Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Penn State Nittany Lions Odds: Analysis and Prediction

The Ohio State Buckeyes bring a four-game winning streak into Beaver Stadium Saturday for a key Big Ten matchup with the Penn State Nittany Lions. The Buckeyes have also gone 4-0 against the spread during this stretch and hope a strong finish in the conference can catapult them into consideration for the four-team College Football Playoff at the end of the year.

Point spread: The Buckeyes opened as 11.5-point favorites at Beaver Stadium, according to sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark. (Line updates and matchup report.)

College football pick via Odds Shark computer: 37.6-18.0 Buckeyes

Why the Ohio State Buckeyes can cover the spread

Ohio State is not messing around anymore and knows what’s at stake the rest of the way. Win out, and the Buckeyes will make their case for a spot in the four-team playoff. Lose another game, and they will need to start thinking about next year.

That’s the way they have been playing in the past four games, as none of their last four covers have been in question with an average margin of victory of nearly 39 points.

Ohio State is coming off a 56-17 home win over Rutgers as a 21-point favorite and won its last road game 52-24 at Maryland two weeks earlier as 6.5-point chalk.

Why the Penn State Nittany Lions can cover the spread

The Nittany Lions may not be competing for a national championship this year, but they are still looking to improve from last season and can play spoilers against the Buckeyes. Penn State has dropped two in a row both straight up and ATS but was off last week to try to figure out how to turn things around. The key for the Nittany Lions is getting quarterback Christian Hackenberg to play better.

The sophomore captain threw for a season-low 160 yards in an 18-13 loss at Michigan in the team’s last game and had higher expectations for this season, especially after putting together three consecutive games of more than 300 yards passing to start the year. If Hackenberg can get back on track here, Penn State will have a good shot to cover the spread.

Smart Pick

Ohio State routed Penn State 63-14 last year at home, covering as a 16-point favorite to improve to 6-2 ATS in the past eight meetings. The Buckeyes are also 10-4-1 versus the line in their last 15 road games while the Nittany Lions are just 1-3 ATS in their past four home games against Big Ten opponents. All those trends back Ohio State, and rightfully so.

The Buckeyes are the far superior team with much more on the line right now. Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer knows how to close out seasons and will have his players ready to go in this spot to not only win, but also cover as double-digit road favorites.

Betting trends

• The total has gone OVER in five of Ohio State's last five games
• Penn State is 1-4 SU in its last five games when playing Ohio State

All point spread and lines data courtesy of Odds Shark, all quotes gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted. Check out Twitter for injury and line movement updates and get the free odds tracker app.