Big Ten Odds

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Oregon vs. Cal Betting Odds and Preview
2010-11-12

Sportsbook.com Oregon vs. Cal Betting Lines: Oregon -20, Total: 58.5

The Oregon Ducks gun for their 10th win of the season against a Cal team undefeated at home. The Ducks have been kind to their loyal bettors this season, having covered six out of 9 point spreads.

The Ducks continue to lead the nation in scoring (54.7 PPG), yardage (569 YPG) and scoring margin (37.0 PPG) led by LaMichael James’ nation-best 166 rush YPG. The Bears also have a great running back in Shane Vereen averaging 118 all-purpose yards with 15 touchdowns this year. Oregon won last year’s meeting 42-3, but has lost three straight at Cal. The Bears will once again start Brock Mansion at QB with Kevin Riley out with a knee injury.

Oregon also has a quarterback out with a knee injury. Backup Nate Costa will miss the rest of the season after injuring himself in last week’s game. That leaves freshman Bryan Bennett as the No. 2 QB behind Darron Thomas. Fortunately for Thomas, he receives great pass protection from his offensive line. Oregon ranks ninth in the nation for fewest sacks allowed (0.6 per game). The sophomore James continues to be a monster with five straight games of 120+ rushing yards and 2+ TD. He has 15 touchdowns in six Pac-10 games this year. He also rushed for 118 yards and a touchdown in last year’s blowout win over Cal.

The early bettors at Sportsbook.com are expecting another Oregon romp as 93 percent of the Oregon vs. Cal point spread bettors are backing the Ducks.

Cal has demolished its opponents at home this year, outscoring them by an average of 47 to 9 and out-gaining them by an average of 408 to 175. However, Oregon is a huge step up from UC-Davis, Colorado, UCLA or Arizona State.

The Bears barely beat conference doormat Washington State last week 20-13, but they did run the ball well, gaining 212 yards on 42 carries. That was quite an improvement from the 69 rushing YPG average in the previous three contests. However, Mansion did not play well in his first career start last week, completing just half his passes (12-for-24) for 171 yards and two interceptions. Considering Oregon has 15 interceptions this year and is tied for fifth in the nation in turnover margin (1.22 per game), it is imperative for Mansion to make smart decisions throwing the football. Vereen, who is averaging 98.4 rushing YPG this year, hasn’t done much in two career games against Oregon, rushing for just 89 yards on 27 carries (3.3 YPC).

Oregon is 10-5 (SU and ATS) in the past 15 series meetings, but this college football betting trend suggests Cal will keep this game closer than 20 points.

Play On - Underdogs of 10.5 to 21 points (CALIFORNIA) - after failing to cover the spread in 3 out of their last 4 games against opponent after covering the spread in 2 out of their last 3 games. (106-52 over the last 10 seasons.) (67.1%, +48.8 units. Rating = 3*).

Seven of the past eight series meetings have finished Under the Total, but these highly-rated betting trends expect the game to finish Over the 58.5 points Sportsbook.com has listed.

CALIFORNIA is 16-2 OVER (+13.8 Units) after scoring 7 points or less in the first half in 2 straight games since 1992. The average score was CALIFORNIA 25.6, OPPONENT 27.3 - (Rating = 4*).

OREGON is 12-2 OVER (+9.8 Units) after scoring 42 points or more last game over the last 2 seasons. The average score was OREGON 47.3, OPPONENT 22.7 - (Rating = 3*).

Now that you have the key numbers for Saturday’s Pac 10 game, head over to Sportsbook.com and get your bets in.

Sportsbook.com Pitt vs. UConn NFL Betting Lines Betting Odds: Pittsburgh -6, Total: 47.5

Pittsburgh goes for its fourth straight win when it travels to East Hartford, CT on Thursday night. The Panthers are unbeaten in Big East play and have won their five games this year by an average of 23.4 PPG. UConn forced four turnovers in a 16-13 upset win over West Virginia last Friday. The Huskies are a perfect 4-0 at home (SU and ATS) this year thanks to 15 takeaways and only six giveaways. That isn’t deterring the football betting crowd at Sportsbook.com from betting the visitors as 77 percent of the point spread bettors are on Pitt.

The Huskies still have revenge on their minds from last year’s meeting when they blew a 21-6 lead late in the third quarter and lost 24-21 on a last-second chip-shot field goal. Pittsburgh out-gained UConn 489 to 303 in that game, with RB Dion Lewis (158 rushing yards) and WR Jonathan Baldwin (8 rec., 104 yds, 1 TD) leading the way. But this season has been a different story for these two stars. Lewis was third in the nation with 138 rushing YPG last year, but that number has plummeted to 68 rushing YPG in 2010 with the emergence of Ray Graham (98 rushing YPG). Baldwin ranked 22nd in the nation in receiving yards in 2009 (86 receiving YPG), but that average has dipped to 68 receiving YPG this year. Some of the production drop has to do with sophomore Tino Sunseri starting in his first year at quarterback, but Sunseri has seven touchdowns and just one interception during the three-game win streak.

The key to this game will be whether Pitt’s eighth-ranked run defense (94 rushing YPG) can contain UConn stud RB Jordan Todman who ranks fourth in the nation with 136 rushing YPG. Last season Todman was shut down by the Panthers, gaining just 43 yards on 12 carries and catching three passes for minus-2 yards. If Todman can’t find room to run, it could be a long day for shaky senior QB Zach Frazer. Not only are Frazer’s career stats below average (54% completion rate, 14 TD, 16 INT), but he’s facing a Pittsburgh defense ranked sixth in the nation in sacks. The Panthers have also forced eight turnovers during their three-game win streak. Speaking of turnovers, UConn’s turnover-happy win over WVU marked the third time this season the Huskies have forced four turnovers in a game.

The last four times these Big East rivals squared off, the underdog covered the point spread three times and was 3-1 outright. Here are two more college football betting trends that indicate that the Huskies cover the point spread tonight:

Play On - Underdogs of 3.5 to 10 points (CONNECTICUT) - an average offensive team (21-28 PPG) against a good offensive team (28-34 PPG) after 7+ games, after scoring 3 points or less in the first half last game.

(42-13 since 1992.) (76.4%, +27.7 units. Rating = 3*).

Play Against - A road team (PITTSBURGH) - after 3 or more consecutive wins against the spread, in weeks 10 through 13. (69-31 over the last 5 seasons.) (69%, +34.9 units. Rating = 3*).

If you are interested in betting on the ‘total’, consider this:

Play Under - All teams where the total is between 42.5 and 49 (CONNECTICUT) - average offensive team (4.8 to 5.6 YPP) against a good defense (4.2 to 4.8 YPP) after 7+ games, after being outgained by opp by 125 or more total yards last game.

(34-10 over the last 10 seasons.) (77.3%, +23 units. Rating = 3*).

To see the rest of the Pitt vs. UConn betting odds, or to check out all of this week’s college football betting lines, head over to Sportsbook.com now.