posted March 7, 2008 at 18:24 in NCAA B Betting Trends

BetUS NCAA basketball betting matchup:

The Stanford Cardinal (24-5 SU, 14-15 ATS), coming off a very bitter defeat in Pauley Pavilion, go cross town to the Galen Center on the USC campus to take on the Trojans of Southern Cal (19-10 SU, 16-10-1 ATS) in a Pac 10 game that is slated to begin at 2 PM ET on Saturday afternoon.

Stanford suffered a season sweep and lost all hope to overtake UCLA in the Pac 10 race with Thursday night's defeat, but can get a little satisfaction out of their L.A. trip with a win here.

Here are some of the NCAAB betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* STAN has won 11 of its last 13 games SU

* STAN has covered two of its last seven games

* STAN has played six of its last seven games OVER the total

* STAN has won seven of its last ten road games SU

* STAN has covered four of its last six road games

* STAN has played five of its last six road games OVER the total

* USC has won and covered 10 of its last 14 games

* USC has played five of its last seven games OVER the total

* USC has played five of its last seven home games OVER the total

* USC has won 20 of its last 26 home games SU

* STAN has won eight of the last ten meetings SU

* STAN has covered three of the last five meetings

* STAN has had the shooting edge in seven of the last ten meetings

* STAN has had the rebounding edge in each of the last four meetings

Stanford hasn't lost two consecutive games all year. But the Cardinal really "spit the bit" on Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion, leading by 12 points at the half but rolling over completely in the overtime period, losing both the game and the cover.

That's the kind of thing that could have a lingering effect, especially as that was a game in which Stanford could have claimed a share of the Pac 10 regular season title. But since this team has bounced back before, and has certain matchup advantages, we can see them making inroads, particularly close to the hoop, against a USC team that despite the return of Daniel Hackett, is still challenged in terms of depth and size. The Lopez twins have the decided size edge here, and Robin Lopez, who has been making progress on the offensive end, may be able to put Taj Gibson in foul trouble, rather than the other way around.

And twin brother Brook Lopez had 12 blocked shots in last year's meeting. USC knows how to play defense, and coach Tim Floyd has a lot of tricks in his book, but easy baskets will be hard to prevent. And what could possibly match the vise-like UCLA stop nit that the Cardinal had to face the other night?

In what should be a physical game, we will side with Stanford in the BetUS NCAAB betting odds.

JAY'S PREDICTION: STANFORD BY 8

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(Charles Jay of http://www.eBookies.com gives it the old college try as a regular contributor to the BetUS Locker Room)