Pac-12 Football Picks: Can Oregon & Utah Win High-Profile Road Games vs. SEC Foes?

The Pac-12 Conference's season gets under way Thursday night. Cal and Stanford are involved in two of the four weekend games featuring non-FBS opponents. Vegas won't even bother creating a betting line on these games. There are three other games with Pac 12 teams favored by no fewer than 23 points. No. 11 Oregon is going to Atlanta to take on No 3 Georgia, while No 7 Utah goes to Gainesville to play Florida.

The Pac-12 travels to SEC country twice on the opening weekend of the season. The conference needs a win to gain some credibility. Cal coach Justin Wilcox admits he will be too busy focusing on his team to pay attention to the games.

Pac-12 Football Picks: Can Oregon and Utah Win High-Profile Road Games vs. SEC Foes?

Pac-12 Football Picks: Can Oregon and Utah Win High-Profile Road Games vs. SEC Foes? All picks against the spread.

Arizona State is a 25.5-point favorite against Northern Arizona. Northern Arizona has beaten Arizona eight times, but not since 1938.

TCU plays Colorado on ESPN at 7 p.m. It's the first game as TCU’s head coach for former Cal head Coach Sonny Dykes. TCU is favored by 13.5 points.

Bowlings Green is a middling Mid-American Conference team. The last time Bowling Green played a Pac-12 team, it surrendered 58 points. Jake and Jeff pick UCLA to win 38-10.

OREGON (plus-17.5) vs. GEORGIA (12:30 p.m. ET) is a big game. The Ducks' strength is on defense. New coach Dan Lanning was Georgia's defensive coordinator the past three years. Jeff picks Oregon.

Arizona is on the road at San Diego State. Arizona is plus-6.5. SanDiego State is a team that could challenge for the Mountain West title.

Cal is a 21.5-point favorite against UC Davis. Cal won the last meeting between the two teams three years ago.

Rice is favored by 33.5 points at USC. The Owls are expected to finish at or near the bottom in Conference USA.

Jake and Jeff pick Utah to beat Florida. The game is in Gainesville, Florida, and Utah is the Pac-12 favorite.

Stanford is favored by 40.5 points at one betting site. Colgate has never played a current member of the Pac-12. Jeff picks Stanford.

Washington State is 28.5-point favorite against Idaho. The teams have played 64 times since 1917.

Boise State is favored to win its division in the Mountain West. Oregon State has scored 132 points against Boise in three games played on the blue turf.

KENT STATE (plus-23) at Washington (7:30 p.m. FS1) is a big favorite. The Huskies lost to Montana in their 2021 opener. New coach Kalen DeBoer was 9-3 at Fresno State last season. His team will be led by a new quarterback, Michael Penix Jr., an Indiana transfer.

Oregon and Utah are playing high-profile road games against SEC opponents.