College Football Week 12 Picks: California Golden Bears vs. Oregon State Beavers

Sean Mannion could return under center on Saturday night, as the Oregon State Beavers (7-2) host the California Golden Bears (3-8) at Reser Stadium, with the opening kickoff scheduled for 10:30 p.m. ET on the Pac-12 Network.

The Beavers are currently 14-point home favorites in the Week 12 college football betting odds (courtesy of SBR Forum).

Mannion entered last week's 27-23 loss to the Stanford Cardinal as 3.5-point road underdogs after starting quarterback Cody Vaz suffered an ankle injury in the fourth quarter.

Let's take a closer look at this Pac-12 Conference matchup from a betting perspective, while offering an against-the-spread pick along the way.

The California Golden Bears will be glad when this season is over, as they get set to play their 12th consecutive game without a bye week.

Injuries have mounted up in a big way, and the program is 0-4 ATS in its last four trips to the state of Oregon.

The Oregon State Beavers have won 10 of the last 13 meetings in this series, while covering the spread in four of the last five.

I'm expecting a major defensive performance out of this team on Saturday, as it ranks second in the Pac-12 allowing just 19.1 points per game.

I reached out to Jimmy Vaccaro earlier this week about this high-profile affair. He serves as the public relations director for William Hill U.S., and here's what he had to say: 

The Cal program has steadily been heading downhill under Jeff Tedford of late. Meanwhile, there are too many positives on the Oregon State side to go against them in this spot.

I'm going to recommend that readers back the Oregon State Beavers in this spot, as the winning team has covered the spread by an average of 17.3 points in the last 10 meetings in this series.

College Football Week 12 Pick: Oregon State Beavers -14

Follow Jeff Grant on Twitter