There's no shade on the Hoosiers coming from this side. Indiana beat Oregon on the road in rather decisive fashion and wrecked lesser opponents all season. That's precisely the problem, though. IU has not truly been tested, and in games when it faced adversity -- Iowa and Penn State -- it only pulled off marginal wins. Ohio State has only allowed two (two!) opponents to score more than two touchdowns in a game. It is 11-1 ATS with the lone failure being a 24-point victory (-29.5). No doubt Curt Cignetti has the Hoosiers raring to go, but against this Buckeyes defense, for a team that has not played a ranked opponent in two months, it is a believe-it-when-I-see-it situation.

Ohio State’s dominance this year is in question due to their Big Ten schedule overall. We saw the defense have their issues early on last week against Michigan, where the Wolverines red zone non execution resulted in two field goals. Indiana has been waiting for this moment and I expect a tight finish, where the victory is decided by three points or less. Grab Indiana.

No. 1 Ohio State is playing No. 2 Indiana in the Big Ten Championship, with both teams 12-0. It's never happened before in the Big Ten. My take is that the Buckeye defense has been taken to unparalleled heights with Matt Patricia running his unique NFL style schemes, which made Ohio State the No. 1 defense, allowing only 203 yards per game and 7.8 points per game. The Buckeyes are the highest-rated team in college football, and yet the point spread never catches up to them. They're 10-1-1 against the spread on the year. Never seen that before. The number is still chasing them, and this week we get to lay less than four points? Yeah, I'm on the Buckeyes.

Refer to Ohio State games vs. Texas (14-7), Washington (24-6), and Michigan (27-9)...a common theme among all of those ranked foes was that none of them could even reach double-digit scoring. The Buckeyes can strike quickly with wideouts like Jeremiah Smith and frosh QB Julian Sayin having matured into a responsible leader, though Ryan Day is just as apt to play the field-position game and let his defense (allowing a nation's-low 7.75 ppg) dictate matters. Here's the rub in the Big Ten title game, however...IU plays some pretty good defense, too, in fact ranking second nationally in points allowed at 10.9 ppg. This has all of the earmarks of an old-fashioned Big Ten slugout. Play Ohio State-Indiana Under (Big Ten at Indianapolis)

If you recall, IU was also unbeaten when rolling into Columbus last November before getting rudely dumped, 38-15. The Hoosiers lost contact in the 2nd half because they couldn't budge the Buckeyes defense which allowed only 153 yards. The challenge for IU's Heisman candidate QB Fernando Mendoza is to not run aground vs. OSU as did predecessor Kurtis Rourke, who passed for only 68 yards a year ago at the Big Horseshoe. While there are plenty of shiny objects on the OSU offense, it's the defense which sets the Buckeyes apart, allowing fewer than 8 ppg. Only Texas has come closer to the Buckeyes than 14 since last year's loss to Michigan...17 games ago! Play Ohio State (Big Ten at Indianapolis)

I have gone a bit back and forth on this. If .. IF Ohio State cares at all after finally beating Michigan, then I believe the Nuts stomp the Jimmy Chitwoods. That said, I might take IU + the first quarter points. Just think five-star talent wins out eventually. But I also have Blockbuster stock so what do I know ...

With the spread being only four points, I actually think that's giving a nod and some respect to Indiana. The problem is that I don't think the Hoosiers can find enough points to successfully cover this spread. Ohio State's passing offense is going to be the reason why they are able to get to cover town vs Indiana.

Ohio State hasn't allowed more than 16 points in a game this season. Indiana is the best team its faced, but it's also an Indiana offense that has struggled against the better defenses it's seen. And none of them are as good as Ohio State's.