San Jose State Spartans vs. USC Trojans Odds Preview
Trojans Head into Final Season in Pac-12 Against MWC Rep
San Jose State vs Southern California Odds Preview: The San Jose State Spartans head to Los Angeles to start the 2023 season against the USC Trojans.
The Spartans are projected to finish in the middle of the Mountain West Conference after a 7-5 (5-3) 2022. San Jose State ended its season losing three of its last four games, including their bowl game against Eastern Michigan (41-27) at the Potato Bowl.
The Trojans are favored to win their 40th conference title and are expected to be in the National Championship hunt. The oddsmakers don’t see week 0 being a problem for first-year head coach Lincoln Riley, after making USC a 30.5 point favorite, the biggest college football betting lines this weekend.
The total is 66.5. Kick-off is scheduled for 8:00 pm ET / 5:00 pm PT from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on the Pac-12 Network. Let’s break down our San Jose State vs Southern California Odds preview with a look at both programs from a betting perspective.
Spartans Continue Climb to Top of MWC
They’re not going to win Saturday, but there’s no doubt that Head Coach Brett Brennan has his team pointed in the right direction. Before Brennan, San Jose State suffered through four straight that the program failed to finish over .500 with an overall record of 19-30.
The overall record isn’t great in Brennan’s six seasons (27-41) but since 2020, the program is 19-12 overall and 15-8 in the Mountain West Conference, including their first conference title in 2020.
The Spartans will have to replace last season’s MWC defensive player of the year Viliami Fehoko (Cowboys) and MWC first-teamers Cade Hall (retired) and Kyle Harmon As we handicap game one, that seems like a lot of production to replace and have it figured out against one of the best teams in the nation. Against the number, San Jose State finished 4-7.
It was the second straight season that the Spartans finished 4-7 ATS, bringing their two-year total to 8-14 ATS. Since 2016, San Jose State is 4-5 ATS when receiving 25 points or more. We continue our San Jose State vs Southern California Odds with a look at USC.
USC Starts Season at #7 According to ESPN Poll
The NCAA football rankings are out and the USC Trojans start the season as the nation’s seventh-best team according to the first ESPN poll. The AP poll starts USC out at the sixth spot. That’s not a surprise with Caleb Williams running one of the nation’s top offenses.
The new season does bring some question marks for the Trojans, like whether they’ll improve on a defense that ended 2022 ranked 101st overall (415.1 yards per game) and 112th against the pass.(266.5 yards per game).
Defensive coordinator Alex Grinch knows that their effort on that side of the ball was directly responsible for the Trojans’ omission from the College Football playoffs.
You can bet they’ll flex on defense against the Spartans, a team they’ve never faced. USC was 8-6 ATS last season but has been unreliable to bettors after posting a 28-41 ATS mark since 2017.
The Trojans are 8-5 ATS since 2008 when favored by 28 points or more, including 2-0 in 2022. We conclude our San Jose State vs Southern California Odds by giving out our official selection.
Bettors Pounding Trojans
As we begin the NCAAF schedule, the betting public has been all over the Trojans pushing this number from -30 to -30.5 with 91% of the money in on USC. It doesn’t appear that large money has made an appearance yet with minimal movement, but we agree with the squares on this one.
After losing their conference title game to Utah, followed by a Cotton Bowl loss to Tulane (46-45), expectations were far from being met. This will be a statement game from what should be an angry USC program.
We’re laying the 30.5 in what should be a 40-point blowout. That does it for our San Jose State vs Southern California Odds, we wish you nothing but the best this season.
For college football news, odds, analysis and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
We also thought you might like to check these out:
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 2023 Future Odds
- Florida International vs Louisiana Tech Preview: Did FIU Lose All its Talent in The Transfer Portal?
- Notre Dame vs Navy Odds: Irish Favored Nearly Three Touchdowns
- Odds to Win 2023 SEC Championship: Georgia and Alabama Lead the Way
- Ohio vs San Diego State Odds: Bobcats Among MAC Favorites
