Maryland Will Break Trojans Spirit Tonight

USC vs. Maryland, 8:30 ET

It is now Thursday and I've written six basketball articles this week. All six articles have been on college hoops, and we've gone 3-3 over those six games. I have said this in the articles this week, my record this week and last week are average. Overall on the season, I've actually been rather successful, but as we get closer to the tournament, I want to build the bankroll, not start bleeding it with vig losses. Tonight, I am very excited to play the game between USC and Maryland. With just one play, at least I can break the average streak.

USC enters tonight's game with a 14-11 record. It seems rather amazing that USC really isn't that popular of a school to play at. They haven't had a great team in quite some time, and despite the popularity of Bronny James going there last year, the team really hasn't made much noise. I know that they are getting some other guys that are potentially top level to come soon, but I haven't seen anything official. This year has still been rough both overall and in conference play. They are at just 6-8 in the Big 10. It might be easier to discuss who they've beaten of substance this season. They took down Illinois on the road, and beat Michigan State at home. Those are the only two ranked opponents they've beaten, but they haven't had to face too many either. They lost to Wisconsin, Purdue, and Oregon. The team hasn't been terrible on the road, as mentioned taking down Illinois, but they also beat Nebraska, were competitive against Northwestern, and beat Washington. The biggest issue seems to be that the team isn't very consistent. They have lost games by close scores, and been blown out. They win games big, and escape with narrow victories. USC is one of those teams that can be rather hard to predict in terms of when they will play well versus when they will crap the bed. 

Feb 15, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Eric Musselman (right) talks with guard Desmond Claude (1) and guard Wesley Yates III (6) against the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the first half at Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Maryland is having a significantly better campaign than USC is at this point in the year. They are 20-6 for the year with a strong 10-5 Big 10 record in conference play. Their losses have come against Purdue, Washington, Oregon, Northwestern, and Ohio State in Big 10 play. There is one big thing that those losses have in common aside from being in the conference games. Maryland has only lost one home game this season and it was early in the year as they dropped a game against Marquette. Their losses have been very close games, too. They lost by four to Marquette, five to Purdue, six to Washington, four to Oregon, two to Northwestern, and three to Ohio State. At home, they've been great, but not exactly dominant. Over the past five games on their home floor, they've won by 26, nine, eight, three, and six. The team is mainly led in scoring by Derik Queen, Jakobi Gillespie, Julian Reese, and Rodney Rice. Those four guys are combining to average 56 points for the season. With the other scorer averaging 12 points per game, that combines for 68 points out of the 83.5 they average. It is normal for teams to be top heavy, but what is nice about Maryland is that theses guys all seem to take turns leading the way.

There is no question that Maryland is a significantly better team than USC. USC has been at home and was just there Saturday. This is a cross-country trip but they play on the road against Rutgers after so it isn't a one-and-done. I think Maryland will probably win this game and they should be dominant. I think they have the edge in all five starting positions. I'm going to back Maryland to cover the -11.5 and hope tonight is the game where USC has one of their bad performances.

 For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024