Oregon Can Crush Inconsistent USC

Oregon vs. USC, 10:30 ET

Last night got ugly for me rather quickly. The hockey game that I gave out ended up being a loser - that wasn't much of a surprise though, I've been getting hammered by the NHL all season - but the college play I put out also fell. Not only did Kentucky not cover the game, they lost it outright to Florida. That isn't a knock on Florida. The Gators are a good enough team, but Kentucky was at home and Florida has struggled on the road all year. Now we are one step closer to March as the calendar has hit February and we look to the game between Oregon and USC. 

Oregon is the less hyped of the two programs, but they are having the better season by far. At the moment, they sit at 14-6 and are 6-3 in the conference. Right now, they are struggling as they face a tougher stretch on their schedule. They have lost three of their past four games. One of the games was against Colorado, a solid opponent, but Oregon was blown out, losing by 16. In the next game, they lost to Utah by three. Their most recent loss came at the hands of Arizona, but this was the first loss Oregon has suffered on their home floor. That game saw them fall by nine points, but they remained competitive in most of it. All of their losses to that point had either been on the road or on a neutral court. Their road wins weren't even that impressive. There was one against Florida A&M where they won by 13, but the other two were against Washington and Washington State. Those wins came by two and five points. They did face USC at home earlier in the season and won the game by eight points. 

(Getty Images)

I mentioned that Oregon was the less hyped team, and that is mostly because USC carries a guy who has a famous father. That would be Senior Forward DJ Rodman. Just kidding. Of course, we are talking about Bronny James. A team that has NBA DNA from players' parents you would expect to be much more successful than 8-12 but here we are. In fairness to James, he didn't play all season and adjusting to the game and rotation can be a bit of an issue for him and the team as whole. USC has been led by Boogie Ellis, a senior guard that can attack the rim, find his teammates, and shoot very well from deep. The problem is there aren't too many other shooters. They do have two other guards who are scoring in double figures, but they need help from other areas of the team. Oregon will be able to key in on Ellis. In the first game he only had 11 points. James did play in that game but he only had five points. 

I think Oregon wins this one again. I'm not as crazy about them going on the road for this game, but I'll take them at -2 for the game. I also expect them to rack up the points and probably hit the over. I would love to say that USC is going to put up a fight but I just can't be certain about them. The problem is the team is inconsistent, and this happens to a lot of teams that cannot shoot well. Let's play Oregon -2. 

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