USC vs Cal Odds: Trojans Favored Over Bears By Double-Digits

Odds for USC vs Cal opened Sunday with the Trojans favored by two touchdowns over the Bears for the Thursday night contest at the LA Coliseum.

Oddsmakers have plenty of faith in USC’s ability to dispatch the 4-3 Cal Bears at home, with a three game win streak giving Clay Helton and his squad plenty of reasons for optimism.

The Trojans opened the week favored by 13 but that margin has since shifted upward to 15, per the VegasInsider.com consensus line.

Cal’s 2016 season has been the epitome of a rollercoaster ride. The Bears have not won or lost consecutive games this season, building their 4-3 record with alternating wins and losses.

They beat Hawaii in Australia only to fall to San Diego State in a tight contest.

Hosting Texas, the Bears pulled off a shootout upset, only to turn around the next week and lose to ASU on the road in another high-scoring affair.

Starting out October, Cal’s home form continued strong as they upended Utah. But back on the road the Bears were beaten by Oregon State before returning to Berkeley and piling on the Oregon Ducks with an overtime victory.

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Given trends, the line in favor of USC appears well-founded. Cal is 0-3 on the road, except the neutral site win to start the season. The Trojans, meanwhile, are 3-0 at home this season and have not lost a game at the Coliseum since falling to Washington last October.

USC is 3-4 against the spread this season. All three losses in September were by a wider margin than set for the underdog Trojans. However, the October slate has been much kinder to the men of Troy. USC easily outmatched ASU and Arizona in games they were favored by more than a touchdown.

However, favored by five against Colorado, the Trojans just barely missed out on covering in a four-point victory. JuJu Smith-Schuster’s decision to go down and keep possession and the clock rolling rather than score an easy touchdown in the final minutes of that game ultimately saw USC short of covering the spread.

UPDATE 10/27: Bettors have remained confident in a big USC victory. On Thursday morning, the line in favor of the Trojans rose as high as 20 points.

The over/under, which opened at 70, has held steadily at 75 since the start of the week.