Chris 'The Bear' Fallica explains current gambling line on Texas at Ohio State

No. 1 Texas vs. No. 3 Ohio State is a top-three, playoff matchup set to officially open the season from Columbus next weekend on August 30th. However, as far as the game’s spread, Chris Fallica at FOX Sports says it’s easy to understand why the Buckeyes are favored over the top-ranked Longhorns.

Fallica previewed Texas-Ohio State while on ‘See Ball Get Ball’ with David Pollack on Monday. He thinks the 2.5-point spread, per the line at BetMGM, or so in favor of the Buckeyes is essentially just because the game will be at The ‘Shoe.

“I think that line is basically the – it’s a home-field number,” Fallica deduced. “Basically, what that number is saying is these two teams are even, Ohio State is at home. They’re going to get the slight edge.”

Again, this line is essentially unheard of when it comes to betting on the No. 1 team in the Preseason AP Poll in their opener. Researchers have this as the first time the No. 1 team will enter their first game as an underdog.

That said, despite that nearly field-goal margin right now in Vegas, Fallica views this as an even matchup between a pair of teams who faced one another in the Cotton Bowl during the semifinals of the College Football Playoff back in January, which No. 8 Ohio State won 28-14 over No. 5 Texas en route to winning the national title. Now, both teams enter this season with similar questions, especially on offense, with Fallica thinking the Buckeyes may have more than the Longhorns despite coming into next weekend’s opener as that favorite.

“I just think there’s a clear question. I think there are more holes on that Texas offense than people might be willing to realize,” said Fallica of the Longhorns. “The offensive line was fantastic last year and now you’ve got to replace a bunch of guys. Receivers? You lose a lot of game-breakers on the outside there. They couldn’t run the ball worth a lick, against Ohio State and even Arizona State in the playoff and even against Clemson. Like, I don’t know. We’ll see. Maybe I’m wrong.

“Everything that we just said about Texas? I have, like, the same type of concerns on the other side. Like, you mentioned how the offense could be different with Texas with Arch (Manning) being more of a running quarterback? Like, Ohio State is going to go through the same thing with Julian Sayin. Like, completely different offense, completely different quarterback than what we saw last year. Exactly – first-time playcaller with (Brian) Hartline. Now, Sayin can spin it, but can they protect him? And, if they can’t, he’s not going to be able to have the wheels like (Will) Howard did, when we saw so many of the big plays in the playoff last year were based on Howard’s legs.”

Regardless of the spread, Fallica is seeing two very similar teams, highly-ranked set to face one another at noon eastern on FOX. That’s why, if anything, he’s looking at the under based on how he projects this one to go when looking at how those two defenses will do versus those two new offenses.

“I can’t wait to get to Columbus next week for that game,” said Fallica. “I think that’s going to be…14-9 in the third quarter, late third quarter or fourth quarter – good, low-scoring game where defense is dominating.

“This is going to be a real close, low-scoring game.”