Cougars open as slight betting favorites over Oregon

Call it the College Gameday bump? Ok, probably not, but the opening lines for next week’s college football games are starting to come out, and the Washington State Cougars opened as slight two-point favorites over the Oregon Ducks. I must admit that I was surprised by this. The odds-makers must have a lot of respect for WSU’s 10-game home winning streak.

There’s also the little matter of performance against the point spread this season. While Oregon’s overall record stands at 5-1, they are just 3-3 against the point spread. The Cougs have an identical 5-1 record, but stand a perfect 6-0 against the closing line.

What did gamblers think of the Cougars as favorites? Not a lot! The early money has skewed heavily toward Oregon, and the current Vegas Insider consensus has moved the point spread an entire field goal, as the Ducks are now one-point favorites. This is reminiscent of the Utah matchup. WSU opened as a two-point favorite, but the line moved all the way to Utah -1.5 by kickoff. EDIT One: The line has come back to a Pick ‘em.

The over/under has not been published yet, but for a little context, WSU has gone over the total in five of their six games, with San Jose State being the lone exception. Oregon’s totals have gone over three times in six games, and their game with Washington came in under the 60 points, barely. The guess here is that the initial over/under for WSU-Oregon will be around the 64-67 point range. EDIT Two: The over/under is 66. Nailed it!

Stay tuned, and Go Cougs.