Ohio State vs. Indiana prediction, best bets: Hoosiers will keep historic streak alive

Read the original at New York Post ↗
Cite

Leboff, M. (2026, October 17). Ohio State vs. Indiana prediction, best bets: Hoosiers will keep historic streak alive. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/17/betting/ohio-state-vs-indiana-prediction-college-football-best-bets-picks-odds-saturday/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-10-17 · by Michael Leboff

Quick Summary

The article predicts Saturday's college football game between No. 4 Ohio State and No. 5 Indiana at Indiana’s home field. Despite Ohio State being a heavy favorite (+390 odds for national championship) with some skepticism about Indiana’s ranking, the author suggests betting on the Hoosiers as a slight underdog (3.5 points) due to Indiana's strong defensive line that can exploit Ohio State's weak offensive line.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-17, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

In Week 7 of the college football season on October 17, 2026, No. 4 Ohio State faces No. 5 Indiana in Bloomington, with both teams ranked among the top five nationally. This matchup is significant as it features two former national champions and could impact their seeding for the College Football Playoff. Indiana boasts a 22-game winning streak and leads the all-time series against Ohio State at home since 1987 but is still a 3.5-point underdog due to Ohio State’s strong offensive player, Jeremiah Smith, who is leading Heisman Trophy contenders. Betting experts predict that Indiana's defense might exploit Ohio State's weak offensive line, potentially extending their historic streak.

Written for “College Football Week 7 Matches” on 2026-10-17, grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 College Football Week 7 Matches
Sports · 3 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Toronto Star
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 13% hedged 4 of 30 📰 publisher trust 63
“Both articles describe the upcoming college football game between Ohio State and Indiana on October 17, 2026.”
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 6% hedged 4 of 68 📰 publisher trust 67
“Both articles focus on the specific upcoming game between Ohio State and Indiana scheduled for October 17, 2026.”
Fox News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 5% hedged 2 of 41 📰 publisher trust 67
“The articles discuss different aspects of the upcoming Ohio State vs. Indiana football game but do not describe the same specific incident.”
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 10% hedged 1 of 10 📰 publisher trust 67
“The articles discuss promotional betting offers and predictions for an upcoming football game, but they do not describe the actual game or a single specific incident.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
16
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 16 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
67/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-17 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 11103 article(s) · 31 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 31 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Michael Leboff
94 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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🔮 Get the lowdown on the Best USA Sports Betting Sites and Apps - Check out the best sports betting sites and apps Finding an edge in this game will involve some nitpicking, but I can’t get past Ohio State’s offensive line serving as the weak link against an Indiana defense that excels at wreaking havoc.
🔮 After years of success and a College Football Playoff berth for Tulane, both programs saw their head coaches depart for the SEC, and coincidentally they replaced them with the two previous coaches from Southern Miss. Will Hall, who was in charge of the Golden Eagles from 2021 to 2024, took over for Jon Sumrall at Tulane, while Charles Huff, who spent one year at Southern Miss after winning the Sun Belt with Marshall, got hired as Ryan Silverfield’s replacement at Memphis.
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🔮 These wagers include parlays involving the Under on the same player’s statistics, under bets on players expected to play less than 12 minutes a game, and a handful of “first of” markets, such as who will win the opening tip or the result of a player’s first shot.
🔮 Get the lowdown on the Best USA Sports Betting Sites and Apps - Check out the best sports betting sites and apps It may not sound like much, but Sam Houston State (1-4) has been a tough out so far.
🔮 You may have missed it, but Kennesaw State put together one of the most surprising college football seasons in the modern era in 2025.
🔮 Any slipup by Utah would derail what looks to be a really promising season at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
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🔮 There were plenty of people predicting that Bob Chesney would be the next Curt Cignetti, and so far those folks look pretty smart.
Also by Michael Leboff
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 94 articles by Michael Leboff →

Topics

Buckeyes Hoosiers Indiana Ohio State Ohio State’s

Subjects

Indiana ORG · 8× Buckeyes ORG · 4× Ohio State’s ORG · 4× Hoosiers ORG · 3× Ohio State ORG · 3× DraftKings ORG · 2× Bloomington GPE · 1× Northwestern ORG · 1× Oregon ORG · 1× USC ORG · 1×

Narrative

Get the lowdown on the Best USA Sports Betting Sites and Apps - Check out the best sports betting sites and apps Finding an edge in this game will involve some nitpicking, but I can’t get past Ohio State’s offensive line serving as the weak link against an Indiana defense that excels at wreaking havoc.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-17
🔮 Get the lowdown on the Best USA Sports Betting Sites and Apps - Check out the best sports betting sites and apps Finding an edge in this game will involve some nitpicking, but I can’t get past Ohio State’s offensive line serving as the weak link against an Indiana defense that excels at wreaking havoc.

Claims (16 extracted, 0 hedged)

For the Buckeyes (5-1), they can ill-afford another loss, especially since their remaining schedule is a menace. asserted
schedule → afford → loss
Ohio State gets a bye after Indiana, then it goes down the stretch against USC, Oregon, Northwestern, Nebraska and Michigan. asserted
it → get → USC
The Hoosiers are in a better spot thanks to an unblemished record and an easier schedule, but they are also riding a historic 22-game winning streak and feel somewhat miffed by their perception in the college football community. asserted
they → rid → community
The defending champions haven’t lost since Dec. 20, 2024, yet they’re sitting at No. 5 in the country behind Georgia, Notre Dame, Miami and Ohio State. asserted
they → defend → Georgia
The betting market certainly seems skeptical of the Hoosiers, as they’re 3.5-point home underdogs against the Buckeyes. asserted
they → seem → Buckeyes
Ohio State vs. Indiana odds, prediction Ohio State’s one-point loss to Texas on Sept. 12 is clearly viewed as a blip by the college football community. asserted
loss → view → community
The Buckeyes are +390 favorites to win the national championship at DraftKings, and they’re sitting at the top of Bill Connelly’s SP+ power rankings after six weeks. asserted
they → win → weeks
Against most teams, Ohio State’s weaknesses are not going to present themselves, but that changes when you’re taking on another juggernaut. asserted
you → go → juggernaut
The Buckeyes have been splendid with the ball in 2026, and they have the country’s best game-breaker in wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, but the offensive line still has some question marks. asserted
line → have → marks
Ohio State’s offense ranks 68th in sack rate, and the running game has yet to become a strength because the O-line isn’t consistently getting a push. asserted
line → rank → push
That weakness can be exploited by a pressure-happy Indiana defense that is 18th in sack rate and seventh in yards allowed per rush. asserted
that → exploit → rush
Indiana’s offense has struggled to rip off big plays and keep defenses on their heels, but Josh Hoover has been superb at keeping things on script, which has allowed Indiana’s elite ground game to dictate the tempo every Saturday. asserted
game → struggle → tempo
Only Louisville and UCLA are averaging more yards per rush than the Hoosiers. asserted
Louisville → average → Hoosiers
Get the lowdown on the Best USA Sports Betting Sites and Apps - Check out the best sports betting sites and apps Finding an edge in this game will involve some nitpicking, but I can’t get past Ohio State’s offensive line serving as the weak link against an Indiana defense that excels at wreaking havoc. asserted
that → get → havoc
Why Trust New York Post Betting Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. asserted
Leboff → trust → industry
He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports. asserted
punters → love → sports
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