Ever since the Oregon Ducks defeated Stanford, the inaugural Pac-12 championship has been surrounded by a vague sense of inevitability. When the UCLA Bruins clinched the South, that sense became somewhat less vague.
On Saturday, when the Bruins were roundly trounced by the USC Trojans by a score of 50-0, Oregon's expectations of a championship must be downright palpable. The oddsmakers certainly seem to agree, as the Ducks are 31-point favorites heading into Friday's Championship Game, according to our friends at OddsShark.
It seems a bit odd that a championship game is expected to be a significant blowout. There is a chance that UCLA will regroup, get their bearings, and enter Friday's game fired up and looking to prove a point after their humiliating loss against USC. It's a bit more likely, however, that UCLA will not be able to defeat a team that is arguably much better than the Trojans.
If the Ducks weren't already brimming with confidence about their opportunity to write their own ticket to the Rose Bowl, the early odds must have them grinning.
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