Pac-12: (18) UCLA Bruins vs (15) Oregon State Beavers
OSU 5-Point Home Favorite After Shootout at CalÂ
The UCLA Bruins (4-1, 1-1) crawled into the top 25 after handing the 13th-ranked Washington State Cougars their first defeat of the season. Oregon State (5-1, 2-1) put up 52 points as a 7 ½-point favorite (52-40). The Beavers turned a 35-32 lead heading into the fourth quarter, into a 52-32 advantage at the 2:25 mark of the fourth.
OSU is 4-2 ATS in 2023, while UCLA is 3-2 ATS. Kick-off is set for 8:00 pm ET / 5:00 pm PT and can be seen on FOX. We start our UCLA vs Oregon State betting odds preview, starting with the Bruins.
Bruins Are Moving Up Pac-12 Standings
UCLA is just 1-1 in the NCAAF standings out West, but their win against WSU has forced some in the conference to take notice. A win against Oregon State would get the attention of the conference’s big boys with #10 USC being their toughest remaining opponent on their upcoming NCAAF schedule.
If the Bruins could find an ounce of offense against the Utah Utes, we may be talking about a potential conference title if we’re allowed to indulge for a minute. You’d have to go at least four deep before most would get to Dante Moore’s name when it came to the conference’s best signal callers, but the freshman will likely be at the top of the list as the season nears an end.
His numbers against the Cougars were far from impressive (22-44, 290 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT) but an experienced eye can tell that the future is bright as the team gets better around him. UCLA is 20-14 ATS (59%) since 2020, +4.52 units. In that span, UCLA is 9-5 ATS on the road including a perfect 4-0 ATS in Corvallis.
We continue our UCLA vs Oregon State betting odds preview by switching our attention to OSU.
Beavers Lack Identity For Bettors
Most want to go to the betting window, likely an old-school term but you get it, to put their money behind a team they know well. With Oregon State, we have no idea if they’re the team that scored half a 100 against Cal or the defense that allowed just seven points against the Utah Utes.
A totals bettor could go through the Beavers’ first six weeks and be clueless about what they’re going to get come Saturday. Either it’s allowing 40 points combined to San Joe State, Cal-Davis, San Diego State, and the Utes or 78 against Washington State and Cal.
We may be seeing the latter with quarterback DJ Uiagalelei coming off his best game since transferring from Clemson (19-25, 275 yards, 5 TD). Much of that can be attributed to the addition of the tight end into the offense, a position that has been about blocking more than receiving.
Jack Velling finished with 117 yards receiving and three touchdowns. We conclude our UCLA vs Oregon State odds preview with our official selection.
Stay Away From Side
For the reasons mentioned earlier, we’re going to stay away from a side in this one, mostly because both teams are coming off big wins, leaving us unsure how that will ultimately affect a team the following week. We do count on teams being lethargic on offense after big wins and that’s why we’re putting our cash behind the under 53.5 according to the opening NCAA Football lines.
The under has cashed in four straight Bruins games against FBS opponents, 3-1 in Reser Stadium in their last four meetings. That does it for our UCLA vs Oregon State odds preview, we wish you all the best with your College Football selections this week.
For NCAAF betting news, odds, analysis and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
