The Trojans and Buckeyes have played one another for some pretty historic Rose Bowl battles. In the more recent of those meetings, USC won four of the last five. The two storied NCAA football programs meet again here in the 2017 college bowl season, but this time in Dallas for the Cotton Bowl on Friday, December 29. Will the USC Trojans extend their current record against the Ohio State Buckeyes to five of six, or will the Bucks’ turn the rivalry around here at the end of the year? Register to bet and wager with your pick.
Betting Preview for the USC Trojans vs Ohio State Buckeyes Cotton Bowl Game on Dec 29 2017
The Trojans are carrying a five-game winning streak into this big bowl game. They are coming off of a 31-28 victory over the Stanford Cardinal in the Pac-12 championship, where QB Sam Darnold threw a touchdown pass in the first quarter (within the first 10 minutes) while the Trojans pushed on to maintain the lead all game and run away with the eventual win.
On the game, the Trojans outgained Stanford by a total of 501-343 yards, and out rushed their opponent 176-151. With that last regular season result, the USC Trojans have outgained six of its last eight opponents, outrushing 11 of the last 12 to boot.
Betting on the vs Ohio State Buckeyes -7.5 (11-2)
The Buckeyes are coming into the Cotton Bowl on a four-game winning streak, taking out a previously undefeated Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game. Ohio State’s narrow 27-21 win began with an 84-yard touchdown connection between JT Barrett and Terry McLaurin, and followed up with a push to extend that lead to 21-7. Later in the game they would let the Badgers get within three points (24-21) but a late field goal extended Ohio’s comfort zone, and allowed them to close out the game for the win.
For the night, the Buckeyes outgained Wisconsin by a total of 449-298 yards and outrushed the Badgers 238-60, which is surprising given that the Badgers normally have an extremely sound ground game. Three Ohio State turnovers put themselves in danger, leading directly to 17 points for the Badgers, but the Buckeyes maintained their composure, even though they lost out on an opportunity to notch a blow out game.
With that final game in the books, the Ohio State Buckeyes have outgained 10 of their last 11 opponents, and outrushed 12 of its last 13, and mostly by large margins.
Writer’s Prediction
To be honest, the point spread on this game seems inflated, but in the end, the squad that wins the ground battle will win this game and cover the 7.5-spread spread. So which team will that be? Given that USC is on a 8-game run that left them with a 1-7 ATS record, smart money here bets on the Ohio State Buckeyes.
