Michigan State’s Shilique Calhoun rushes Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett in 2014.(Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier, DFP) The last time we saw a team that was given so little chance to win by so many it was the Detroit Lions against the Green Bay Packers. How’d that turn out? But just like the Lions, pretty much every college football pundit and their mother is picking Michigan State to lose the game of the week, the Big Ten showdown at Ohio State on Saturday. Let’s put a number on it. Or rather, fivethirtyeight.com put a number on it, giving the Buckeyes a 79% chance of winning the game, according to the Football Power Index. The website also put some numbers on just how important this game is to both teams — but more important to the Spartans. “If either team wants to ensure a playoff appearance, it needs to win out — but the Buckeyes and Spartans have to first get past each other,” Andrew Flowers writes. “But a win here matters more for one-loss Michigan State. It’s not that Ohio State can take a mulligan; the undefeated Buckeyes just have more leeway. “In 5,000 simulations of our College Football Playoff model, a one-loss Ohio State team makes the playoff 52% of the time…
Continue Reading: National consensus is Ohio State will beat MSU
