College Football

USC vs. UCLA 2016 odds: Streaking Trojans big favorite against rival Bruins

The USC Trojans will look to stay hot on the road as double-digit betting favorites at the sportsbooks against the UCLA Bruins on Saturday night.

by OddsShark

Nov 18, 2016, 5:00 PM UTC

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

The USC Trojans are 6-0 straight up and 5-1 against the spread over their last six games in Pac-12 play. The Trojans hope to finish their regular season conference schedule on a high note with a road win over the UCLA Bruins.

USC is a 12.5-point road favorite at the Rose Bowl at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. In their last six road games against teams with losing records, the Trojans are 6-0 SU.

The Trojans were one of three teams to hand an undefeated team its first loss of the season last Saturday. But while Pittsburgh and Iowa edged out their wins by one point in the fourth quarter, USC thoroughly dominated its game over Washington with a 400-to-276 edge in total yards and a final score of 26-13 as a 9.5-point favorite.

USC has looked like the best team in the Pac-12 over its current 6-0 SU and 5-1 ATS run, but the 1-3 SU and ATS start to the season with two conference losses leaves the Trojans needing help to get into the Pac-12 title game.

In 17 meetings between these two rivals since 1999, USC holds a 13-4 SU and 10-7 ATS edge over UCLA, per the OddsShark College Football Database. UCLA had won three straight over USC before losing to the Trojans 40-21 last season.

Betting Line / Total: USC -12.5 / 52.5 Points

Trend: USC is 1-3 ATS in its last four games against UCLA.

Trend: The total has gone UNDER in eight of USC’s last 10 games against UCLA.

The Bruins came into the 2016 season as one of the favorites to win the Pac-12 South, but the team now finds itself in need of two wins in its final two games to become bowl eligible. UCLA is just 4-6 SU and ATS on the season with a 2-5 SU record against conference opponents. The team broke a four-game losing streak last week with a win over Oregon State, but is 0-5 ATS in its last five games coming off a win.

Saturday night’s total is set at 52.5 points. The UNDER is 10-3 in USC’s last 13 games on the road.

If Colorado loses to Washington State this Saturday and defeats Utah next week, USC would emerge as the Pac-12 South champion. The Trojans can focus only on what they can control, however, and this inferior UCLA team shouldn’t be a problem with another effort like last week’s.