, too. Being underdogs is not something the Buckeyes are used to.
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