It’s been a morbid curiosity amongst college football fans for weeks, and we should know for sure later Sunday.
Just how big will the Rutgers-Ohio State line be?
(Yes, they still have to play the game. Saturday, 3:30 p.m. on BTN, SHI Stadium in Piscataway. They’re really going to do it. We feel as uncomfortable about it as you do. At least Rutgers likely does not have to worry about Chase Young, we guess. And Greg Schiano may be back by then to take everyone’s mind off what is unfolding)
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Circa Sports oddsmaker Matt Lindeman tweeted on Oct. 21 his system pegged the Buckeyes as a 50.5-point favorite. Since then, the Scarlet Knights have defeated Liberty and been hammered on the road by Illinois (albeit after a strong first half). Ohio State has demolished nationally-ranked Wisconsin and boat-raced Maryland on Saturday in a 73-14 win that, amazingly, was not its season high for points scored. The Buckeyes had a 76-5 romp over Miami of Ohio earlier this year.
Couple this season’s results with the fact Rutgers has lost its last three meetings against the Buckeyes by a combined score of 166-3 (failing to cover the hypothetical +50.5 line twice) and it seems quite possible the line could be as high as the one Lindeman threw out recently. Or higher.
But it will take a gutsy initial line from oddsmakers, or an avalanche of action against the Scarlet Knights, to make the line historic in all likelihood.
The most lopsided modern era point spread for a game featuring two major conference teams, based on NJ Advance Media’s research, was the 1987 Oklahoma-Kansas State game. The Sooners, en route to a fourth straight Big Eight title at the time, were a 57-point road favorite over the Wildcats, who were in the middle of a 30-game winless streak (they did tie Kansas that season). Oklahoma did not cover, beating K-State 59-10.
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James Kratch may be reached at jkratch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JamesKratch. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.