Ohio State's betting odds of winning the national title drop significantly
On Monday, Ohio State was among the betting favorites to win the national championship.
By the time reports surfaced that quarterback Braxton Miller would miss the season with a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder, those betting odds changed dramatically.
According to Bovada.lv, the Buckeyes were 10/1 to win the national title, behind Florida State (4/1), Alabama (5/1), Oregon (7/1) and Auburn (9/1), to start the week. On Tuesday, those odds dropped to 40/1, tying the Buckeyes chances to win a national title with Ole Miss and Stanford.
"Ohio State was a major contender at 10-1 to win the National Championship and considering Braxton Miller was a frontrunner for the Heisman at 15-2, this injury has impacted their odds drastically going from 10-1 to 18-1 amidst the rumors of the injury and now are confirmed at 40-1,” said Kevin Bradley, sports book manager at Bovada.lv. “Michigan State and Wisconsin will now surpass them as favorites for the Big Ten and only time will tell if we are over-adjusting on the Buckeyes, even though they still have a fairly easy schedule."
As Bradley noted, there might still be some value in the Buckeyes, The schedule is relatively easy and even though new starting quarterback J.T. Barrett has no collegiate experience, he was a four-star dual-threat quarterback coming out of high school. That only thing that perhaps prohibited him from taking the backup role a year ago was that he was coming off an ACL tear from his senior season.
Reports from Rivals’ BuckeyeGrove.com say Barrett has a strong, accurate arm and the ability to make plays with his feet. The site also said Barrett had good leadership skills, which will be a must if he wants to move the Buckeyes forward from the devastating loss of Miller.
A 40/1 bet seems risky, but Ohio State might not be as bad off as many believe it to be. Even with Barrett at the helm, Ohio State could still go 11-1 with its lone regular season loss at Michigan State in early November. The rest of the schedule, with Ohio State’s talent, should be manageable.
For more Ohio State news, visit BuckeyeGrove.com.
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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday
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