The undefeated #1 Ohio State Buckeyes will travel to West Lafayette, Indiana, on Saturday to take on the Purdue Boilermakers (or what they are often called in November: The Spoilermakers). Purdue is famous for their late-season upsets at home, but while they may be down this year compared to previous Spoilermaker years, it feels like the perfect time to come through with the upset of the season.
The Case for Purdue:
Historically, Purdue has probably been the greatest upset artist in the history of college football, with 9 unranked wins over top-2 teams all time; no team has come close (this doesn’t even include defeating CFP #3 Michigan State in 2021). They haven’t done it in a few years, but that’s only because they were saving it up for 2025. Okay, maybe things have changed a little. Jeff Brohm, who coached them to many of those wins, is succeeding at Louisville now, and they’re missing the dangerous David Bell/Rondale Moore WR that they had during the previous games (s/o Nitro Tuggle tho). But hey, they almost beat Michigan at home, and Michigan owns Ohio State.
The Case For Ohio State:
Ohio State is coming off a National Championship in 2024, yet somehow looks even better this year. They have 3 of the best players in the country in S Caleb Downs, WR Jeremiah Smith, and WR Carnell Tate, while also having the Heisman frontrunner, QB Julian Sayin. They’re 8-0, but they’ve also been the best team in the country against the spread at 7-0-1. The Buckeyes are steamrolling teams on both sides of the ball; they are going to be better than Purdue at every facet of the game. 29.5 points? That’s nothing.
At the end of the day, throw out the numbers and throw out the narratives. There’s just a certain chill in the air at Ross-Ade Stadium every November.
Pick: Purdue ML +2000
1 PM ET BTN
Other games to watch:
#8 BYU @ #9 Texas Tech. 12 PM ET
#3 Texas A&M @ #19 Missouri. 3:30 PM ET
#6 Oregon @ Iowa. 7:30 ET
Navy @ #10 Notre Dame. 7:30 ET