Ohio State Buckeyes at Texas Longhorns — we ran this one and left it alone
We are not publishing a call on this game.
Our model likes one side of this game by a good deal more than the market did when it opened. That gap is a pattern we have measured, and it is not a good one — historically these are among our weakest calls, so this game stays off the board.
What that gate did to this week
Week 2, 2026 ran 49 games through the model. 39 cleared every gate and were published before kickoff. 10 did not, and this is one of them.
The calls that do clear get settled on the record either way: 64 of 73 college football picks correct so far, which is 88%. That number is what the gates are protecting, and it is the reason a game we are unsure about gets this page instead of a number.
Why we publish this at all
A short board is the honest one. Our model runs every game on the slate, and the ones that clear our gates get published before kickoff and graded afterwards — win or lose, on the same page. The rest get this.
We would rather tell you we looked and declined than leave a gap where a game should be. A missing page and a considered no are very different answers, and only one of them is true here.
Decision recorded Sep 6, 2026, 3:02 PM UTC
The games we did call
- Old Dominion Monarchs at Virginia Tech HokiesSat, Sep 12 · Virginia Tech Hokies, 58% to win
- App State Mountaineers at East Carolina PiratesSat, Sep 12 · East Carolina Pirates, 80% to win
- Penn State Nittany Lions at Temple OwlsSat, Sep 12 · Penn State Nittany Lions, 90% to win
- Oregon Ducks at Oklahoma State CowboysSat, Sep 12 · Oregon Ducks, 97% to win
- Washington State Cougars at Kansas State WildcatsSat, Sep 12 · Kansas State Wildcats, 68% to win
- Arizona State Sun Devils at Texas A&M AggiesSat, Sep 12 · Texas A&M Aggies, 89% to win
Tomorrow's board, before kickoff
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Frequently asked questions
- Who do you pick to win Ohio State vs Texas?
- We do not have a pick on this game. Our model likes one side of this game by a good deal more than the market did when it opened. That gap is a pattern we have measured, and it is not a good one — historically these are among our weakest calls, so this game stays off the board. Every game we do call is published before kickoff and graded afterwards, win or lose.
- Will you publish a call before kickoff?
- Only if what we are looking at changes. This is not a placeholder for a pick we are still working on — it is the finished answer for this game unless the picture moves before kickoff.
Maiden publishes predictions, not bets.