Pac-12 Tournament Odds, Pick for USC vs Washington

USC takes on Washington on Wednesday, March 13, at 3 p.m. ET on Pac-12 Network in the Pac-12 tournament.

The first round of the Pac-12 Championship will be a lot of fun.

USC is heating up at the right time, while Washington has been up and down all season.

These two played just once this year, and it was recently. USC grabbed the road win as 4.5-point underdogs, an impressive road win for the Trojans and part of a three-game win streak to finish the season.

USC shot a whopping 54% from the field in that matchup and scored 82 points. That was a tad above the season-long effective field goal percentage baseline, which is tough to do on the road (via Vincerix).

Not much has changed between these two since that March 2 matchup, but let's examine where each team needs to excel to find success.

USC seems to have figured some things out over the last few weeks of the season.

The Trojans were once a top-10 team with monster postseason hopes.

But the wheels fell off during the middle of the season, and the Big Dance looked bleak. But they figured some things out and are once again a dangerous team.

The path to success for USC is downhill action. The Trojans do a great job getting to the rim and converting from in close. That was what worked against the Huskies the first time and will surely be the recipe again.

Former top recruit and future NBA star Isaiah Collier is a matchup nightmare for Washington. He's plus in size and speed for the college guard position and has what it takes to take over any game. Getting Collier downhill will allow USC to convert close shots, draw fouls or kick the ball out to open shooters.

Washington showed signs of greatness this year but very poor basketball at others.

The Huskies beat Gonzaga at home early in the season and recently beat Washington State on the road.

But the faults include ugly home losses to Cal and Nevada.

Washington gets it done on the offensive end. The Huskies know they won't stop USC. Collier is a matchup problem and the defense isn't great to begin with.

The Huskies will ramp up the pace and simply try to outscore USC. They rank inside the top 66 in both effective field goal percentage and 2-point shooting, showing they have the offensive prowess to run with the hot Trojans.

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Everyone will run to get the hottest team in the Pac-12, but I don't think it'll be that easy.

USC just beat Washington, but the Huskies have a path to victory.

The last meeting was played too languidly. This time around, the Huskies will ramp up the tempo, benefitting their quick-strike offense and resulting in a win.

Pick: Washington +2