Thursday College Opinion
USC (+1) over Arizona
USC is one of the best defensive teams in the nation, allowing just 35.2% shooting, and they are certainly capable of defending an Arizona team that depends on their offensive prowess to win games (the Wildcats shoot 51.3% from the field). USC is better now that All-Pac 10 performer Gabe Pruitt has joined the team after missing the first 11 games and the Trojans have covered the spread in 5 of their last 6 games and nearly upset UCLA on Saturday. Arizona’s defense is good but not great (they allow 43% shooting and 35% from 3-point range) and USC, which shoots 49% from the field and 40% from 3-point territory, should score enough points to win this game. My ratings using games from the entire season would favor Arizona by 2 ˝ points but using the last 5 games for USC with Pruitt back playing full minutes would result in a line of USC by 2 ˝ points. I’ll lean with USC plus the points.