The Oregon Ducks have taken home Pac-12 title bragging rights each of the last two seasons. And wouldn’t you know it, Mario Cristobal’s “Quack Attack” enter the 2021-22 college football betting season lined as favorites to win it a third straight time at online sportsbooks. A Pac-12 representative has been absent from the College Football Playoff finalists ever since the tournament came into existence back in 2015. The way the futures odds and win totals currently shake out, that streak of six straight misses is likely to remain intact. There simply just isn’t a championship caliber team within this conference in my humble opinion. That could change as the season progresses, but I’d be betting against it and hitting “No” on each and every single one of these teams securing a CFP bid. But how will the conference ultimately shake out? I’m a huge proponent of teams becoming the best by beating the best, but the Ducks wouldn’t have even represented the North Division in the title game last season had Washington not opted out of it. Truth be told, this conference is entirely up for grabs with any of the top six teams on the futures odds having a shot at being the last one standing. I honestly have no clue and am not confident in the least pegging a winner right now.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
Oregon +250
Washington +360
USC +380
Arizona State +450
Utah +600
UCLA +1200
California +2200
Colorado +3500
Washington State +3500
Stanford +4000
Oregon State +4000
Arizona +8000
Favorite to Bet: Washington Huskies +360
I’m siding with U-Dub as the chalk to invest in only because of the way its schedule shakes out. The Huskies get UCLA, Oregon and Arizona State at home. It also completely bypasses Utah and USC. Its road tests in conference come against Oregon State, Arizona, Stanford and Colorado with the Beavers and Buffaloes respective five-game win totals the highest of the quadrant. In other words, Washington has a cakewalk playing away from Husky Stadium. To top it all off, the Huskies get the added benefit of hosting the Apple Cup against Washington State!
Oregon on the other hand has to run up against Stanford, UCLA, Washington and Utah on the road. It also gets the pleasure of avoiding the Trojans. If the Ducks are as improved as many of the talking heads in the sporting world suggest, then they should have no issue dealing with the tougher of the two schedules to punch a ticket back to the title game. I’ll be betting against that occurring however. While there are excelled players up and down the Ducks roster with a top-10 recruiting class incoming, I just don’t buy into what Mario Cristobal is selling; even with a new coordinator brought in to right the defensive ship.
I’m a fan of Jimmy Lake. He’s confident. Some might call him arrogant. However, his persona is the type I want coaching my football team. Whether it’s Dylan Morris or Sam Huard navigating the offense, they’ll get to do so behind one of the more imposing and experienced offensive lines in the country. Throw in a dynamic and powerful 1-2 punch in the backfield, and Washington should run an efficient attack. Though the loss of DE Zion Tupuola-Fetui could prove to be detrimental for the defense, the back-seven is still one of the best in the Pac-12. I’m not very bullish on either Washington or Oregon, but someone from the North Division must be represented in the title game.
Underdog to Bet: Utah Utes +600
I won’t bat an eye if you decided to insert Arizona State into this slot instead of Kyle Whittingham’s Utes. The Sun Devils possess arguably the best defense in the conference and arguably have the best quarterback as well in the form of Jayden Daniels. However, there’s some bad juju surrounding this program after getting busted for recruiting violations during the pandemic. With that, we still don’t know who takes the fall for it. Should it be Herm Edwards, it could prove to be devastating as those kids love playing for him. Because of the uncertainty surrounding the Sun Devils right now, my lean goes to the Utes as the top-rated underdog investment.
This team is absolutely loaded on both sides of the ball as it returns a bulk of players from last year’s squad and brought Charlie Brewer in from Baylor to run the offense. The defense also looks stout with the front-seven returning a bulk of impact players that allowed for the Utes to rank out as the No. 38 overall defense that simply shut opposing ground attacks down. The problem lied in the secondary where it was ripped for over 255 yards per game. Should that be rectified, Utah will have an excellent opportunity to come out of the South at a nice 6-1 return with its toughest road test coming at USC and it getting the pleasure of welcoming ASU, UCLA and Oregon into the newly renovated Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Longshot to Bet: UCLA Bruins +1200
It’s year four of the Chip Kelly regime in Tinseltown, and I fully believe this is the season the program finally pops. The Bruins have a game changer under center that goes by the name of Dorian Thompson-Robinson who is one of my favorite dark horses to sweep in and steal the Heisman Trophy. He currently offers up an attractive 60-1 return in case you were wondering. In only five games of the COVID shortened season, he threw for 1,120 yards and 12 TD passes while adding another 300+ rushing yards and three scores. He played to a 156.3 QB rating – the highest of his collegiate career – but still ended up throwing four interceptions. If finally able to find the cure for his turnover bug, the sky will be the limit and the program could really flourish.
If finally able put it all together and come into his own now in his senior season, linemakers could be selling this team dramatically short. I think their 7-game season win total odds are a gift from the college football gods with it a distinct possibility they rattle off three straight wins before making the trek to Stanford to open P12 play. They have to play Washington, Utah and USC on the road which isn’t fun, but nothing’s ever easy when trying to cash in on a ticket with this type of return. Don’t sleep on the Bruins in 2021-22; I think they turn some heads!
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