Week 5 College Football Picks: Ohio State, Michigan State Set to Cover Odds

The two top teams in the country both reside in the Big Ten Conference, which was viewed as overrated by many betting experts before the Ohio State Buckeyes sneaked into the College Football Playoff field at the end of last season and ended up winning the national championship.

The top-ranked Buckeyes (4-0) and second-ranked Michigan State Spartans (4-0) have been underwhelming this year despite remaining undefeated through the first month, but both of them have great opportunities to prove themselves as dominant teams in Week 5.

Ohio State plays its first road game since rallying back for a 42-24 victory against the Virginia Tech Hokies in the season opener on September 7, visiting the Indiana Hoosiers (4-0) as a 21-point betting favorite, according to sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

The Hoosiers are also undefeated and have covered the spread in the past four meetings with the Buckeyes, who have failed to beat the number in three straight following that win at Virginia Tech.

But Ohio State will get a chance to let its offense roll again, because Indiana will try to turn this game into a shootout. That will be a bad idea for the home team and lead to the biggest win of the season for the defending champs.

Like the Buckeyes, the Spartans have struggled to cover this year. In fact, Michigan State is 0-4 against the spread, with its largest margin of victory coming last Saturday in a 30-10 win over the Central Michigan Chippewas as 26-point home favorites.

The Spartans could not have an easier conference opponent this week, though, as the Purdue Boilermakers (1-3) are 0-3 ATS in their losses, and they are coming off a 35-28 home loss to the Bowling Green Falcons as five-point home underdogs.

Michigan State is a nearly identical favorite as Ohio State, favored by 22 points at home, and will cover for the first time this year in a rout.

One more big favorite that will have an easy time covering is the fifth-ranked Baylor Bears (3-0) against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Baylor blew away the Rice Owls 70-17 last Saturday, while Texas Tech lost 55-52 to the TCU Horned Frogs.

The Bears are 17-point betting favorites for their Big 12 matchup at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium and nearly lost to the Red Raiders last year before pulling out a 48-46 victory. You can bet that scare got Baylor’s attention, and Texas Tech will suffer a bit of a letdown here and have a tough time trying to duplicate last week’s performance.