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It is time to continue our college football odds series with an Oregon State-San Diego State prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Oregon State-San Diego State.
The Oregon State Beavers and San Diego State Aztecs have one thing in common this year: They both have first-year coaches with a ton to prove.
Oregon State is led by head coach Trent Bray, who was Jonathan Smith's defensive coordinator the past few seasons. When Smith decided to leave Oregon State for the Big Ten and Michigan State — a move which, for Smith, was necessary due to the death of the Pac-12 and the lack of power conference football on Oregon State's future schedules (the Beavers and fellow Pac-12 neighbor Washington State will be playing several games this year against Mountain West teams, this game being a primary example) — Bray easily could have accompanied his boss to East Lansing. Instead, he wanted to stay behind with his players and continue to coach them. Wanting to be a head coach in Corvallis outweighed the desire to coach in the Big Ten. Bray wants to make a statement about his own ability, but also about the caliber of the players he has at Oregon State. This year is a proving-ground moment for the Beavers in so many ways.
Sean Lewis was the coach at Kent State, but then he got an attractive offer he couldn't refuse: an offer from Deion Sanders. When Coach Prime offers you a spot on his staff at Colorado as offensive coordinator, are you going to say no? Lewis took the job obviously thinking it could be a catapult for his career. He certainly received a lot more attention in Boulder under Deion than at Kent State. However, Deion didn't have much patience for him. Sanders discarded him as soon as the 2023 season went south. That's how Coach Prime rolls in the volatile environment which is entirely of his own making. Lewis was probably glad to get out of that media circus and into a calmer, more sane situation. San Diego State offered an invitation, and it was too good for Lewis to pass up. Now he's leading an Aztec program which was very good not that long ago but which has fallen on very hard times.
Trent Bray and Sean Lewis, who have been through a lot as coaches in the past year, now get to test themselves against each other in a late-night Saturday fight. It should be quite interesting in San Diego.
Here are the Oregon State-San Diego State College Football odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Football Odds: Oregon State-San Diego State Odds
Oregon State: -5.5 (-115)
Moneyline: -215
San Diego State: +5.5 (-105)
Moneyline: +176
Over: 55.5 (-106)
Under: 55.5 (-114)
How to Watch Oregon State vs San Diego State
Article Continues Below
Time: 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT
TV: CBS Sports Network
Stream: fuboTV (Free Trial)
Why Oregon State Could Cover The Spread/Win
The San Diego State Aztecs were really, really bad on offense in the first half of their game against Texas A&M-Commerce last week. The Aztecs, playing a lower-division school, scored only three points. It's true that SDSU then scored 42 points in the second half, but what was happening in 30 whole minutes? When a team is that bad against opposition it should completely dominate, there's something not quite right, not fully in alignment. Oregon State's defense should be able to keep this San Diego State offense under wraps and make sure the Aztecs never really get going. That will be enough for the Beavers to cover the modest point spread. OSU by at least a touchdown seems reasonable.
Why San Diego State Could Cover The Spread/Win
The Aztecs were awful in the first half, but they were excellent in the second half of their Week 1 win. They might have figured things out at halftime, with Sean Lewis making the requisite adjustments to get the offense humming.
Also, it's not as though Oregon State played a great season opener. The Beavers led Idaho State by a modest 16 points late in that game before adding a touchdown to win by 23, 38-15. Oregon State also has a lot of improvements to make after a less-than-convincing opener. It's not just SDSU which needs to get better.
Final Oregon State-San Diego State Prediction & Pick
San Diego State's first half last week makes us think the Aztecs are in trouble. Take Oregon State.
Final Oregon State-San Diego State Prediction & Pick: Oregon State -5.5
