Pac-12 Football Picks: Full Schedule Features Games Thursday through Sunday

The first full weekend of the Pac-12 season — and the busiest — is upon us, with games set for Thursday through Sunday.

After USC represented the conference in Week 0, every Pac-12 team will take the field over the next few days.

Cal opens its season on Saturday at 1 p.m. (Pacific time) against North Texas at Denton, Texas, where the forecast calls for a high of 99 degrees.

Two coaching debuts of interest include former Golden Bears quarterback Troy Taylor leading Stanford against Hawaii on the islands Friday night. On Saturday, former NFL star Deion Sanders takes his underdog Colorado squad on the road against 2022 national finalist TCU.

Last week: Jake 1-0, Jeff 0-1

Season: Jake 1-0, Jeff 0-1

All picks against the spread

Betting line from sisportsbook.com

THURSDAY

-- Florida (plus-6.5) at Utah, 5 p.m., ESPN

Jake: Learned on Wednesday that Utah's standout quarterback Cameron Rising is unlikely to play, but I still think Utah will win in Salt Lake City with Bryson Barnes likely to be the Utes' starting quarterback. Utah has won 14 straight home games. Pick: Utah

Jeff: The 14th-ranked Utes will have their 77th consecutive sellout at Rice-Eccles Stadium, where they have won 25 of their past 26 games, including 14 in a row. Utah will be eager to avenge last year’s 29-26 loss at Gainesville. Pick: Utah

FRIDAY

-- Stanford (minus-3.5) at Hawaii, 8 p.m., CBSSN

Jake: Troy Taylor’s first game as Stanford’s head coach and it’s on the road against a team that has already played a game. Pick: Hawaii

Jeff: Troy Taylor isn’t saying which one of his three quarterbacks will start on Friday. Hawaii’s Brayden Schager passed for 351 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-28 road loss to Vanderbilt last week. Pick: Hawaii

-- Southern Utah (no line) at Arizona State, 7 p.m.

Jake: The ASU head coach and the players are probably still angry they found out just a few days ago they can’t go to a bowl. Pick: Arizona State

Jeff: However the Sun Devils respond after finding out days ago the school has imposed a one-year bowl ban, this shouldn’t be much of a game. Pick: Arizona State

SATURDAY

-- Colorado (plus-20.5 points) at TCU, 9 a.m., FOX

Jake: Deion Sanders and all his transfers must deal with Texas heat in their opener. TCU won’t be as good as it was last year, but it has a lot of advantages in this one. Pick: TCU

Jeff: Sonny Dykes vs. Coach Prime. TCU is too much for Deion Sanders’ fledgling program. Pick: TCU

-- Portland State (no line) at Oregon, noon, Pac-12 Network

Jake: Bo Nix puts up some big statistics in his bid for a Heisman Trophy against a team not expected to contend in the Big Sky Conference. Pick: Oregon

Jeff: We will learn next to nothing about the Ducks in this one. Oregon has won 30 straight non-conference home games and is 5-0 all-time vs. Portland State by a combined margin of 289-40. Pick: Oregon

-- Boise State (plus-14.5) at Washington, 12:30 p.m., ABC

Jake: Boise State is picked to win the Mountain West Conference, but Washington quarterback Michael Penix led the nation in passing yardage last year. And the Huskies are tough to beat in Seattle. Pick: Washington

Jeff: Don’t expect Boise to upset the 10th-ranked Huskies in Seattle, but the point spread against a team favored to win the MWC has me nervous. Pick: Boise State

-- Cal (minus-6.5) at North Texas, 1 p.m., ESPNU

Jake: The heat could be a problem for Cal, and we just don’t know how good quarterback Sam Jackson V will be. Pick: North Texas

Jeff: Lots of moving parts and unknowns on both sides. But the game is on the road, in the heat and the Bears will gladly accept a 3-point victory on a late field goal by Michael Luckhurst. Pick: North Texas

-- Nevada (plus-38.5) at USC, 3:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network

Jake: Nevada looks like one of the worst teams in the Mountain West, and USC has already played a game to sharpen its potent offense. Pick: USC

Jeff: USC gave up four touchdowns to San Jose State. If the Trojans do that again Saturday, they’d need to score 67 points to cover here. We expect the defense against an inferior opponent will be better. Pick: USC

-- Washington State (minus-12.5) at Colorado State, 4 p.m., CBSSN

Jake: We’ll see if WSU quarterback Cameron Ward has made notable improvement in this road game against a middling Mountain West team. Pick: Colorado State

Jeff: How often have the Cougars been favored by 12.5 points on the road against anyone? They’ll get it done in Fort Collins. Pick: Washington State

-- Northern Arizona (no line) at Arizona, 7 p.m., Pac-12 Network

Jake: If I were to predict a line it would be about 25 points. Northern Arizona doesn’t appear to be very good. Pick: Arizona

Jeff: Arizona lost to NAU two years ago for the first time since 1932. Won’t happen again in this one. Pick: Arizona

-- Coastal Carolina (plus-14.5) at UCLA, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Jake: Ethan Garbers (Chase’s brother) beat out stiff competition to be the Bruins’ starting quarterback, but Coastal Carolina has last season’s Sun Belt Player of the Year back in quarterback Grayson McCall. Pick: Coastal Carolina

Jeff: UCLA’s Ethan Garbers is matched against three-time Sun Belt Player of the Year Grayson McCall, whose career numbers include 8,086 passing yards with 78 touchdowns and just eight interceptions. This should be fun. Pick: UCLA

SUNDAY

-- Oregon State (minus-16.5) at San Jose State, 12:30 p.m., CBS

Jake: We get to see how Oregon State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, a transfer from Clemson, will do against a team that has already played a game, which is an advantage. Pick: Oregon State

Jeff: Who’s doing the scheduling these days at SJSU? An opener at USC then a visit from better-than-you-think Oregon State a week later. Ouch. Pick: Oregon State

Cover photo of Cal linebacker Jackson Sirmon intercepting a pass vs. Colorado by Ron Chenoy, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo