Posted on 2/28/2008 4:12:19 PM

NCAAB Odds - USC Trojans vs. Arizona Wildcats

By D.S. Williamson

NCAAB Odds - USC Trojans vs. Arizona Wildcats

USC Trojans (+ 5) vs. Arizona Wildcats (- 5)

Tip-off: 9:00 pm est.

This is a big game. Both USC and Arizona are fighting for a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Even though the Pac-10 is the best college basketball conference in the nation, getting more than five teams into the tournament will be tough. The Big East is absolutely loaded and both Wake Forest and Clemson are making moves in the ACC. The SEC even has a few teams that deserve to get to the Big Dance. For Arizona in particular this is a huge game. They were swept by their in-state rivals, the Arizona State Sun Devils, UCLA Bruins and the Stanford Cardinal. When it comes to choosing which Pac-10 teams make it into the tournament, Arizona’s resume just isn’t that good. Now, if they sweep an O.J. Mayo led USC Trojans’ team then their chances to make the tournament becomes much greater.

Here are some trends:

The USC Trojans are 4 and 1 against the spread in their last 5 games versus a team with a winning straight-up record.

The Arizona Wildcats are 4 and 1 against the spread in their last 5 games on a Thursday night.

The USC Trojans are 4 and 0 against the spread in the last 4 meetings between these two teams in Arizona.

The ROAD team is 6 and 2 against the spread in the last 8 meetings between these two teams.

To me, the BetUS spread is just too high. I see this as a 3 maybe 4 point game, but not up to five. In fact the chances of the USC Trojans winning this game straight-up are actually pretty good. The Wildcats beat USC by 11 points in the last meeting between these two teams but this game could be very different.

There is no doubt that the loss of Nic Wise is going to hurt the Cats in this game. He is Arizona’s starting point-guard and his play on the perimeter allowed Jerryd Bayless to score even more than he usually does.

Bayless has been terrific, but for some reason the Cats just don’t have that fire that Arizona teams usually bring into Pac-10 play. The Trojans were sluggish in their first game against Arizona, but I suspect that they will play with more fire tonight. The Trojans are on a two game win streak. I don’t see that ending.

I think USC has a real god shot to upset Arizona on the road tonight. The Arizona Wildcats haven’t figured things out just yet and even though they have played the toughest schedule in the nation, USC just appears more ready for March than the Wildcats do.

That might be enough for USC to bring home a nice BetUS money-line upset in tonight’s game.

The BetUS NCAAB Betting line is USC Trojans + 5 against the spread on the road versus the Arizona Wildcats.

I like the Trojans to not only cover this spread but to win this game outright.

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