College basketball slowly kicks back into high gear after the holidays, as a 22-game Thursday slate follows yesterday’s modest three-game slate. The day is dominated by four conference openers in the Big Sky and five in the Big West, but that is not the only West Coast action today, as there are also two Pac-12 openers between USC and Oregon, as well as UCLA and Oregon State. Here are my top college basketball picks for today’s games. Below we dive into GAME.
Get instant alerts when a line reaches your target via the BettingPros App >>
Thursday's College Basketball Best Bets: GAME
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
USC vs. Oregon
USC is just 1-2 ATS and SU in the three games that Bronny James has been active, as oddsmakers have taken advantage of the hype the team has gotten from adding a role player. While Oregon is dealing with a slew of injuries for the second consecutive season, it is 6-0 SU at home and has covered in five of those six. The Ducks have won three of the last four meetings in Eugene against USC, and all three wins came by nine-plus points, while the only loss in that span was by one in February 2022.
USC’s offense has been too isolation-dominant and reliant on Boogie Ellis’s shot creation, as he ranks in the top 130 in percentage of his team’s shots. However, Oregon possesses plenty of outstanding off-the-ball and on-ball defenders, which is why it allows the 49th-lowest assist per field goal made percentage (44.1%) in the country. Thus, while the Trojans will be used to playing isolation basketball if the Ducks force them to, it also has not produced positive results, as USC lost four of five games before feasting on an Alabama State team that ranks outside of KenPom’s top 300.
Oregon has covered 65.2% of its games as home favorites (15-8-1 ATS) since the start of last season, and we expect it to improve that mark in this conference opener at home against a Trojans team that has covered just three of seven games as road underdogs in that span.
Pick: Oregon -2.5 (-110)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | RadioPublic | Breaker | Castbox | Pocket Casts
Mike Spector is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeSpector01.