The Akron Zips and the Ohio State Buckeyes open their seasons at Ohio Stadium on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET (CBS). Below, we look at Akron vs. Ohio State odds from BetMGM Sportsbook before making our expert college football picks and predictions'later in the week.
The Zips were 2-10 last season and went 0-7 on the road. Akron nearly pulled off an upset in its only game against a Big Ten opponent, though, falling 29-27 in 4 overtimes at Indiana on Sept. 23. The Zips easily covered as 16.5-point underdogs.
The Buckeyes are coming off an 11-2 season, but it was disappointing by their standards. For the 3rd consecutive season, Ohio State lost to rival Michigan to end the season, and then it had to watch as the Wolverines won a national title.
Ohio State opened up the transfer portal, and the purse strings, to make sure none of that happens again. Former UCLA coach Chip Kelly was hired by Ryan Day to serve as the offensive coordinator, giving Ohio State a huge bump in the coaching ranks, too.