In the final season of Pac-12 basketball, as we know it, the USC Trojans will make the hostile trip to the desert of Tucson to do battle with the 12th-ranked Arizona Wildcats. It is about that time to check out our College Basketball odds series where our USC-Arizona prediction and pick will be unveiled.

Beyond the shadow of a doubt, the USC Trojans are enduring a difficult season in year eleven under head coach Andy Enfield, but there is still plenty of talent galore residing in this team to capture a cultivating upset in Tucson. At the moment, USC is 8-9 overall and has left much to be desired with back-to-back conference losses to fall to 2-4 in Pac-12 play. Still, the hype surrounding Bronny James and company is through the roof, to say the least!

Meanwhile, the Arizona faithful were sorrowful following a loss to Washington State in Pullman that proved to be a tough pill to swallow. After narrowly losing by three points, the Wildcats saw themselves drop to #12 in the AP Top-25 rankings and now sit in fourth place within the Pac-12 Standings. Still, it is hard to argue against the fact that U of A is the most talented team in the conference with the best home-court advantage to boot.

Here are the college basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

College Basketball Odds: USC-Arizona Odds

USC: +16.5 (-102)

Moneyline: +1100

Arizona: -16.5 (-120)

Moneyline: -2500

Over: 159.5 (-110)

Under: 159.5 (-110)

How to Watch Bronny James, USC vs. Arizona

Time: 10:00 ET/7:00 PT

TV: ESPN

Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)

Why USC Will Cover The Spread

Very few teams entered the fresh campaign with the amount of star power that this USC squad possesses. Not only do the Trojans happen to herald the offspring of LeBron James (Bronny James) and Dennis Rodman (DJ Rodman) all being on the same roster, but the returnees from last season also gave the Trojans much hope entering 2023-2024.

Unfortunately, USC has been stricken heavily by the injury bug as second-leading scorer and freshman phenom Isaiah Collier will be sidelined 4-6 weeks with an injured hand. With the tough break for Collier and USC as a whole, the Trojans will continue to have to find creative ways to play efficient basketball on both ends of the floor.

Although USC went down in defeat at the hands of Colorado by a score of 68-58, tip your hat to the Trojans for getting off to swift start that resulted in USC holding a 13-point lead up in Boulder. However, the closing half is where things turned into spoiled milk as the Trojans were outscored by the Buffaloes 44-21 in the latter frame. Can USC put together a complete game? Only time will tell, but at a place like the McKale Center, the perfect game will be needed to even cover the spread.

All in all, the good news is that USC will have leading scorer Boogie Ellis at their disposal to try and play the role of spoiler in the desert. With at least 15 points scored in three of his last four games, look for the Trojans to feed Ellis the rock more often than not when they need a bucket in the most dire of ways.

Why Arizona Will Cover The Spread

Entering this competition as heavy favorites, Arizona can't let the reality of them being favored get to their heads. As expected, the Wildcats will most likely be rejuvenated by a home crowd that is one of the more raucous fan bases that college basketball has to offer. Even more so, Arizona is going to be playing a “pissed-off” brand of basketball after losing in the fashion that they did over the weekend. Above all else, a combination of the two factors listed above could both be huge reasons why Arizona storms out of the gate in an attempt to win in convincing fashion.

Of course, the ‘Cats are fortunate enough to be graced with the play of point guard Caleb Love, but he can't be the only name that shows up come Wednesday night. Instead, guys like Pelle Larson, Oumar Ballo, and even Kylan Boswell must string together productive moments versus the Trojans. Somehow, the latter recorded a rather odd stat line as it was Boswell who went 0-5 from the floor while failing to tally a single point, rebound, or assist. Obviously, Caleb Love is one of the best point guards in the country, but he can't do it all himself and the rest of the supporting cast of Arizona will need to step up to take care of business in this Pac-12 showdown.

The one statistical category to keep an eye out for that could decide the outcome of this game is their impeccable ball movement on offense. As a whole, Arizona averages nearly 20 assists per game which is the sixth-most in all of America.

Final USC-Arizona Prediction & Pick

At the end of the day, Arizona is undefeated on their home floor for a reason and USC enters town extremely banged up. Just this alone is enough to spell disaster for the Trojans.

Final USC-Arizona Prediction & Pick: Arizona -16.5 (-120)