Toledo at Ohio State

There have been some curbed expectations at Ohio State. First, they lose a lot of players to suspension. Pryor opts for the NFL draft and then Tressel resigns as coach. There aren't too many teams in the country than can survive such losses, but Ohio State is one of them. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are right in the thick of things in the Big-10. I think this is a team that has a chance to surprise everyone and be in the national title hunt. They annually take on MAC foes and we have a barometer to gauge just how the MAC fares against the Buckeyes, and it isn't very good. Since the 2005-06 season the Buckeyes have engaged the MAC 10 times, and stand at 10-0, winning by a combined 396-79 score or 39.6 ppg for Ohio State to 7.9 ppg for the MAC. If you’re weighing the losses as well as the coaching loss, don't forget that they did not skip a beat vs. Akron, winning in their usual lopsided form 42-0. They held the Zips to 90 total yards. Toledo last year played to an 8-5 mark, but the three best offenses they saw were Northern Illinois, Boise State and Arizona put up over 500+ yards and 163 points in the three games, or 54.3 ppg. A lot of those players return for Toledo, but have they gotten that much better? Game one vs. new Hampshire suggests no. The 1-AA New England group ran for 150 yards and netted 22 points and 332 yards of offense. I will lay the points and take Ohio State in this one.