The initial College Football Playoff Rankings were released this past Tuesday, and at No. 1 was Ohio State over Georgia, Michigan and Florida State. In their first game as the top-ranked team in the country, the Buckeyes will head east to New Jersey to face a resurgent Rutgers program. Ohio State's lofty ranking comes after high-profile wins over Wisconsin, Penn State and Notre Dame, making up arguably the most impressive résumé of anyone in the country. Odds are a road win over Rutgers won't move the needle much further, but there's an argument to be made that it actually should. The Knights enter the game with a record of 6-2, and four of those six wins have come against Power Five competition.
Of course, there's also the 31-7 loss to Michigan and 24-13 loss to Wisconsin, but both losses came on the road. Still, if Rutgers is able to topple Ohio State it will be a historical moment. Ohio State is 36-2 in Big Ten games under coach Ryan Day, and both losses were to Michigan; the rest of the conference is 0-34 against the Buckeyes.
Ohio State also sports a 36-game winning streak against unranked opponents, the longest active streak in the nation, and it includes 16 straight wins on the road. Oh, and Rutgers has never beaten Ohio State under any coach. The Buckeyes have won all nine meetings by an average of 42 points.
Follow along with LIVE UPDATES, highlights and analysis as Ohio State battles Rutgers.
How to watch Ohio State vs. Rutgers live
Date: Saturday, Nov. 4 | Time: Noon ET
Location: SHI Stadium -- Piscataway, New Jersey
TV: CBS | Live stream: CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App (Free)
Streaming on Paramount+ with Showtime (Try It Free)
Ohio State vs. Rutgers: Need to know
Rutgers is already bowl eligible: It doesn't matter what happens in this game, the 2023 season has already been a tremendous success for the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers has won six games to become bowl eligible for the first time since it went 8-5 in 2014 (its first season in the Big Ten). The Knights went to the Gator Bowl following the 2021 season, but were 5-7 in the regular season and a replacement in the game for Texas A&M, which withdrew due to COVID-19 spreading like wildfire through its roster.
Ohio State is No. 1 in the CFP Rankings for first time since 2019: The Buckeyes are a regular in the College Football Playoff rankings and have spent plenty of time in the top four, but it's been a while since they found themselves at No. 1. The last time was during the 2019 season when they were No. 1 following a win over Michigan. However, even though the Buckeyes beat Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game the following week, they fell to No. 2 to make room for LSU in the No. 1 spot. LSU would go on to win the national title while Ohio State lost its semifinal matchup against Clemson.
Marvin Harrison is one game away from tying an Ohio State record: Ohio State has produced a lot of excellent receivers in recent years, but none of them have been able to match a record set by David Boston in the 1990s. In three seasons from 1996 to 1998, Boston finished with at least 100 yards receiving 14 times. Marvin Harrison Jr. enters the weekend with 13 such games in his career. The odds are high Harrison will match Boston's record and pass it this year. Harrison is averaging 111.1 yards receiving per game this year, the most in the Big Ten. Illinois' Isaiah Williams is in second place, more than 40 yards behind him at 70.3.
Ohio State vs. Rutgers prediction, picks
Odds via SportsLine consensus
You could get rich pretty quickly blindly betting the under in Ohio State games this season. For the first six or seven weeks of the season, oddsmakers were confusing Ohio State's 2023 offense with Buckeyes offenses of the last few seasons. Make no mistake, this Ohio State team is much better on defensive than offense, even with Marvin Harrison Jr. While the totals have come down lately, the under remains appealing here. Rutgers will have a tough time cracking double-digits in this matchup, and even Michigan managed only 31 points against the Rutgers defense in Ann Arbor. Pick: Under 42.5
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