Scarlet Sunrise: Buckeyes still near top of national title odds board despite loss

COLUMBUS — Ohio State suffered a last-second loss to Oregon in Autzen Stadium on Saturday night. But the folks in the desert still believe the Buckeyes are the best team in the Big Ten -- and still among the favorites to win the national title.

FanDuel Sportsbook has officially updated its national championship odds now that Week 7 is wrapped up. And Ohio State has the third-best odds to win the national title despite the loss.

Texas is the current betting favorite. The Longhorns are 4 to 1 to win the national championship. They're followed by Georgia (+450) and Ohio State (+450). The team which beat Ohio State, Oregon, now has title odds at +550 after the one-point win over the Buckeyes -- the biggest regular season win in Ducks program history.

Penn State sits currently at +1200 odds to win it all. The Nittany Lions will host Ohio State on Nov. 2.

Pair of Buckeyes earn midseason All-American honors

Most of the country is now at the six-game mark, meaning college football is half-way over. With that in mind, the folks over at CBS Sports released their midseason All-America team, and a pair of Buckeyes players landed on the list.

Ohio State is tied with Texas and Iowa as the only three programs with two players on the midseason All-America team. The Buckeyes have two of the five Big Ten selections after six games — one on each side of the ball. Both are transfer additions.

On the offensive side of the ball, center Seth McLaughlin is a CBS Sports midseason All American at center. McLaughlin transferred in from Alabama after starting 25 games for the Crimson Tide during the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He picked Ohio State after leaving Alabama last offseason, and he has proven to be among the best offensive linemen in college football — and potentially the best center.

Flip it over to the defensive side of things, and another Alabama transfer is on the midseason All-America team for the Buckeyes. Safety Caleb Downs earned the nod from the folks at CBS Sports. Even as the Buckeyes defense has had its fair share of struggles this season, Downs has been incredible for this defense. He had eight tackles and two pass breakups in the loss to Oregon on Saturday night.

ICYMI: Ryan Day has 'gone through every play 1,000 times in my head' from loss to Oregon

Ohio State coach Ryan Day is doing what most Buckeyes fans have been doing since Saturday night’s loss to Oregon.

He can’t get the final sequence out of his head. Day admitted as much during his appearance on 97.1 The Fan’s Buckeye Roundtable on Monday night.

Day was asked about Oregon seemingly intentionally putting 12 men on the field to take a penalty during the final sequence, knowing it would run time off the clock and only cost the Ducks 5 yards — still keeping Ohio State out of field goal range.

Day said he has replayed that play and every other play from the loss in his head over and over again.

“I guess they could put 20 guys on the field if they wanted to,” Day said. “I guess you would spike it so you save that time, then you can get five more yards.

“… But there was still an opportunity there.”

Day knows the Buckeyes had a real chance to walk out of Autzen Stadium with a win on either a game-winning field goal or a game-winning touchdown in the final seconds. But they came up just short of pulling it off on the road.

He can’t stop thinking about what could have been in the one-point loss.

“You think back on a lot of things,” he said. “Trust me: I’ve gone through every play 1,000 times in my head.”

Day has time to correct some of the errors that cost the Buckeyes dearly in the final moments of Saturday night during this upcoming idle week.

Counting down

Buckeyes vs. Nebraska: 10 days
Ohio State at Penn State: 17 days
Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 45 days
Big Ten title game: 52 days

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