On Saturday night the 3-2 Stanford Cardinal head south on I-5 to take on their in-state rival, the 3-3 UCLA Bruins to close out the regular season.
A PAC-12 champion has already been decided. So this game literally means nothing outside of player development and bragging rights. UCLA has come on strong to end the season, and both of their losses are by a combined eight points, so they had a real shot at being undefeated heading into this. Chip Kelly’s offense has been solid, scoring an average of 33 points per game and are gashing teams on the ground. Stanford has had issues stopping potent rushing attacks this season, so expect the Bruins to exploit that heavily.
Even though they have a better record, Stanford only has the upper hand one place when looking at this matchup on paper. UCLA turns the ball over a lot, 12 times in six games, and Stanford takes the ball away far more than they give it up. If DTR and the offense get careless, it could open the door for David Shaw and his team to come away with an upset.
Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming
You can watch Stanford vs. UCLA on Saturday, December 19th at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2, or you can stream it via the ESPN app with a cable or streaming service login.
Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends
Point spread: Stanford vs. UCLA -7
Point Total: 59
Money line: Stanford +215, UCLA -275
- Stanford has been rough to bettors recently, going 2-7 ATS in their last nine games.
- They’re just as bad overall, losing six of their last nine games straight up.
- UCLA on the other hand has won big and kept losses close, going 4-1 ATS in their last five.
- The total has gone over in four of the last five times these teams have met.
Betting splits
Stanford: (63% of handle, 49% percent of bets)
UCLA: (37% of handle, 51% percent of bets)
The Best Bet
The best bet on this one is the spread. Stanford comes in on a three-game winning streak, but they haven’t been blowing anybody out. They’ve also struggled a lot to stop potent ground attacks, which is exactly what UCLA has. The Bruins should run wild over this defense. As long as they don’t make too many careless turnovers, they should win by more than 7.5.
Pick: UCLA -7
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