USC Trojans vs UCLA Bruins Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 02/24/26

In the midst of a 3-game losing streak, the USC Trojans will make the short trip across town to play their rival UCLA Bruins on Tuesday. Saturday’s outing was tough for USC, as they scored just 1 point per possession on 41.5% from two-point range and 31.6% from beyond the arc in a 71-70 home loss to Oregon. However, they won the offensive rebounding battle and the turnover battle, which does inspire some confidence ahead of this matchup. 

Meanwhile, UCLA comes into this contest off a massive overtime win over Illinois in which the Bruins trailed by as many as 22 in the first half. They held the Illini to just 31% on their 42 perimeter attempts and turned the ball over just 5 times, but they gave up 20 offensive rebounds and sent Illinois to the line 31 times. 

With Chad Baker-Mazara back in the mix, the Trojans are as healthy as they’ve been in a couple weeks, and they’re in a role in which they have excelled of late. USC is 6-3 ATS as an underdog this season, covering in 6 of their last 7 in his role – including 4 of their last 4 on the road. Much of that success is due to their ability to crash the offensive glass and produce second-chance points, where they sit in the 96th percentile in their last 5 games. It also is due to their ability to get to the free throw line at an elite rate, as they rank 3rd nationally in free throw rate. Those are both areas of weakness for UCLA; the Bruins are 17th in the Big Ten in offensive rebounding rate allowed and 12th in opposing free throw rate. 

Coming off 3 straight games against top-10 opponents and their win of the year, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Bruins come out flat on Tuesday. I struggle to trust the Bruins in the favorite role anyway, as they are in the 5th percentile nationally in defensive rating over their last 5 games and 1-4 as a home favorite since the turn of the calendar year. Give me USC and the points. 

USC vs UCLA best bet: USC Trojans +6.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to +5. 

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