The Ohio State Buckeyes host the Maryland Terrapins in NCAA basketball action on Sunday afternoon.
The Buckeyes have gone a perfect 9-0 at home this season and oddsmakers expect their dominance at Value City Arena to continue with college basketball betting lines opening with Ohio State as a 9-point favorite.
Here are our best free college basketball picks and predictions for Maryland vs. Ohio State for Sunday, February 6 with tipoff at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Maryland vs Ohio State odds
This odds widget represents the best odds available for each betting market from regulated sportsbooks.
This line hit the board at Ohio State -9 with the Over/Under at 140. Early money has come in on the Under, dropping the total to 138 while the line has stayed steady as of 10 a.m. ET.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until tip-off and be sure to check out the full college basketball odds before placing your bets.
Maryland vs Ohio State predictions
Predictions made on 2/6/2022 at 10 a.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.
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Maryland vs Ohio State game info
• Location: Value City Arena, Columbus, OH
• Date: Sunday, February 6, 2022
• Tip-off: 1:00 p.m. ET
• TV: CBS
Maryland at Ohio State betting preview
Injuries
Maryland: James Graham III (Out).
Ohio State: Seth Towns F (Out), Jeremy Sueing F (Out).
Find our latest NCAA basketball injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Over is 8-3 in the Buckeyes last 11 games as a favorite. Find more NCAA betting trends for Maryland vs. Ohio State.
Maryland vs Ohio State picks and predictions
Our predictions are compiled from the analysis of the spread and total and are indications of where we are leaning for this game.
Our best bet is the play that we like the most for this game, which we would actually put some of our bankroll behind.
Spread analysis
The Buckeyes are ranked No. 16 in the latest AP Top 25 and haven't played since last Sunday when they lost a close contest on the road against Purdue. Despite that defeat, there were positive takeaways from that game with Ohio State almost staging a second-half comeback against the No. 4 team in the nation and turning the ball over just six times.
They should be in a good spot to bounce back today as they play their first home game in almost three weeks against a Terrapins squad that has struggled in Big Ten play.
Maryland is fresh off back-to-back losses at home and is 3-7 SU (5-5 ATS) against conference opponents. The Terrapins have been extremely inefficient on offense, ranking just 234th in the country in field goal percentage (42.6) with that number dropping to 41.6% against Big Ten foes.
That's a massive disadvantage against the Buckeyes who rank eighth in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency according to KenPom and shoot a sizzling 48% from the field — seventh-best among all Power 5 Conference schools.
The Terps simply don't shoot the ball well enough to hang with the Buckeyes in this one, especially in Columbus where the Buckeyes are 5-2 ATS in their last seven games.
Prediction: Ohio State -9 (-110)
Over/Under analysis
Both of these squads play at a slow tempo but there's reason to think that oddsmakers have been setting their totals a tad too low. The Buckeyes are 12-5 O/U in their last 17 games overall while the Terrapins are 5-1-1 to the Over in their previous seven contests on the road.
Despite their streaky shooting, the Terps have three players averaging over 12 points per game and they average 69.8 ppg as a team, with that number bumping up to 72 ppg on the road.
Meanwhile, Ohio State fills up the hoop at home, scoring 78.7 ppg with a 50.7 FG%. And preseason All-Big Ten forward E.J. Liddell (19.7 ppg, 51.5 FG%) should be able to manhandle the Terps front line. It might not be a shootout in Columbus but with the total opening at 140 and ticking down to 138, the Over looks like the play.
Prediction: Over 138 (-110)
Best bet
Maryland has actually played well on the road this season which makes us a bit leery of backing Ohio State on the spread. But with the Terrapins putting up solid offensive performances in away contests, this total looks ripe for the picking and is moving in a direction that we like.
Ohio State isn't the sort of team that pushes the pace but it has been extremely efficient on the offensive end of the floor, especially lately. The Buckeyes have turned the ball over on just 9% of their offensive plays while shooting 83.3% from the charity stripe over the last three games.
They'll be able to hang points against a Maryland team that ranks outside the Top 300 in turnovers forced per possession and surrenders 74.6 ppg on the road. Grab the Over.
Pick: Over 138 (-110)
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