NCAA Football Odds – Cardinal Land in California For PAC-10 Showdown Saturday

After stranding together five straight wins on the heels of a 52-31 loss to No. 1 Oregon at midseason, the No. 6 Stanford are on pace to finish their season strong with a trip to California this weekend, before heading home for their season finale against Oregon State. The Golden Bears nearly provided the biggest college football betting upset of the season in falling to the Ducks in a 15-13 loss at home last Saturday, and will draw on that effort to try and get back in the win column this weekend in the second of back-to-back games against the top two teams in the PAC-10.

Stanford Cardinal @ California Golden Bears
Saturday November 20, 2010 – 3:30 PM ET
Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, California
Online Sports Betting Odds: Stanford – 7

Despite falling short to the Ducks as well, the Cardinal have their sights set on this year’s Rose Bowl, where they have the potential to be able to get a measure of revenge against Oregon.

A BCS berth isn’t out of their reach, but it won’t be easy against a California team that won at Stanford last year.

NCAA Football Betting Preview: Stanford

Andrew Luck failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time this season last weekend, but it didn’t matter as Stanford came from behind to squeeze past Arizona State 17-13. The defense came up big in that game, and may need another huge effort to make it two in a row against a stingy Golden Bears’ defense that held the top-ranked offense in the country to just 15 points a week ago. The Cardinal will need Luck to have his best game of the season to keep their BCS hopes alive, as the only time he has never not thrown a touchdown in a loss was a defeat at home against California last season.

NCAA Football Betting Preview: California

California has won seven of its eight games against Stanford under head coach Jeff Tedford, including every meeting at Berkeley this decade. With the Golden Bears drawing confidence from a close loss to Oregon last week, Tedford’s men should be ready to give another inspirational effort this week in what now shapes up to be the biggest game of their season. California has lost both football betting games its played against ranked opponents by a combined three points, and may finally get over the hump this Saturday at home.

The Match Up: Stanford @ California

While the Golden Bears have done well to keep close with ranked opponents, this Stanford team is much better offensively than last year’s, and it will be difficult for California to raise their level of play the way they did against Oregon for a second consecutive week. While this one should be close for much of the game, expect the Cardinal to pull ahead as Luck continues to raise his NFL betting stock with just two games left on the schedule.

BSN Sports Pick: Cardinal - 7