Stanford opens as a 9-point underdog to Oregon

The Stanford Cardinal are facing an uphill battle in their 2020 season opener against the Oregon Ducks this Saturday.

The opening lines for the Week 1 slate for the Pac-12 are trickling in and the opening numbers for the Stanford-Oregon game are well in the Ducks favor.

Multiple betting sites and locations have the Ducks as a two-possession favorite over the Cardinal, including one line that’s gotten up to 10.5 points in Oregon’s favor.

With any first-time teams playing in a season, these lines are at best an educated guess, but especially when it comes to this Oregon team, and especially considering the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Oregon is replacing four-year starter in Justin Herbert at quarterback as well as a few NFL draft hopefuls in the secondary. Perhaps their biggest loss, however, is that of all-world left tackle Penei Sewell who remains opted out of the season at last check.

Sewell’s exit from the lineup means the Ducks now have an entirely new offensive line as all five starters from last year’s unit will be gone.

Reaching as high as 10.5 points, the favorable Oregon number is the second-biggest number in the betting world for the Pac-12 slate as only Arizona is the bigger underdog, as they opened up as two-touchdown dogs to the Utah Utes.

We’ll see where the lines finish come the start of the game on Saturday, but it certainly is interesting to see the Ducks getting the love from the betting circles.