The Utah Utes take on the Oregon State Beavers. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Utah Oregon State prediction and pick. Find how to watch Utah Oregon State.

If you can stay up late on Thursday night, you can watch one of the most significant NCAA Tournament bubble games on the college basketball slate. Utah is squarely on the bubble right now. The Utes are one of the last four teams in the field according to a lot of bracketology projections. Utah isn't comfortably in the field, nor are the Utes on the bad side of the bubble hoping for a longshot series of events. No, Utah is right near the cut line and can solidify its NCAA Tournament position with a few more wins. The problem for Utah is that beating Oregon State won't dramatically improve its overall portfolio. The Pac-12 has been bad this season, which means most wins in the conference don't improve a resume so much as they merely avoid a bad loss and a downward pull of the metrics. Losses hurt a lot, but wins don't mean a ton. Utah is basically trying to avoid losing. Any loss this week in the state of Oregon — here versus Oregon State or on Saturday at Oregon — would significantly hurt Utah. If the Utes can win twice this week, however, and then win at least one game in the Pac-12 Tournament, their odds of making the NCAA Tournament would rise considerably.

Utah should be in the NCAA Tournament with three more wins before Selection Sunday. The challenge is getting those three wins and avoiding a stumble. Given that Utah has won only one Pac-12 road game this season, it doesn't figure to be straightforward for the Utes.

Here are the Utah-Oregon State College Basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel.

College Basketball Odds: Utah-Oregon State Odds

Utah Utes: -7.5 (-102)

Oregon State Beavers: +7.5 (-120)

Over: 142.5 (-115)

Under: 142.5 (-105)

How To Watch Utah vs Oregon State

Time: 11:00 pm ET / 8:00 pm PT

TV: ESPNU

Stream: fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why Utah Could Cover the Spread

The Utes are not a good road team, but they know this is the season. It's all on the line here. A loss to Oregon State would be a total bubble disaster for Utah. The Utes will likely miss the NCAA Tournament if they lose here. Coach Craig Smith has to know that. The players have to know that. Oregon State will put up a fight, but Utah will be desperate to preserve its season and keep its main goal — play in March Madness — intact. The game will be close for 30 minutes before Utah pulls away late and wins by 10 points.

Why Oregon State Could Cover the Spread

The Beavers don't have to win this game outright. They can simply stay close. Given that they are getting a whopping 7.5 points from a terrible road team, it doesn't seem like much of a stretch at all to think Oregon State can cover the spread. OSU beat Arizona outright at home and has played other Pac-12 teams quite well in Gill Coliseum. Oregon State has blown out USC at home and pushed Washington State hard. If OSU can do that at home, it should be able to stay very close to a bad road opponent from Salt Lake City.

Final Utah-Oregon State Prediction & Pick

The spread is just way too large here. Take Oregon State.

Final Utah-Oregon State Prediction & Pick: Oregon State +7.5