Ohio State vs USC Prediction and Odds: College Football Week 9 at the Coliseum

No. 2 Ohio State is favored by 6.5 points over USC as of Friday, October 30, 2026, 9:30 AM ET, with a total of 51.5 at every book. The market implies a final of Ohio State 29, USC 22.5. Ohio State (6-1) at USC (6-2) kicks off Sat, Oct 31, 7:30 PM ET on NBC from Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles.

Ohio State vs USC odds at every book

Lines are from SportsbookReview's college football odds board for October 31 and cross-checked against Action Network's public betting page and the matchup pages at Covers and FanDuel, which agree on the favorite and the total. Ohio State opened at -7 on SportsbookReview's board (-7.5 on Action Network's lookahead) and has settled at -6.5 with juice on the Buckeyes at every book, so the number has come down half a point while the price has gone up. The total opened 50.5 and is 51.5 everywhere. Action Network shows 68 percent of spread tickets on Ohio State. Our free plays for the weekend are posted on the free picks page.

Ohio State vs USC prediction from the odds

Our raw scoring-average projection is Ohio State 32, USC 23 before home field and Ohio State by about 6.5 after it, right on the number. Adjusting for schedule strength (Ohio State has played the second-toughest schedule in the country by TeamRankings' measure, USC the 36th) pushes our figure toward Ohio State by 11, close to the models: the Prediction Tracker average is Ohio State by 11.6 (median 11.4, standard deviation 4.3), Massey has Ohio State by 14.8 and ESPN's FPI 13.4. Every one of those numbers was built on seven games of Julian Sayin.

How Ohio State and USC got here

Ohio State's only loss is 24-23 at Texas in Week 2, and its last game before the bye was a 19-15 win at Indiana in which Sayin was hurt. USC beat Washington and won at Penn State before a bye-week-adjacent 24-7 loss at Wisconsin that dropped the Trojans to 3-2 in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes have scored 31 or more in every win; USC has allowed 41 and 24 in its two losses and held Washington to 21.

Ohio State's unnamed quarterback vs Jayden Maiava

Julian Sayin is out for the season after the arm injury he suffered at Indiana on October 17, and Ohio State made that official on Wednesday's Big Ten availability report. Ryan Day had not named his starter for USC as of Monday: Luke Fahey had been the backup, and Day reopened the competition with Tavien St. Clair, a five-star redshirt freshman who has never started a college game (Eleven Warriors, EssentiallySports, October 29-30). Ohio State's offense still has Jeremiah Smith, but Brock Boyd is out, Brandon Inniss is questionable and Ja'Kobi Jackson is out until late November at the earliest. The good news for the Buckeyes is up front: Austin Siereveld is cleared after two games out with an illness.

Jayden Maiava runs a USC offense that averages 32.8 points, but the Trojans scored 7 in a 24-7 loss at Wisconsin last week and are 6-2 with losses to Oregon and Wisconsin. USC lists tight end Mark Bowman and interior lineman Jahkeem Stewart as questionable and seven players out, including receivers Terrell Anderson and Corey Simms. Ohio State's defense allows 13.4 points a game, third in the country, and 15.0 over its last three.

Ohio State vs USC injury report

Statuses are from the conference availability reports and the outlets named in each row, as of Friday morning, October 30, 2026. The Big Ten report updates Friday at 8 PM ET and again two hours before kickoff; Eleven Warriors tracks each edition. Ohio State's quarterback is the item to check.

Other Week 9 college football games we broke down: Arizona vs Texas Tech, Florida vs Georgia, Utah vs Cincinnati.

Ohio State vs USC questions people ask