Jacob Thorpe’s Pac-12 picks

PULLMAN — Often before making these picks I include a warning that they should not be used for betting purposes because we all know that gambling makes hair leave your head and appear on your back.

For those of you who heeded my advice last week, I’m sorry. You left a lot of money on the table. But mortgage those houses and empty out the kids’ college funds this week. I’m feeling a hot streak coming on.

And it starts Thursday night with California’s game at UCLA.

California (20) at UCLA, UCLA by 3: The Golden Bears still haven’t achieved bowl eligibility under Sonny Dykes. They’ll have to wait another week, at least. UCLA 35-31

Washington State at Arizona, UA by 7.5: I expect the Cougars will play well enough to win for the vast majority of the game, but Arizona’s big-play abililty will be WSU’s undoing. UA 42-35

Colorado at Oregon State, OSU by 2: Colorado has playmakers on offense and a defense that is good for the occasional stop. Oregon State has neither. CU 42-24

Washington at Stanford (10), no line: The Huskies frequently seem to play Stanford close and never seem to win. Both trends continue. Stanford 34-24

Utah (3) at USC, USC by 3.5: Somehow, the No. 3 team in the country gets to feel disrespected and overlooked against an unranked team. Utah 31-24

Last week: 6-0, 5-1 against the spread

Overall: 44-12, 28-20 against the spread.