The Big Ten Championship Game takes place tonight between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Michigan State Spartans. The game is scheduled for a 8:17 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on FOX. Currently the odds for the game have Ohio State favored by a little less than a touchdown in this one.
A win in this game should put the Buckeyes in the BCS National Championship Game. A lot of people think that spot in the title game is out of Ohio State's hands and will be settled in the SEC Championship game. However, it's worth noting that the SEC title game will be over by the time the Buckeyes and Spartans take to the field in this one. Ohio State should know what it has to do in order to play for it all.
Michigan State is no slouch. The Spartans have arguably the best defense in the country and have only one loss this season — a 17-13 defeat to Notre Dame way back in September. Mark Dantonio's squad has been able to win each game since then and should be heading to the Rose Bowl no matter what happens in this game. They've probably also learned a thing or two from Michigan's game against the Buckeyes last week. The Wolverines went for a 2-point conversion late in the game instead of trying to tie the Buckeyes. Had they completed that Ohio State would not be in line for the BCS title game.
The Buckeyes ran all over Michigan and really had no reason to throw the football in the air. But Michigan State's rush defense is far better (duh) than what the Wolverines sport. But remember, Michigan did collect better than 600 yards of total offense themselves in that loss to the Buckeyes last week. Will Michigan State have learned enough from that contest to work in a wrinkle or two for this game? The Spartans have been very vanilla on the offensive end of the ball all season.
Urban Meyer is obviously no stranger to playing and winning big games. And his teams always play well when they are a small favorite or underdog. Meyer's teams have gone 38-19-1 against the number in those situations, which is where we find the line in this game.
Carlos Hyde and Braxton Miller will look to keep the running game going for the Buckeyes. Michigan State's front seven is allowed to play very violently as their corner backs have no problems playing 1-on-1 out on the wide receivers. The Spartans have very physical defensive backs and allow the guys up front to get after the quarterback. Michigan State opponents are averaging just 2.23 yards per carry this season. The Spartans have only given up five rushing touchdowns to opponents all season as well.
Connor Cook might be the key to this game. He's the Spartan quarterback and has done a decent job of managing the team in games where the defense does its job, but the offense struggles. Jeremy Lankford is a boss at running back and the Spartans have done a great job moving the rock on the ground this season. Lankford has rushed for seven 100-yard games this season. He should be able to get to that number again this week against an Ohio State team that has been giving up a lot of yards the last few weeks.
Michigan State is getting points here, but they have won every game in the Big Ten this season by double digits. We like the Spartans to not only cover the number in this game, but pull the upset. This game is being played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and both teams have a lot of speed. We'll take the six points with the better overall defense in this one.
Free Pick: Michigan State 24, Ohio State 21
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