DAVID BANKS
USC / Colorado Over
The first ever PAC-12 meeting between the USC Trojans (6-2, 4-4 ATS) and Colorado Buffaloes (1-8, 2-7 ATS) is set to go under the Friday Night Lights from Folsom Field; kick-off is set to go live on ESPN, ESPN 3D and ESPN3.com at 9:00 ET.
One has to wonder the mind frame the Trojans will take the field with in this one after falling in what will end up being their de facto bowl game to Stanford last Saturday night – in 3 OTs no less! Coach Lane Kiffin’s squad gave the Cardinal all they could ask for, but when it was all said and done, USC found itself on the short end of the exhilarating 56-48 final. QB Matt Barkley played one up with Stanford’s Andrew Luck throwing for 284 yards and three TDs, and he will now get the pleasure of throwing into the Buffaloes 92nd ranked pass “D” that’s allowed an average of 248.9 YPG on the year. Save for a second half meltdown at Arizona State, USC has handled its business with high marks away from the Coliseum smashing both Cal (30-9) and Notre Dame (31-17) to check in with 2-1 SU & ATS records as visitors on the year. The Trojans have covered seven of their L/9 as visitors and four of their L/5 as road chalk.
The Buffaloes enter this Week 10 gridiron battle losers of six in a row both SU and against the closing pointspread. They fell in Tempe 48-14 as whopping 32-point underdogs to the Sun Devils last week. First year head coach John Embree has had a rough go of it in his first year at the helm in Boulder, as his kids own just a win against Colorado State in nine overall tries. The Buffs competed well in their first two home games of the season falling 36-33 in overtime against Cal (+6) before getting edged by the Washington State Cougars 31-27 as three-point favorites. They were then blown off the field by the Oregon Ducks in their most recent spat in front of the hometown faithful losing 45-2 as 31-point underdogs. Colorado won’t be bowling for the fourth straight season, but it could put up a fight tonight considering its 6-2-1 ATS its L/9 when installed a home underdog.
These programs last met on the gridiron back in 2002 in Boulder where the Trojans cruised to the 40-3 road win and outright cover as 2.5-point underdogs. USC is 8-2 SU but just 2-7-1 ATS the L/10 times it was favored on the road in the 10.5-21 point range, but also stands an impressive 17-8 ATS the L/25 times it played off a SU loss. CU’s been dogged at home by 10 or more points six times and checks in with a 3-3 ATS record in those games. That tally includes a shocking outright win over Oklahoma as 23-point underdogs back in 2007.