NCAAF Picks: The Oregon Ducks remain the great unfulfilled promise of college football as a team that gets far too much hype with their fast offense and flashy uniforms. Yet still they haven’t been able to hide their lack of toughness and a championship level defense. And just when everyone finally bought into the UCLA Bruins, they reminded them why they should have retained skepticism with a 30-28 home loss to Utah last Saturday.
The Bruins will host the Ducks at the Rose Bowl on Saturday with coverage on FOX starting at 3:30 PM ET. Oregon is listed as a 1.5-point road favorite in a line that has dropped since opening at (-3.5).
Quack Attack Stalls Again in Spotlight
Oregon is coming off a 31-24 home loss to Arizona as 21.5 point chalks to fall to 4-1 straight up, 1-4 against the spread, and 2-3 under the total. The Ducks defense has regressed to the point of alarm as Oregon ranks 104th in the nation overall. Even the vaunted Oregon offense is down from past top ranked versions and ranks 13th in the country.
Yet Another Letdown Bruin?
UCLA is 4-1 SU, 1-3 ATS, and 2-2 on totals after their loss to Utah in which they let the Utes off the hook late on a field goal with 29 seconds to play. The UCLA defense ranks 87th overall in the nation and 108th against the pass and has been the proverbial “elephant in the room” that finally made a mess of the Bruins championship hopes. Even the UCLA offense has failed to live up to the hype and ranks a less than dominant 37th in the nation.
Matchup and Pick
Although Oregon has covered 11 out of their last 15 away games against the spread they have come up empty in their last three games away from home with their last four road games going under the total. UCLA has covered the spread in 12 out of their last 19 home games with 10 out of their last 12 home games going over the total. Oregon has covered the spread in just three out of their last eight games with UCLA as five out of the last seven meetings between Oregon and UCLA have gone under the total. Oregon has had their best success against the Bruins at UCLA with 6 payouts in their last eight visits with their last three games at UCLA going under the total. We’ll call for Oregon.
