Oregon vs. California odds, spread, lines: Week 9 college football picks, predictions by computer model
A pair of Pac-12 rivals meet up as California welcomes No. 8 Oregon in college football's Week 9 action on Saturday.
Cal is on a three-game losing streak and has dropped four of its last five overall, sitting at 3-4 overall and 1-3 in Pac-12 competition.
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Oregon has moved back into the top 10 nationally, sitting at No. 8 overall after some dominating victories, six straight since the opener, scoring at least 41 points in those matchups, and coming off a big win over UCLA.
What do the experts think of the matchup? Let's see how the College Football Power Index computer prediction model projects the game.
Oregon vs. Cal picks, predictions
Week 9 college football picks: Oregon vs. Cal
The computers are going with the visitors this week, as Oregon has the 82.5 percent chance to defeat Cal and move to 5-0 in conference games.
That leaves the Golden Bears a 17.5 percent shot to upend the Ducks on home turf and move to .500 on the season.
The oddsmakers are siding with Oregon, which comes into the game as 17 point favorites to beat Cal, according to the lines at SI Sportsbook, which set the over/under mark at 57 points for the matchup.
Oregon checks in at No. 13 on the index's 131 college football rankings, projected to win 10.0 games this season and be 13.9 points better than an average team on a neutral field.
Cal is third from the bottom in the Pac-12 according to the computer's rankings, which slots the team at No. 75 nationally, estimated to win 4.2 games on the year.
College Football Power Index
Football Power Index (FPI) college football rankings and computer prediction model are a measure of team strength that predicts a team’s future performance.
Rankings and scores predictions are based on 20,000 simulations of a team’s season, using a combination of analytics, including scores to date, quality of opponents, and a team’s schedule.
College football rankings
According to AP top 25 poll
1. Georgia (31 1st-place votes)
2. Ohio State (18)
3. Tennessee (13)
4. Michigan
5. Clemson (1)
6. Alabama
7. TCU
8. Oregon
9. Oklahoma State
10. USC
T-10. Wake Forest
12. UCLA
13. Penn State
14. Utah
15. Ole Miss
16. Syracuse
17. Illinois
18. LSU
19. Kentucky
20. Cincinnati
21. North Carolina
22. Kansas State
23. Tulane
24. NC State
25. South Carolina