The PAC-12 has had plenty of surprising results this season, but how have they fared against the Vegas oddsmakers? Here is a look at each team’s Pac-12 betting record, not in terms of wins and losses, but against the spread (ATS) as determined by Vegas Insiders.
As one might expect, Vegas does a pretty good job of keeping team’s around .500.
Pac-12 Betting Records ATS
Oregon State (5-2)
The Beavers of Oregon State have beat the spread at a higher rate than anyone else in the PAC-12, even though they actually haven’t been winning actual football games much this year.
Oregon State took a beating from Oklahoma State to begin the year and an even bigger beating from Utah a few weeks ago, their two big losses on the season. Otherwise, they have managed to keep games just a little closer than Vegas thinks they will, which has helped them win their gamblers some money.
They open as -5.5 underdogs to the Sun Devils of Arizona State this weekend.
Washington (5-3)
Washington is tied with Utah for the second-best record against the spread this season, but even they still have three losses.
UW cost betters big time with their ugly losses to Cal (aided by a thunder delay) and Stanford, for which they were -13.5 and -13 point favorites, respectively.
Their third loss was as three point underdogs to Oregon, a game they lost by four, 35-31. So if you are picking with the spread this year, the Huskies may be your best bet of the season.
They are -3.5 point favorites against Utah this weekend. Do you lay the points?
Utah (5-3)
Utah is 7-1 on the season, but they have been favored in every one of their games in 2019, and kept two games a little too close for Vegas’ liking, giving them just a 5-3 record against the spread.
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The Utes loss to USC obviously hurt them, they were -3.5 favorites, but so did their 35-17 win over Northern Illinois (-23) and their 31-0 win over Idaho State (-37.5).
Apparently, Utah is worth a gamble when they have big spreads, as they have struggled to meet those so far this season.
They are -3.5 point favorites over Washington this weekend.
Oregon (4-4)
Oregon is one of three PAC-12 schools that is perfectly even against the spread this season.
While they may be 7-1 on the year, a handful of very large spreads has made it tough for them to beat the spread regularly this year. That includes a -39 point spread against Montana (they won 35-3) and a -21 point spread over Cal (17-7).
Oregon is five point favorites over USC this weekend, and based on their previous track record, it’s hard to say how they’ll fare this weekend.
USC (4-4)
Speaking of USC, they are one of the other PAC-12 schools that is even against the spread this season.
A surprising loss to BYU (-4.5 point favorites) and a two-touchdown drubbing at the hands of the Huskies contributed to two of USC’s losses against the spread, while keeping a game against Notre Dame exceptionally close gave them a key win.
USC is five point underdogs against the Ducks in what should be one of the better PAC-12 games of the weekend.
Colorado (4-4)
The Buffs were actually doing pretty well against the spread before three straight ugly losses, to Arizona, Oregon and Washington State, hurt their record in the PAC-12 and against the spread.
They rebounded with a close 35-31 loss to USC last week (a win against a 10.5 spread) but will have to keep UCLA within striking distance if they want to cover the -6.5 spread this weekend.
Washington State (3-5)
Washington State lost five straight against the spread in the middle of the season, which also coincided with three actual losses, completing derailing their originally promising season.
The worst was the loss to UCLA, for which they were favored by 18 points and looked likely to cover, until a second half collapse cost them the game.
They also lost games to Houston (-9 favorites) and Arizona State (-2). At this point, they are arguably the most volatile team in the conference and are not someone I would want to put my money on.
California (3-5)
Cal has had three surprising victories this season, one against UW early in the year, another against Mississippi a few weeks later, and a close 17-7 loss to Oregon that easily covered the 21 point spread.
Otherwise they have been fairly predictable, making them a decently safe team to bet on thanks to their above average defense, which frequently keeps opposing teams from running up the score.
Stanford (3-5)
Stanford’s surprising win over Washington and their crushing loss to UCLA the following week notwithstanding, this has been a fairly predictable season for the Cardinal.
They have beat the teams they were expected to beat, and faltered against the teams that are better than them.
More of that can be expected from this team going forward, who next take on Colorado on November 9.
Arizona State (3-5)
Arizona State has won three games they were expected to lose this season, against Michigan State, Cal and Washington State.
However, that’s the extent of their victories against the spread this year. They weren’t able to secure big enough victories against Kent State and Cal-State Sacramento earlier in the year, and they suffered losses to Colorado and UCLA that they shouldn’t have.
The Sun Devils are a tricky team to predict this year, and should not be anyone’s top choice to gamble on at this point.
UCLA (3-4-1)
UCLA and Arizona pushed back on September 28, with a three point spread proving prophetic in a 20-17 win for the Wildcats.
UCLA’s overall record against the spread is pretty weak, but they have been hot lately with victories over Stanford and Arizona State, both covering the spread easily.
They get Colorado with a -6.5 spread next, and based on the hot streak they are on this could be a profitable bet for fans.
Arizona (2-5-1) ATS
The Wildcats are on a downward spiral as of late, both in the win column and against the spread. Arizona has lost their last three games and while they weren’t favored in any of them, they failed to cover the spread as well.
Arizona does have two wins this season, narrowly defeating both Texas Tech and Colorado in games they were not favored in.
Still, this is a tough team to trust on the betting lines, and entering as -5.5 favorites against Oregon State next weekend is a tough bet to get behind.