Pac-12 Odds Report: Buffaloes Stampede into First-Place in the Pac-12
By: Brent Booher
A new team has emerged at the top of a very muddled Pac-12 conference after the 16th ranked Colorado Buffaloes (19-5, 8-3 Pac-12) swept a pair of home games against Cal and Stanford.
The two victories gave Colorado their best start in school history and have the Buffaloes on a path to record their first Pac-12 regular season conference championship ever.
Colorado faces quite the challenge to see this thing out though, as they not only face a difficult test in Eugene against No. 17 Oregon on Thursday (Feb. 13), but they also end their season with five of their last seven games away from the friendly confines of Boulder, Colorado.
From a bettors perspective, despite the Buffs standing in the Pac-12, oddsmakers still have the Buffs Pac-12 odds are listed at +400.
That’s potentially great value in a wide-open conference.
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Oregon Odds: Ducks Continue to Stumble Before Big Matchup with Colorado
As the calendar turned from 2019 to 2020, the Oregon Ducks (18-6, 7-4) found themselves ranked No. 4 in the country at 11-2 overall.
Ever since that point, Oregon is 7-4 with three of their four losses coming by double digits.
They enter this week’s ranking in the No. 17 spot, but with back-to-back losses against Stanford and rival Oregon State, Oregon can definitely use a win to right the ship.
Sounds like the perfect time to face a red-hot Colorado team that’s surging at the perfect time.
And that’s exactly what is store for the Ducks on Thursday, when Oregon looks to enact revenge on Colorado for a 74-65 loss in early January.
A win for Oregon will vault the Ducks back into a tie for first-place in the Pac-12, and more important for Dana Altman’s group, position them for a strong finish in the Pac-12 with four of their last six games coming at home.
From a betting perspective, oddsmakers still believe in the boys from Eugene as they are considered the short favorite to win the Pac-12 Tournament with Pac-12 odds at +150. If you’re looking for a mid-range sleeper to win the NCAA Tournament, Oregon’s +2000 price may be an enticing one to dabble with as March gets closer.
Oddsmakers Remain Bullish on Arizona’s Tournament Chances
Despite being unranked in this week’s Top 25 polls, Arizona (16-7, 6-4 Pac-12) is ranked #10 in the NCAA’s NET rankings this week – showing that their chances to secure an at-large tournament berth remain very high.
Arizona has been a tough nut to crack though.
Last week, Arizona had an 85-80 home win over fellow Pac-12 bubble team USC, only to follow that with a 65-52 home loss at the hands of UCLA just two days later.
This week the Wildcats look to overcome their road woes (2-5 away this season) and further bolster their at-large standing when they head to the Bay Area for a pair of games against Cal and Stanford.
Oddsmakers still believe in Arizona’s talent, as they are listed as the second shortest favorites to claim the Pac-12 Conference Tournament with Pac-12 odds at +200
Sizing Up the Rest of the Pac-12 Odds Entering the Week
It was a good week for the Pac-12 from Joe Lunardi’s perspective, as the conference improved their at-large standing and now have a projected five teams in the tournament (up from four a week ago).
While Colorado, Oregon and Arizona appear to be in mostly safe standing for an at-large berth, the same cannot be said about the other two projected tournament teams Stanford and USC.
Stanford (16-7, 5-5 Pac-12) enters this week losers of five of their last six games, the latest being an 81-74 road loss to Colorado in a game they once led by 16.
The Cardinal host both Arizona schools at home this week, and will desperately need to win at least one of those games to stop the bleeding.
USC (17-7, 6-5) is also on a losing skid of their own, losing three straight and four of their last six overall.
The Trojans went on their annual Arizona road-trip and came out of that with an 85-80 loss to Arizona and 66-64 loss to Arizona State.
USC hopes to play themselves on the right side of the bubble with five of their last seven games at home, but if they continue to stumble, their NCAA Tournament chances are far from secure.
In the Pac-12 futures market, oddsmakers aren’t very keen on either school’s chances to win the Pac-12 Tournament in March.
Stanford is listed at +1300 to win the conference tournament, while USC is listed at +2100.
Pac-12 Betting Nuggets
- Colorado OVER is 4-1 in their last five games
- Oregon is 3-8 ATS in conference play
- Arizona UNDER is 4-2 in their last six games
- Arizona State is 6-3 ATS in their last nine games
- USC is 8-3 ATS in conference play
- UCLA is 5-2 ATS in their last seven games
- Stanford is 2-4 ATS in their last six games
- Utah is 5-1 ATS in their last six games; Utah UNDER is 6-0 in same time frame
- Washington State is 0-6-1 ATS on the road this season (five of last seven games are away)
- Cal is 4-1 ATS in their last five games
- Oregon State is 2-5 ATS in their last seven games
- Washington is 2-9 ATS in conference play; Washington is 0-6 ATS in their last six games
