USC vs. Utah: Betting odds, lines, picks and predictions

Dave Tuley
·2 min read
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LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 8, 2022: USC coach Lincoln Riley questions a call to the official against Washington State
USC coach Lincoln Riley questions a call to the official against Washington State on Saturday at the Coliseum. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Las Vegas sportsbooks have the USC Trojans as 3.5-point favorites when they visit Utah at 5 p.m. Saturday for a crucial Pac-12 game.

The Trojans, ranked No. 7 in the country, are 6-0 and atop the Pac-12 at 4-0 with No. 11 UCLA and No. 12 Oregon the only other undefeated teams in conference play at 3-0 (the conference did away with divisions this season and the two teams with the best Pac-12 record will meet in the conference championship game in Las Vegas).

Oddsmakers had Utah power-rated higher than USC before the season and opened the Utes as high as -4 for this game, but early support at DraftKings has come in on the Trojans with 78% of the bets and 63% of the money on USC as the line has dropped to 3.5 at just about every sportsbook from coast to coast. For the most up-to-date betting trends, see VSiN’s CFB betting splits page.

Utah, ranked No. 20, lost an important game at UCLA on Saturday and is in a must-win spot to get back in the conference race. That loss was on the road, so the bad news for USC backers is that Utah is 3-0 SU & ATS at home this season. However, the encouraging news is that the Trojans have shown the ability to win close games while the Utes have not (and lost to the two decent teams they’ve played).

Bookmakers project this to be a shootout with an Over/Under of 65 points. So far, most bettors have agreed as 52% of the bets and an even higher 77% of the money have been on the Over.

Lincoln Riley’s USC offense is averaging 40.2 points per game and the defense is allowing 18.7, but the Trojans haven’t faced an offense as good as the Utes, so this will be their toughest test yet.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.