NCAAF Week 2 Betting Tips: The 5 Best Pac 12 Matchups

Trey Killian

September 6th, 2018

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This is an exciting weekend for college football betting fans of all loyalties, but it should be an especially thrilling one for fans out west.

The Pac-12 is participating in some of the more intriguing matchups with some fun teams going up against tough nonconference competition.

The one matchup within the conference which pits USC v. Stanford, could have serious early implications for the Rose Bowl and even the playoff.

Arizona @ Houston

Houston struggled against Rice at the outset, but the Cougars were able to furiously rally against the defensively delinquent Owls. They’ll face a much stiffer nonconference challenge against the Wildcats, as it’s tough for us to see Zona losing two in a row to start the season with Heisman hopeful Khalil Tate at quarterback.

Tate completed 17 of 34 passes for 197 yards and a touchdown while rushing for just 14 yards on 8 carries, but picking up another touchdown on the ground. Facing his old team, coach Kevin Sumlin expects to run his quarterback more this week, and we’ll hopefully see the kind of dynamic performance that we know Tate to be capable of.

Spread Pick: Arizona (+4.5) -112 at 888Sport.

Outright: Arizona +170 at 888Sport.

Utah vs Northern Illinois

Northern Illinois will get a second shot at knocking off a Power Five team, but we think the talented Utes will be taking this game very seriously.

Utah had its hands full against Weber State, but pulled away late thanks to the dynamic attack of Tyler Huntley (279 yards passing, 4 tds) and running back Zack Moss (150 yards rushing on 16 carries, 1 td.)

Perhaps stronger iterations of the consistently upset-minded Huskies would fare better in this situation, but they showed little promise in a 33-7 loss to Iowa.

Spread pick: Utah -10 at 888Sport.

Outright: Utah -400 at 888Sport.

Arizona State vs Michigan State

Michigan State had to scratch and claw their way to a win to avoid what would’ve been an absolutely stunning upset at home against Utah State in Week 1.

Herm Edwards looks comfortable at the Sun Devils’ helm at the moment, but this will be his first major test and we’re going with the more experienced (in his current role, at least) choice in Mark Dantonio to get the big win.

Spread pick: Michigan State (-6) -112 at 888Sport.

Outright: Michigan State -240 at 888Sport.

California vs BYU

The Cougars will look to knock off their second PAC 12 opponent in two weeks after spoiling Arizona’s home opener as they welcome California into .

The Golden Bears intercepted UNC QB Nathan Elliot four times in a solid 24-17 win in Berkley, but Tanner Mangum could be one of the best signal callers Cal will face all year.

Squally Canada gave BYU’s offensive the run game it needed for a balanced attack picking up 98 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Cal’s run defense was average at best against the Tar Heels, so we expect the Cougars to pack enough punch to get a big win in Provo.

Spread pick: BYU (-3.5) -108 at 888Sport.

Outright: BYU -175 at 888Sport.

USC vs Stanford

Both of these teams struggled with their opening competition and we like emerging QB JT Daniels to steal the show for the Trojans in this early-season rivalry matchup.

Bryce Love’s Heisman hopes took a hit last week as the star running back mustered just 29 yards on 18 carries in a 31-10 win over San Diego State.

We may be overlooking the Cardinal here, but we’d like to see what Daniels, a former High School Player of the Year at the prestigious Mater Dei, can do in this first major test and we expect him to rise to the challenge.

USC leads the all-time series 61-32-3 and beat Stanford twice last season. The Trojans are still trying to rebuild their program to the level it had previously reached with Pete Carroll before scandal tore it all down.

Spread pick: USC (+4.5) -112 at 888Sport.

Outright: USC +170 at 888Sport.