If you were to ask any West Coast college football expert they would likely tell you the USC-UCLA rivalry is the fiercest in the game. Those folks may be biased in their assumptions. But they also may be correct. Not only have the schools battled for supremacy in the Pac-12, -10 and -8 conference since the late 1920s, the campuses are located just 12 miles apart in the heart of Los Angeles. The Bruins suffered their first loss in four games to their cross-town rival under coach Jim Mora last season and will host the Trojans this year on Saturday, November 19 at the Rose Bowl Stadium with a possible trip to the Rose Bowl on the line.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
USC Trojans +2.5
UCLA Bruins -2.5
Odds Analysis
The series has been much tighter since Mora took over the UCLA program in 2012. The season before his arrival, the Bruins were a 16-point dog and didn’t come close to covering, losing 50-0. Since that game, however, the spread hasn’t ended higher than 4.5 points and the Bruins have gone 3-1 ATS in those four games. The early opening line had the Bruins as 2.5-point chalk.
Last Meeting
A regular season that saw the Trojans lose their head coach to a drinking problem and their national championship aspirations dashed in the first month, ended with a big win over their cross city rival. USC broke a three-game losing streak against No. 22 UCLA and won the Pac-12 South title with its 40-21 victory.
Senior quarterback Cody Kessler threw a pair of scoring passes and ran for another to beat the Bruins for the first time in the 85th meeting between the schools. By virtue of its victory, SC advanced to its first ever appearance in the conference title game.
The Trojans recovered after Steve Sarkisian was let go in October following a loss to Washington that left the club at 3-2. Clay Helton was elevated to interim head coach and the Trojans responded by winning for the fifth time in his seven games. The audition led to his permanent hire just a few days after knocking off UCLA.
The Series
The matchup is always a Game of the Year locally, and most times the game carries national significance. But in 1967 the teams played what some called the Game of the Century. That one had conference championship, national championship, and Heisman Trophy implications all wrapped into 60 minutes of football.
UCLA was ranked No. 1 heading into the game with quarterback Gary Beban a Heisman finalist. USC held down the No. 4 ranking and had Heisman candidate O.J. Simpson in its backfield. The Trojans eked out a 21-20 win and went on to defeat Indiana in the Rose Bowl to claim the National Championship. Beban won the Heisman.
USC ended a three-game slide in the series with last year’s 40-21 victory and increased its overall lead to 45-31. There have been seven ties. The Trojans vacated wins in 2004 and 2005 after they were deemed in violation of NCAA rules.
Importance
If there isn’t a trip to the Rose Bowl, or nowadays the Pac-12 Championship game, at stake, there are bragging rights within the city of Los Angeles. The universities are separated by only 12 miles and the players bump into each other at the local mall. And don’t forget the Victory Bell, the old Pacific Railroad ornament that goes to the winning team each year.
Betting Angle
Though the Bruins lost last year’s matchup, they’ve owned the series since Mora took over the program. UCLA saw its three-game win streak come to an end, falling in the LA Coliseum. But UCLA has been solid at home over the last six meetings in the Rose Bowl.
While the teams have split the last six games on UCLA’s home field, the Bruins are 5-1 ATS over that span. If you like wagering the over, be careful. The under is 8-1-1 in the last 10 meetings between the city rivals.
Quick Pick
You can throw out all the records and stats in a rivalry game of this magnitude. UCLA lost for the first time in four games last year, but the Bruins were dealing with a debilitating injury problem and the woes finally caught up at the end of the year. They just ran out of gas and able bodies, dropping three of the last four games.
The Bruins were a bit lucky to get their lone win in that sequence, taking advantage of turnovers to knock off Utah 17-9. But it was evident they weren’t the same team than when the year began.
It seems like every year the Trojans get tabbed as the most talented team in the Pac-12. And over the past several seasons they haven’t played like it. Once again USC is stacked and they have a coach in place who doesn’t drink on the job.
NCAA Odds: USC 32, UCLA 26
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