It’s time to continue our College Basketball odds series with a Utah-Arizona prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Utah-Arizona.
The Utah Utes were never better than 50-50 to make the NCAA Tournament. The Utes did beat Kansas and Kansas State a week ago, however, and had begun to pick up some momentum. They were not completely finished in terms of having an at-large path … until Sunday evening in Orlando. They got out to a 15-4 lead against a struggling UCF team, and it seemed for most of the first half of that game that the Utes were going to continue to improve their overall profile and enter March with a real chance to do something.
It did not last.
Utah allowed UCF to erase the lead the Utes had buit. Down the stretch, the Utes faltered and lost to the Knights. Their very brief bubble existence ended due to an inability to carry home-court success in Salt Lake City to a road trip in the Big 12. Utah administrators watched this game and felt the need to act quickly. The athletic department did not wait until the end of the season to make a decision on head coach Craig Smith, in his fourth season at the school. The decision was made right away to terminate him and begin the process of searching for a new head coach.
Many people in college basketball felt the firing was harsh, chiefly because Utah did not get good-enough players in Smith’s tenure. Not competing well in the NIL space hurt Utah more than Smith’s coaching. Maybe the decision to fire Smith is itself an acknowledgment that the NIL front office operation hasn’t been good enough. Utah will need to upgrade the front office, not just the coach, if it wants to improve.
Here are the Utah-Arizona College Basketball Odds, courtesy of FanDuel
College Basketball Odds: Utah-Arizona Odds
Utah: +14.5 (-110)
Moneyline: +850
Arizona: -14.5 (-110)
Moneyline: -1450
Over: 152.5 (-115)
Under: 152.5 (-105)
How to Watch Utah vs Arizona
Time: 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT
TV: ESPN Plus
*Watch college basketball LIVE with fuboTV (Get Access | Save $30)*
Why Utah Will Cover The Spread/Win
Utah is not a good team, but this is a game in which the Utes will go up against a team they played regularly when they were in the Pac-12. Utah and Arizona will carry their animosity and their spirit of competition into this game without missing a beat. They played last season in one conference. Now they meet in another. The label on the soup can will be different, but the passions created by playing each other in a regional rivalry will remain the same. Given this is a game Utah really wants to win (regardless of the NCAA Tournament considerations, which have been blown up by the bubble-popping loss to UCF), the Utes might fight especially hard and keep the game somewhat close, enough — at any rate — to cover what is a large point spread. Arizona just gave up 96 points to BYU at home on Saturday. Arizona won’t give up 96 to Utah, but merely giving up 86 would make it hard for Arizona to cover the spread here. The Wildcats would need to score 101 to cover if that happens.
Why Arizona Will Cover The Spread/Win
Utah on the road this season has been a disaster. We saw why in the UCF game. Utah was rolling along at home in Salt Lake City, but as soon as it had to play another Big 12 road game, it got tripped up. Utah led by 11 points early in the game but still could not maintain that advantage. This is a team which just can’t sustain a high level of play on the road, and that’s why the Utes will watch March Madness from their couches. Utah should not be adrift as a program like this. The Utes made the national championship game in 1998 and were a regular Sweet 16 program in the mid-1990s under then-coach Rick Majerus. Utah has been good for much of its history. This school has had strong teams in nearly every decade of college basketball history. There is no reason for the program to be so mediocre, but this is the current reality. Arizona, after playing a horrible defensive game against BYU on Saturday, should be motivated to play well here. A strong Arizona performance will blow Utah out of the water.
Final Utah-Arizona Prediction & Pick
Arizona by 25 points. Take Arizona.
Final Utah-Arizona Prediction & Pick: Arizona -14.5
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