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Best Bet: U160.5 (-110) at FanDuel
Score Prediction: BYU 81, Ohio State 78
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The Pick: BYU 81, Ohio State 78
We’ll go Under the total based on Ohio State’s data against ranked schools, as an underdog and on neutral courts.
Game Betting Analysis
Ohio State has some solid data to test here, notably a 7-3 ATS mark from last year when facing AP ranked schools. The Buckeyes covered four of six games on a neutral court and also posted an 8-5 ATS mark as underdogs. For BYU, two pieces of data stand out which is a 3-6 ATS record as an away team (technically neutral court) but the more concerning one is a 7-13 ATS mark when facing a team with equal rest. BYU does have 7-4 ATS mark on neutral courts, however, so let’s see what the total says. BYU is 4-7 to the Under when playing on a neutral court, 3-7 to the Under with four days of rest or more. Ohio State also holds a 2-8 O/U record against ranked schools, 2-4 to the Under on a neutral court and 4-9 to the Under as an underdog. We’ll stick with the Under here.
Ohio State-BYU Odds (Spread, Moneyline, Over/Under)
Deciding Factor: Ohio State’s Returning Backcourt Punch vs. BYU’s Shorthanded Talent Edge
Ohio State is bringing real continuity into a true road environment at the Delta Center, and that’s the foundation of the Buckeyes’ case. A year ago Jake Diebler’s group won 21 games and snapped a long NCAA Tournament drought, and the engine behind that run is mostly back: John Mobley Jr., who’s scored 13-plus points in each of his first two seasons, returns as the top guard, interior anchor Amare Bynum is back in the middle, and Josh Ojianwuna rejoins the rotation after redshirting all of last season. Layered on top of that is Cal grad transfer Justin Pippen, who averaged 14.2 points and 4.6 assists last season and gives Diebler a proven second shot-creator next to Mobley rather than an unknown. That combination of returning production plus a ready-made transfer addition is exactly why the betting public has piled onto Ohio State here — 76% of spread tickets, per SportsLine — and why a veteran group that competed with the Big Ten’s best a year ago looks live to open the season with a statement road win over a ranked opponent.
BYU, meanwhile, enters ranked No. 25 and loaded with long-term talent under Kevin Young — three five-star freshmen, a potential fourth in AJ Williams, and a backcourt reinforced by Kentucky transfer Collin Chandler and Michigan State grad transfer Jaxon Kohler — but it’s taking the floor without returning guard Dawson Baker, who’s out with a knee injury as of late October. That’s a real subtraction from a roster already replacing the production lost when AJ Dybantsa and Richie Saunders left following last season’s first-round exit to 11-seed Texas, a disappointing follow-up to Young’s Sweet 16 debut the year before. Notably, the line has still moved in BYU’s favor since opening — from -1.5 to -3.5 — even as the public money goes the other way, suggesting sharper bettors still trust the Cougars’ sheer talent level to hold up at home despite the Baker news. If BYU’s freshman class and Chandler’s experience can paper over that absence from the jump, the Cougars remain the more talented team on paper; but asking a shorthanded rotation to find its chemistry in real time against a more experienced, momentum-carrying Ohio State team on opening night is precisely the kind of spot that produces early-season upsets.
Game Information
- Date: Monday, November 2, 2026
- Kickoff: 9:00 p.m. (ET)
- Network: FS1
- Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
- Venue: Delta Center – 151.4 ppg
College Basketball Game Trends & Odds
Key Players
Ohio State Buckeyes
- John Mobley Jr. — Last Game: n/a
- Justin Pippen— Last Game: n/a
BYU Cougars
- Collin Chandler — Last Game: n/a
- Jaxon Kohler — Last Game: n/a
Photo Credit: REUTERS
