With USC Out of the Picture, is the Pac-10 Championship Up For Grabs?

With USC out of the picture this year, the Trojans will play regular season games but won’t be able to win the Pac-10 or BSC titles, the Pac-10 Championship might appear up for grabs in college football betting futures.

Oregon, the +150 favorite, and Oregon State, the +350 second choice, are ahead of UCLA and Arizona at +500 while Stanford at +650 and California at +800 are offering decent betting value to win the Pac-10 this year…or are they? Is Oregon really that big of a favorite to win the Pac-10 Championship? Are sports betting fans receiving a load of bull in regards to the Ducks this year?

Here’s a preview of the Pac-10 Conference for the upcoming college football season.

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Pac-10 Preview

1. Oregon Ducks +150 – - The college football betting lines on the Oregon Ducks right now, +150, makes them an overlay, in my opinion, to win the PAC-10 Conference. Really, you ask? Yes, really. Oregon suffered only one major loss during the off-season, QB Jeremy Masoli has been suspended for the entire season, and because of that, the Ducks are receiving much less love than they otherwise would have. To me, it just means that I’m getting terrific +150 college football betting odds instead of -150.

Oregon is head and tails above every other team in the conference this season save for maybe the USC Trojans but the Trojans can’t win the conference, remember? The Ducks return 18 starters, might have the fastest defensive unit in the Pac-10 and the man taking over for Masoli, Nate Costa, is a junior that held the starting position before Masoli until getting injured. Costa will be just fine and these Ducks should rule the Pac-10. The biggest issue isn’t at QB, it’s the fact that they have to travel to USC and Oregon State this year. But sports gamblers should have faith that the Ducks, with their incredible experience, can bring home a Pac-10 Championship.

2. Stanford Cardinal +650 – - The Harvard of the West returns starting QB Andrew Luck and a ton of weapons for him to throw to. Head coach Jim Harbaugh also brought in defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to coach star LB in the making Shayne Skov. That means that Stanford has the requisite pieces to be very, very good in 2010. They’re the likeliest contenders to steal the crown away from Oregon, in my opinion.

3. Oregon State Beavers +350 – - They’ve always got a shot because Mike Riley is the best head coach in the Pac-10. The problem with this team is on the offensive side of things where sophomore Ryan Katz will be counted on to show leadership at the QB position and the receivers are young. The defense will be okay, not great, but okay. At the college football betting odds, the Beavers are a pick against right now to win the Pac-10 this season.

4. Arizona Wildcats +500 – - The Wildcats do have to replace their starting defensive tackles and their starting linebackers but their defensive backfield should be good again. That’s a huge benefit for the ‘Cats who also return QB Nick Foles. Arizona is one of the rising teams in the Pac-10 and given the fact that nobody in the Pac-10, besides Oregon, appears to be overly strong this upcoming season, Arizona has a right to make a statement as much as anybody in the Pac after the Ducks.

The Rest of the Pac-10

UCLA Bruins +500 – - The Bruins, supposedly, only return 4 starters. Rick Neuheisal is a good coach but he isn’t that good. They’ll make some noise but I don’t see them winning the Pac-10 this year. Maybe, next year.

Washington Huskies +350 – - Washington returns 17 starters and for that some believe they should contend. Hey, I have nothing against QB Jake Locker but I do have something against their +350 college football betting odds. I think coach Steve Sarkisian needs one more year before really turning these guys into contenders for the Pac-10 title. So, there’s no way I’m accepting +350 on them.

California Golden Bears +800 – - This is Cal. So, they will be undefeated for the first 3 weeks, beating the stuffing out of UC Davis, Colorado and Nevada before losing by 30 to Arizona in Tucson. That’s just Cal. That’s who they are.

Arizona State Sun Devils +1200 – - New offensive system, new QB and bad offensive line. That’s a recipe for 6 to 7 to maybe even 8 losses this year. Who knows? Maybe they lose 10 and end coach Dennis Erickson’s career.

Washington State Cougars +3000 – - Washington State coach Paul Wulff has a 3 and 22 record. +3000 makes them a college football betting underlay to win the Pac this season and there are only 9 teams in the running. Let’s see if they win a game first before talking about a conference championship.

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Sources: espn.com, usatoday.com