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Michigan enters this game ranked 24th when they take on USC for the first time as a conference rival. It has been a perfect season for Michigan in the conference, holding a 2-0 record and a tie with UCLA for second in the Big Ten. It hasn't gone as smoothly for USC, owning a 1-1 record in the Big Ten. However, both teams earned records well above .500 and are rolling off consecutive victories. It's time to continue our College Basketball odds series with a Michigan-USC prediction and pick.
Michigan's only blemishes over the last ten games were back-to-back road losses against Arkansas and Oklahoma. It isn't a massive concern for the Wolverines, as even though they were four-point favorites in both games, they lost by a combined three points. It isn't easy to go on the road to an SEC school and steal a victory, and Michigan failed to steal it by the slimmest of margins. Michigan does have some encouraging wins against Wisconsin and Xavier on the road, which makes up for the shortcomings against the SEC.
USC is 6-4 over their last ten games after going through a slight gauntlet at the end of November. USC is still playing a West Coast schedule before they embark on their full-time journey through the Big Ten, which gave them three consecutive games against Saint Mary's, New Mexico, and Oregon as underdogs. They dropped them all, including an embarrassing defeat against Saint Mary's when they scored just 36 points. They redeemed themselves in the following game when they went on the road to Washington as four-point underdogs and won by 24 points.
Here are the Michigan-USC College Basketball Odds, courtesy of FanDuel
College Basketball Odds: Michigan-USC Odds
Michigan: -5 (-110)
Moneyline: -220
USC: +5 (-110)
Moneyline: +180
Over: 151.5 (-110)
Under: 151.5 (-110)
How to Watch Michigan vs. USC
Time: 8 PM ET/5 PM PT
TV: Big Ten Network
*Watch college basketball LIVE with fuboTV (Get Access | Save $30)*
Why Michigan Will Cover The Spread/Win
Michigan doesn't only have a better record and more wins against challenging opponents than USC. The Wolverines are also a profitable program for college basketball bettors. Michigan is 8-5 against the spread this season, while USC is just 5-8. USC failed to cover six consecutive games at the beginning of their past ten-game stretch, but in fairness, has now covered four straight.
Michigan owns the advantage on both ends of the floor, but the most significant gap is on defense. The Wolverines are 77th in the country with 66.6 points allowed per game, while the Trojans are 168th with 76.4 points. Michigan likes to slow the game down and limit shot opportunities for their opponents, which the Trojans also do with the 328th-most field goal attempts per game.
Why USC Will Cover The Spread/Win
Michigan is 59th in the nation with 84 points per game, but a lot of that offensive success has been when they are massive favorites against inferior opponents. Michigan has some poor offensive outputs on their schedule, including their 67 points in a conference game against Wisconsin earlier in December. That was their only real road game, which brings back their struggles to score on the road from last year.
Final Michigan-USC Prediction & Pick
Both of these teams have above-average defenses and rank in the bottom half of the country in field goal attempts per game. If they continue to play at that pace and run into some hot defense from either side, this game shouldn't come close to the total. You have to worry about Michigan's offense getting hot, but being on the West Coast on the road should help.
Final Michigan-USC Prediction & Pick: Under 151.5 (-110)
