​Cover Photo: Michael Hickey/Getty Images


There's one college football matchup every week that's simply too juicy to only give it a single betting line look. And Week 5's winner in this category is undoubtedly the Top-10 showdown in Happy Valley between No. 4 Ohio State and No. 9 Penn State.  


The winner of this matchup has gone on to win both the Big Ten West and Big Ten title in each of the past two seasons, and the last two battles between the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes have arguably been the most exciting rivalry games of the past two seasons overall.

Here are the most interesting bets for the game. 


Spread: Penn State (+3.5)

The last two of these battles have come down to the absolute wire, with three- and one-point decisions, respectively. Ohio State's star DE Nick Bosa has been ruled out of Saturday's game and Penn State might have the most explosive second-half team in the country. That's a pretty enticing recipe for some late-game heroics by the Nittany Lions to keep it within three at the very least.
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​Money Line: Penn State (+145)
​I don't think I'm going out on a limb to say the Buckeyes are simply a more talented team outright, but Penn State has one of the best home-field advantages in the country, playing in front of their White-Out crowd of more than 100,000 fans. With more than two seasons under his belt, QB Trace McSorley has never lost a game as the starting quarterback at home for Penn State, and there's a reason why.
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​Over/Under: 72 Points
​Trust me, I'm well aware that Penn State and Ohio State are heading into Saturday as the No. 1 and No. 2 scoring offenses in all of college football, but don't fall for the trap! The last seven matchups in this series have averaged just over 56 points. The teams have combined for more than 72 points just twice over that stretch, but both happened in Columbus and the last three played in Happy Valley have averaged less than 53 points. Just saying. 

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David Hayes is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, David Hayes also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username DavidWHayes. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.