College Football Week 14 – Arizona Wildcats vs. #20 USC Trojans
USC Ends Season On A High Note Against Arizona
For the first time in five years, USC will be absent from the Rose Bowl game. Losses to Oregon, Stanford and Washington ensured that they would not get a chance to play in a prestigious BCS bowl game and for a team that enjoyed such unmitigated success over the past decade, that is a tough pill to swallow.
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An 8-3 SU record would be amazing for most teams, but not USC who have been dogged by huge losses against Pac-10 opponents. Fortunately for them, they get a patty cake lay-up game against Arizona to cap off their miserable season.
The Trojans have won the last eight games in this matchup, and while many consider the Wildcats to be a feisty roster of upstarts, there’s no way that Pete Carroll is losing his season finale. Matt Barkley, a freshman quarterback who has been mired by injuries this season, had his most complete game of the season against UCLA last weekend, throwing for a touchdown on 18-of-26 passing and 206 yards. He’ll look to continue that trend in to the post season with another tune-up game against Arizona.
It’s seriously hard to fault USC for tumbling this year. After enjoying so much success this past decade, the Trojans have been a revolving door for an absurd amount of talent that has struck the NFL like wildfire. It was only a matter of time before USC eventually fell down the ranks, though the pollsters kept trying to keep them afloat with unruly positions in the BCS Standings. 
Now, ranked 20th, USC is just fighting for a decent bowl game to cap off their season.
Arizona Wildcats (7-4) vs. Southern Cal Trojans (8-3)
Saturday, December 5th
Memorial Coliseum, L.A. — 3:30pm EST
NCAAF Betting Line: USC -7 (49.5)
The Wildcats are a piss poor team on the road, and their 1-7 ATS record in their last 8 tries away from home is stone proof. They’re also 5-11 SU in their last 16 games on the road overall and beating USC has not been a part of tradition for the last eight years of college football betting.
The Trojans haven’t been all that much better against the betting line recently. They were winless against the spread for five straight before demolishing UCLA. I’d take that as a sign that things are back in track, albeit far too late, for the Trojans. At home, they are a strong 16-7 ATS in 23 tries and 15-1 SU in their last 16 games. Basically, when they’re playing at home, they only lose to Stanford.
Arizona will just be a stepping stone USC will use to get to a decent bowl game, which will be delivered to them because of their name recognition alone. USC is deservedly out of playoff contention, and should have been after getting rammed by Stanford. Still, the Trojans are in good hands for at least two more years with Matt Barkley at the helm, and he’ll restore the faith in USC with a win in the team’s season finale.
Free Pick: USC -7 (UNDER)
