COLUMBUS, Ohio — Between the loss of nearly a starting lineup’s worth of NFL talent, but the return of arguably the Big Ten’s best player and one of college football’s winningest coaches, this much seems to be certain when it comes to Ohio State’s outlook on the 2016 season: nothing’s for certain.
Despite very little having changed for the Buckeyes between the mass exodus of talent that occurred at the end of the 2015 season and the dead period that is this point of the offseason, prognostications on Ohio State’s upcoming campaign have seemingly varied by the day.
The latest public projection has painted a surprisingly bleak picture for the Buckeyes, with Las Vegas’ Golden Nugget sportsbook (via Covers.com) setting Ohio State’s regular-season over/under win total at a meek 8.5.
Unsurprisingly, according to at least one Las Vegas patron, the line on Buckeye regular-season wins has already moved to nine following last week’s initial posting.
And with good reason: Even with five first-round picks, 12 total draft picks and 16 former starters having moved on from last year’s team, winning eight or fewer games would be a massive disappointment for an Ohio State program that’s averaged 11.5 regular-season wins and compiled an overall 50-4 record since Urban Meyer arrived in 2012.
“We certainly don’t lower our standards just because a player moves on,” Meyer said this offseason. “That’s not what this place is all about.”
The early predictions when it came to the…
Continue Reading: Overlooked or Overrated? Ohio State Is College Football’s Great Unknown in 2016
