USC vs. Drake Betting Odds: Spread, Analysis For 2021 NCAA Tournament First Round

USC vs. Drake Odds

How USC & Drake Match Up

What To Know About USC

Known for his Dunk City Florida Gulf Coast team in 2013, Andy Enfield has had a breakthrough at USC this season thanks to freshman Evan Mobley. Mobley is scoring 16.1 with 8.6 rebounds per game while blocking 2.9 shots and shooting 58.2% from the field.

Having finished in a virtual tie atop the Pac-12 in the regular season, USC will go as far as Mobley takes it in March Madness. This team has elite size, which enables them to dominate on the offensive boards and in defense at the rim. However, their free throw shooting is very troublesome at 64.7% (327th). — Matt Trebby

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What To Know About Drake

Drake began the season as the country's betting darling, opening the year 18-0 straight up and covering 17 of those. But then an injury sidelined leading-scorer ShanQuan Hemphill against Northern Iowa on Feb. 10, and he hasn’t played since.

Hemphill was the Bulldogs’ top offensive weapon who could create his own offense when needed as well as the team's second-leading rebounder. He was shooting 58.7% from the field if you want to know more about his efficiency. Drake then lost starting point guard Roman Penn for the season although dynamic super sophomore Joseph Yesufu has been dynamite since Penn went down.

The Bulldogs still have the 19th-most efficient offense in the country, per KenPom, but they rank 53rd overall in net efficiency. There was hope Hemphill would be back for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, but that did not happen and Drake fell to a strong Loyola Chicago team. Without Hemphill, the ceiling is much lower and there's little hope for the Bulldogs to make a run in the NCAA Tournament, especially since they'll likely face a top team as soon as the second round.

Head coach Darian Devries is still an excellent coach who will have a few tricks up his sleeve defensively and the Drake offense will still generate good looks, but the Bulldogs simply aren't working with a full deck anymore. — Matt Trebby