Oregon Ducks open as two-score favorite over UNC in Holiday Bowl
The early betting lines indicate that the No. 15 Oregon Ducks are heavy favorites to win the Holiday Bowl.
Oregon (9-3, 7-2 Pac-12) has opened as a 9.5-point favorite over the North Carolina Tar Heels (9-4, 6-2) ahead of the Dec. 28 Holiday Bowl at Petco Park in San Diego, according to Vegas Insider.
The total scoreline currently sits at 71.5 points, and the Ducks are -400 Moneyline favorites, while the Tar Heels are +310 Moneyline underdogs.
Despite a flurry of transfer portal departures in recent days, the Ducks are perceived to have the better roster at this point. Their chances were bolstered over the weekend when it was revealed that star quarterback Bo Nix will play in the bowl game.
“Obviously for our guys here, extremely excited for our opportunity to go play in the Holiday Bowl against a really great opponent in North Carolina,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said on Sunday. “I think this is one of the best bowls out there. Certainly enjoy getting the opportunity to go out there with. … this 2022 team one more time and compete. We’re excited. Our guys have kind of got an opportunity here to charge our batteries and really get healthy. That’s where a lot of bowl prep is at.”
This season, the Ducks are 8-4 against the spread. They failed to cover as 16.5-point underdogs in their Week 1 loss to Georiga and as 6.5-point favorites in their Week 4 win over Washington State.
They covered as 27.5-point favorites over Eastern Washington in Week 2, as 3.5-point favorites over BYU in Week 3, as 17.5-point favorites in their Week 5 win over Stanford, as 10.5-point favorites over Arizona in their blowout Week 6 win, as 7-point favorites over UCLA in Week 8, as 16.5-point favorites over Cal in Week 9, and as 31.5-point favorites over Colorado in Week 10.
They failed to cover as 13.5-point favorites in their Week 11 home loss to Washington.
They covered as 1-point underdogs in a Week 12 win over Utah and failed to cover as 2-point underdogs in the regular season finale at Oregon State.
Oregon and North Carolina will kick off at 5 p.m. PT on Dec. 28 in San Diego. The game will air on FOX.
This will mark the first time the Ducks and Tar Heels have faced off in the history of the two program, and the fourth time Oregon has played in the Holiday Bowl.
Elsewhere around the Pac-12, the early betting lines are as follows.
Pac-12 Bowl Game Betting Lines (Via Vegas Insider)
Rose Bowl — Utah +1.5 vs. Penn State
Cotton Bowl — USC +1.5 vs. Tulane
Alamo Bowl — Washington +3.5 vs. Texas
Las Vegas Bowl — Oregon State -7.5 vs. Florida
Sun Bowl — UCLA -3.5 vs. Pitt
