Ohio State vs. Rutgers odds, spread, lines: Week 5 college football picks, predictions by computer model
A pair of Big Ten rivals meet up in Columbus as Ohio State hosts Rutgers in college football's Week 5 action on Saturday.
Rutgers was perfect through three games before tripping up in a 17-point loss to Iowa, while the Buckeyes are 4-0 after demolishing a decent Wisconsin team in their conference opener.
What do the experts predict for this matchup? Let's see how the College Football Power Index computer prediction model projects the game.
Ohio State vs. Rutgers odds, spread, predictions
Week 5 college football picks: Ohio State vs. Rutgers
Don't lose any sleep over this one, Buckeye fans: the computer projects Ohio State has the comfortable 98.3 percent chance to win the game.
By contrast, Rutgers has the 1.7 percent shot to upset OSU.
The oddsmakers tend to agree, as Ohio State comes into the game as strong 41.5 point favorites, according to the line at SI Sportsbook, which set the over/under mark of 59.5 points.
Ohio State checks in at No. 2 on the index's 131 college football rankings, a jump of 1 spot over Georgia following Saturday's win over Wisconsin.
FPI projects the Buckeyes will win 11.7 games on the season with a 58.2 percent chance to win the Big Ten, a 77.9 percent shot to make the College Football Playoff, and the 23.9 percent chance to win it.
OSU is estimated to be 27.5 points better than the teams on its schedule on average, according to the computer.
AP top 25 voters kept Ohio State in the No. 3 position this week, behind Alabama and ahead of Big Ten rival Michigan.
Rutgers owns the No. 79 position on the FPI national rankings, a drop of 7 spots after the Iowa loss, projected to win 4.8 games on the year and expected to be 2.7 points worse than its opponents each week on average.
Related: College football scores | College football rankings | College football schedule
College Football Power Index
Football Power Index (FPI) college football rankings and computer prediction model are a measure of team strength that predicts a team’s future performance.
Rankings and scores predictions are based on 20,000 simulations of a team’s season, using a combination of analytics, including scores to date, quality of opponents, and a team’s schedule.
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College football rankings
According to AP top 25 poll
- Georgia
- Alabama
- Ohio State
- Michigan
- Clemson
- USC
- Kentucky
- Tennessee
- Oklahoma State
- NC State
- Penn State
- Utah
- Oregon
- Ole Miss
- Washington
- Baylor
- Texas A&M
- Oklahoma
- BYU
- Arkansas
- Minnesota
- Wake Forest
- Florida State
- Pittsburgh
- Kansas State