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Four-star linebacker Quinton Cypher commits to Ohio State.
Ohio State is favored to win the Cotton Bowl by slightly more than a touchdown – regardless of who wins Saturday’s first-round game between Texas A&M and Miami.
Per FanDuel Sportsbook, Ohio State is a 7.5-point favorite over Texas A&M and an 8.5-point favorite over Miami ahead of Saturday’s first-round game (Noon, ABC/ESPN) between the Aggies and Hurricanes, which will determine who the Buckeyes play in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Cotton Bowl (Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m., ESPN).
No. 7 seed Texas A&M is a 3.5-point favorite for Saturday’s game against No. 10 Miami, which will be played at the Aggies’ home stadium, Kyle Field. The Aggies will look to continue the trend from the first round of last year’s inaugural 12-team CFP, when all four home teams were victorious.
Texas A&M enters the CFP with an 11-1 record while Miami went 10-2 in the regular season. Both teams earned at-large berths into the CFP after failing to make their conferences’ championship games, with early-season wins over Notre Dame highlighting both of their résumés.
Ohio State is 10-2-1 against the spread this season, covering in every game except its regular-season wins over Ohio (a push, as the Buckeyes were favored by 28 and lost by 28) and Purdue and its Big Ten Championship Game loss to Indiana.
The Buckeyes, who are 12-1 entering the CFP, won 11 of their regular-season games by at least 18 points. Their closest game of the regular season was their 14-7 win over Texas in their season opener, while they suffered a 13-10 loss to Indiana in the Big Ten Championship Game.
