For the first time all season, the Buckeyes will prepare for a game on the unfavored end of a betting spread.
Ohio State heads to Atlanta as underdogs for the first time in 2022, with early betting lines from oddsmakers installing Georgia as a seven-point favorite ahead of the Peach Bowl in the closing round of the College Football Playoff semifinals.
College Football Playoff lines via @CaesarsSports:
— David Payne Purdum (@DavidPurdum) December 4, 2022
Ohio State vs. Georgia -7
TCU vs. Michigan -9
The over/under currently lists at 61½ points, which if held to close would be the seventh point total in a game featuring the Buckeyes this season with the line set above 60 points. Ohio State saw the over hit in nine of the 12 games on its original schedule, including nine of its last 10 games going back to September.
Ohio State owns a 5-5-1 record against the spread heading into the College Football Playoff, with four of those losses materializing in the team's last five games. The Buckeyes also outright lost their only game this season featuring a single-digit spread in either direction after the 45-23 loss to Michigan at the end of November that had OSU listed as a nine-point favorite at close.
By comparison, this is only the second time this season Georgia has entered as a single-digit favorite over their opponents, and the Bulldogs own a 7-6 record against the spread across the 2022 campaign. This is also only the fourth time this season a game featuring Georgia has an over/under projected total of 60 or more points.
These lines figure to see a fair amount of activity in the weeks leading up to this game as more information becomes known about the availability of players on each side. Ohio State will kickoff against Georgia on New Year's Eve at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
