College Basketball Odds, Pick for Arizona vs USC: Why to Bet Trojans

It's time to dive into the Arizona Wildcats vs. USC Trojans odds and make a pick for Saturday's late-night Pac-12 showdown.

Arizona and USC were both preseason top-10 programs, but their performance has been vastly different since then.
While Arizona had its moments of doubt and tallied a few questionable losses, it still has its eyes set on winning the Pac-12 and making the Final Four.

On the other side, this young USC team had to deal with a ton of growing pains and injuries. Now, it finds itself in the middle of the pack.

USC simply has not lived up to expectations this season. However, the Trojans have arguably the best player in the conference and are not a team anyone wants to play when they're playing their best ball.

Let's take a closer look.

When Arizona is clicking, it's one of the most fun teams to watch in the nation.

The Wildcats' livelihood comes on the offensive end of the floor, as they rank inside the top 34 in effective field-goal percentage, 2-point percentage and 3-point percentage. This gives Arizona plenty of avenues to succeed.

Guard Caleb Love is one of the nation's best scorers off the dribble, and Pelle Larsson and Oumar Ballo complete the elite offensive trio.

However, they run into issues when opposing teams dictate the tempo of the game. USC has shown the ability to play fast or slow it down, so it will be interesting to see how the Trojans try to play this Arizona team.

USC has shown flashes of brilliance, but it has also looked like a bottom-tier team in the conference at times. The Trojans are a very young team and look like they have yet to gel as a bunch.

While that might be the case, that means we don't know their ceiling yet, which truly makes them a dangerous team in postseason play.

Former top recruit Isaiah Collier has looked like the five-star prospect he was when healthy. Collier should have no problem getting what he wants offensively against these softer Arizona guards.

He's a true matchup nightmare for a team like Arizona. The Wildcats don't have the guards to match up with Collier's size, but putting a bigger body on him will allow him to win with speed.

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This is USC's final chance to make some noise in the regular season before it heads to the Pac-12 tournament.

As mentioned, we're still not sure what this team is capable of. Early in the season, this team was in the national conversation as the 21st-ranked team in the AP Poll.

While a national title is probably out of the picture, I do see a path where the Trojans make some noise at home and upset Arizona.

If USC can dictate the tempo on the offensive side and create motion for Collier to get downhill, it will win this game. But if it's not getting its shot and letting Arizona run in transition, forget it.

I envision the former and see the Trojans pulling off a cover.

Pick: USC +7.5