Posted on
2/7/2008 8:04:18 PM
NCAAB College Betting – California at Oregon State
By Charles Jay
The beleaguered Oregon State Beavers (6-15 SU, 8-12 ATS) will at long last try to pick up a Pac-10 win on Thursday night when they travel to Berkley to face the California Golden Bears (13-7 SU, 10-7 ATS) in a game slated to begin at 10:30 PM ET at the Haas Pavilion.
In the BetUS NCAA college basketball betting odds, California is listed at -15.5, with a total posted of 138.5 points.
Here are some of the NCAA basketball betting trends related to this matchup:
* OSU has covered two of its last eight games
* OSU has lost its last 11 games SU
* OSU has played five of its last seven games UNDER the total
* OSU has lost its last six road games SU
* OSU has played four of its last six road games OVER the total
* CAL has played its last five games OVER the total
* CAL has won and covered one of its last five home games
* CAL has won 10 of its last 15 home games SU
* CAL has played six of its last seven home games OVER the total
* CAL has covered four of the last five meetings
* CAL has won the last five meetings SU
* CAL has had the rebounding edge in five of the last six meetings
California had a grand start to its Pac-10 season, almost running USC off the court. Things cooled down for the Bears after that, with five losses in six games, but Cal has rebounded recently with wins against Washington State and Washington behind red-hot Ryan Anderson, and the 45% shooting and nine three-pointers against WSU in particular are a barometer that this team may be starting to get its act together. And it would be just in time.
Cal is sitting with an RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) of 71, meaning that not only does it have to register some meaningful wins over the rest of its schedule to get some consideration for the NCAA tournament, it has to avoid losing games to lower-rung opponents like this.
One piece of good news they'll welcome is that DeVon Hardin, the 6'11" defensive standout who had been out with an illness, is able to come off the bench and play some minutes tonight.
Oregon State, which thus far is 0-9 in Pac-10 play, has lost its conference games by an average of 17.4 points. Kevin Mouton, who replaced the fired Jay John as coach four games ago, has thus far gone winless. The Beavers do not shoot threes very often (just five a game) and until they are able to improve their overall marksmanship (just 38.5% from the field!), they are going to have a hard time keeping up the pace with teams that will absolutely not slow it down. Cal fits into that category.
We'll lay the 15.5 points with the Cal Golden Bears, the favorite in the BetUS NCAA college basketball betting odds.
JAY'S PLAY: CALIFORNIA
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(Charles Jay of TotalActionExtra.com gives it the old college try as a regular contributor to the BetUS Locker Room)