Ohio State started the 2024 college football season with a new landscape but the same expectations. The team’s backers at Ohio sportsbooks will no doubt expect to be rewarded, as will rabid Buckeye fans.
The Big Ten has grown to 18 teams and the College Football Playoff will be a 12-team tournament for the first time this season. The last time OSU missed a bowl was 2012, when the Buckeyes went 12-0 but were ineligible for postseason play.
So where will coach Ryan Day’s team go in the postseason? BetOhio.com, where you can find the best Ohio betting promotions upon signup, has projections:
Bowl | Location | Conference Opponent | Odds | Percentage Chance |
CFB Playoff | TBD | TBD | -650 | 86.7% |
Cheez-It Citrus Bowl | Orlando, FL | vs. SEC | +800 | 11.1% |
Duke’s Mayo Bowl | Charlotte, NC | vs. ACC | +6000 | 1.6% |
Pinstripe Bowl | Bronx, NY | vs. ACC | +25000 | 0.4% |
Music City Bowl | Nashville, TN | vs. SEC | +25000 | 0.4% |
The Field / No Bowl | +100000 | 0.1% |
You can track college football national championship odds all season at BetOhio. The Buckeyes are 2-0 after lopsided victories over two MAC opponents, Akron and Western Michigan.
Ohio State has been to the College Football Playoff five times in 10 years, and that was when it was a four-team field. Now with a 12-team CFP format, the Buckeyes are a prohibitive favorite to qualify after the conference championship games.
Last year illustrates how the expanded CFP can change a team’s outlook. In 2023, OSU went into the regular-season finale against Michigan 11-0 and No. 2 in the CFP rankings. A 30-24 loss in Ann Arbor knocked the Buckeyes out of the Big Ten championship game and out of the CFP. This year, one loss would only cost the Buckeyes a few spots in seeding for the 12-team field. The preseason Ohio State 2024 win total at sportsbooks is 10.5, so you can see why we project OSU into the CFP at -650 odds, or an 86.7% implied probability. One loss, or now even two, will not necessarily eliminate any power conference team.
What’s the new CFP format? The five highest ranked conference champions – from the Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Big 12 and the Group of Five leagues – will automatically qualify. The top four of those teams in the rankings will occupy Seeds 1-4 and get a first-round bye in the CFP.
The next seven teams will be chosen at large. Teams 5-12 in the bracket will play first-round games at campus sites, to be held this year on Dec. 20 and 21. Those winners will face the top four teams in the quarterfinals – the Fiesta, Peach, Rose and Sugar Bowl – on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. The semifinals will be the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9, 2025, and the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10. The CFP National Championship Game is Jan. 20 in Atlanta.
All of that is why we cannot project Ohio State to a specific CFP bowl. Assuming the Buckeyes make the field, there’s no way to know where they might be sent until the bracket is revealed the day after the conference championship games.
Check out our list of Ohio cities eager for college football as the season approaches.
Year | Bowl | Result |
2023 | Cotton Bowl | Loss, 14-3 against Missouri |
2022 | CFB Playoff | Loss, 42-41 against Georgia |
2021 | Rose Bowl | Win, 48-45 against Utah |
2020 | CFB Playoff | Win, 49-28 against Clemson; Loss, 52-24 against Alabama |
2019 | CFB Playoff | Loss, 29-23 against Clemson |
The Buckeyes have lost three of their past four bowl games, including two CFP games. In their most recent CFP appearance, OSU lost a heartbreaker in the semifinal against Georgia to end the 2022 season. That game, on New Year’s Eve in the Peach Bowl, ended just minutes before legal Ohio sports betting app options launched at midnight on Jan. 1, 2023.
For the 2024-25 college football season, we project Ohio State to play in the College Football Playoff with odds of -650 (an 86.7% chance). If OSU qualifies, the exact bowl and location would be announced when the 12-team Playoff field is set.
Ohio State is not bowl eligible this early in the 2024 season. Their most recent bowl game was in the 2023 Cotton Bowl, a loss against Missouri.
Author
Ohio native Jim Tomlin has 30 years of experience in journalism, mostly in sports. He lends his expertise to BetOhio.com as a writer and editor after previous experience at the Tampa Bay Times, FanRag, Saturday Down South and Saturday Tradition.
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