Posted on 2/20/2008 4:15:41 PM

College Basketball Betting - Utah Utes vs. BYU Cougars

By Mike Rose

Mountain West action heats up tonight when the (15-8) Utah Utes invade Provo to take on heated rival BYU and their gaudy 20-5 SU mark. Utah currently sits 3-games in back of the Cougars for the top spot in the conference with SD State, New Mexico, and UNLV in between. Away from Salt Lake City, the Utes have been very mediocre. They own a 5-5 SU mark, but they’ve made their backers very happy by cashing in 7 of those 10 games ATS. As for the Cougars, they’re a perfect 13-0 SU in the comfy confines of the Marriott Center, but they’ve only managed a 4-4-1 mark ATS in their nine lined games.

We last saw Utah on Saturday afternoon when they struggled to put away an undermanned San Diego State Aztecs club. The 6-point win fell four short of covering the 9-point spread, but the win was their fourth in a row and 5th in their last 6. The Utes have taken part in four Mt. West road games this season and stand at 2-2 SU and ATS. Most recently, they went into Colorado Springs and upended the Air Force Falcons by a 67-59 final count and before that defeated Colorado State by 15-points easily covering the 8-point spread. Their pair of road losses came in overtime to both SD State (whom they just beat) and to New Mexico.

Since getting pasted at UNLV for their only conference loss of the season, BYU has rattled off 8 straight victories and covered the spread in six of those affairs. They’re coming off a huge revenge game that saw them dish out the same type of punishment to UNLV that they received when they paid Sin City a visit back in mid January. The 74-48 win was their moist lopsided conference win of the season, but they’ll have to get right back up tonight to welcome in their most hated rival.

BYU went into SLC and escaped with a 55-52 road win and cover about a month ago, and the win was their 3rd in a row over their instate rivals. Utah is a poor 2-5 ATS the last 7 meetings with BYU, and they’re a very poor 3-8 ATS their last 11 games as a visiting underdog. Total players take note: The Under is 8-2 ATS in the Cougars last 10 against teams playing .600 ball, and 4-1 ATS in the Cougars last 5 games in which they were favored by 7-12.5 points. The Under is also 4-1 ATS the last 5 times the Utes have been installed road pups.

The Cougars opened up as 8-point home chalks with the ‘total’ set at 132 for the rematch, but it now sits in the 7-7.5-point range with the ‘total’ rising a point.

You can get in on this huge Mountain West clash at BetUS.com right now!

Go to the BetUS.com online sportsbook today to bet on NCAA basketball. We have the most current NCAA basketball odds and lines, as well as player and game props. Join BetUS.com to experience the best in online sports betting action!