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Oregon vs. California: Ducks see early line movement in road game vs. Golden Bears

Zachary Neel
·3 min read

This certainly is a version of the Oregon Ducks that fans were wanting to see in 2022 under new head coach Dan Lanning, isn’t it? In fact, it may even be beyond some expectations, to be completely honest.

The Ducks are playing at the top of their game right now, displayed in a 45-30 win over the No. 10 UCLA Bruins. The offense is among the very best in the nation, the quarterback is among the top Heisman Trophy contenders, and the coaching staff has proved that they know how to manage a game and scheme against the best.

After a two-week build-up that led to one of the most important games of the Pac-12 season, Oregon now gets a chance to take a breath. They still play a game this coming weekend, though it’s against the California Golden Bears, who stand near the bottom of the Pac-12 power rankings. Under certain regimes, fans would likely worry about the Ducks riding too high after a win like they just experienced, but with the way that Lanning has prepared his squad week after week, I think that this fan base feels pretty comfortable with the next two games against Cal and Colorado.

The Ducks are going to be sizeable favorites this weekend in Berkley. Let’s take a look at how the betting market opened up to start the week.

The Line

The line for Oregon vs. Cal started with the Ducks favored by as little as 14.5 points in some places, but was quickly bet up to where it sits now at Oregon -17.5 on the road. The over/under is among the lowest we’ve seen in an Oregon game this year, sitting at 56.5 points. Here are the full odds as of 9:00 a.m. PDT on Monday.

Team

Spread

Total – O/U

Money Line

Oregon

-17.5
-110

O 56.5
-110

Not Listed

Stanford

+17.5
-110

U 56.5
-110

Not Listed

You can access odds at BetMGM.

Click here to place your bets at BetMGM.

Way-Too-Early Predictions

I would never venture to give a score prediction for a big game almost a week away from the action,  simply because there are too many things that need to play out still. We don’t know about injuries, and there is a week worth of practice reports that are still yet to shape this matchup.

Despite all of that, I can confidently say that the Ducks are a better team on paper than the Golden Bears. Cal is usually known for its defense under head coach Justin Wilcox, but even that has been subpar this season. I think that with as good as Oregon’s offense has been under Bo Nix and Kenny Dillingham, this one could turn ugly rather quickly.

Depending on where you can find the betting line, I would say that anything under 17 points in favor of Oregon is worth taking.

How to Watch

Here’s when and how you can tune into the game:

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Related

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Updated Heisman Trophy odds: Bo Nix joins club of top contenders

Pac-12 Power Rankings: Oregon Ducks now undisputed No. 1 team out west

Ducks see jump in latest ESPN Power Rankings after win over UCLA

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Story originally appeared on Ducks Wire