A school with seemingly infinite money faces off against … a school with seemingly infinite money when the No. 5-ranked Oregon Ducks (12-1) take on the No. 4-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders (12-1) in the Capital One Orange Bowl on Thursday.
Oregon’s financial push has been a well-documented story thanks to Nike and alumnus Phil Knight. The well-dressed Ducks boat-raced their competition in 2025, suffering only a loss to top-ranked Indiana along the way.
Texas Tech’s monetary backing comes from billionaire booster Cody Campbell, a former Red Raiders offensive lineman. With his financial support, the Big 12 school purchased one of the nation’s top rosters.
That squad allowed Texas Tech to secure a first-round bye in making their first-ever postseason tournament appearance after dispatching of BYU in the conference championship game. Can the Red Raiders continue their historic season, or will Oregon upset the Big 12 champs? We’ll cover that and our favorite player props for Thursday’s Orange Bowl.
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Oregon sophomore Dante Moore has played well above his status this season. The 6-foot-3 signal-caller completed 72 percent of his passes for 3,046 yards, 28 touchdowns, and eight picks in his first year leading the Ducks’ offense.
Moore will face one of his tallest tasks to date in the Orange Bowl. The last time a team surpassed the 200-yard passing mark against Texas Tech was mid-October when Arizona State’s Sam Levitt had 319 yards in his team’s 26-22 win.
For the Ducks to win on Thursday, Oregon has to turn to Moore. The quarterback has finished with 257 or more passing yards in his last four outings, including a pair of 300-yard performances. The Ducks aren’t afraid of putting the game in his hands, and he’ll cover this prop bet on New Year’s Day.
Texas Tech has a two-headed running back monster in Cameron Dickey and J’Koby Williams. While Dickey has a considerable lead in all categories, the pair have combined for nearly 1,900 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns this season. Dickey’s lead would be greater if not for the Red Raiders’ blowout wins over UCF and WVU to end the regular season.
Bettors shouldn’t expect either running back to excel against the Ducks. While James Madison ran for 186 yards, the Dukes did so against Oregon’s second team. Before that explosion, the Ducks held their final seven opponents to 110 rushing yards or fewer. Take Dickey to finish below his player prop bet total on Thursday.
Senior Caleb Douglas wasn’t asked to do much against BYU when the Red Raiders won the Big 12 title in December. That was the case in multiple games this season due to Texas Tech blowing out much of their competition.
Still, Douglas finished the year with 846 receiving yards on 54 catches, nabbing seven touchdown passes in the process. And he’ll be needed against an Oregon secondary that has only 300 passing yards once in 2025. Bettors should take the over on this player prop wager as Douglas will see numerous opportunities in the Orange Bowl on Thursday.
The Ducks returned several players from last year’s CFP quarterfinal team, meaning Oregon has an experience advantage over their opponents for the Orange Bowl. The Big 10 school also had a tune-up for this postseason matchup, beating No. 12-ranked James Madison 51-34 in a game that wasn’t that close.
Oddsmakers have installed Oregon as a 2.5-point favorite. My only argument with the spread is that it isn’t high enough. After opening as 1.5-point underdogs, the public money surprisingly hasn’t forced sportsbooks to make a bigger move. Take the Ducks to cover the spread in a game that could be over by halftime.