BYU Cougars vs Utah Utes Prediction, Odds and Picks for Saturday, 01/10/26

The Holy War, basketball edition, takes place in Salt Lake City tonight as one of the headliner nightcap games. After a long day of betting college basketball and NFL playoffs, we will check in on this Big 12 tilt to close out our day. BYU is one of the best teams in the country after a ton of NIL spending in the offseason, while Utah is under a new head coach and has a rebuilt roster that is still likely to finish near the bottom of this conference for now. I normally hate betting against the home team, especially in this conference, but the talent gap in this game is huge. Aside from the home court and rivalry angle, there is no good reason to think Utah can keep this close. Give me the Cougars -13.5 on the road.

Both teams love to play fast, and both teams run efficiently on the offensive end; the problem is BYU is far and away better at both those things. The one thing that Utah does really well is run teams off the 3-point line, and there are matchups where that is important. But BYU is a team that attacks the rim and loves to get downhill, and they love to score fast before the defense really gets established, and I don’t think Utah has the bodies to protect the paint, even if they do run the Cougars off the line. The Cougars should also have a huge rebounding advantage. This game is just a mismatch, and the only reason the number isn’t bigger is because it is a perceived rivalry game played on Utah’s home court. I just don’t see that it matters this time. Give me the Cougs.

BYU vs Utah Prediction: BYU -13.5 (-110) available at the time of publishing. Playable to -15.

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