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Nebraska vs USC Prediction 1/22/25 College Basketball Picks Today

USC (11-7) vs. Nebraska (12-6)
January 22, 2025 9:00 pm EDT
The Line: Nebraska -5.5; Over/Under:
(Get latest betting odds)

The USC Trojans and the Nebraska Cornhuskers meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Pinnacle Bank Arena. Here’s a Nebraska vs USC prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Nebraska vs USC pick.

USC Trojans Betting Preview

The Trojans have been something of a mixed bag so far this year. USC has some nice stretches of play in the books, however, they’ve also got a couple of spotty runs against some tricky competition. The Trojans opened with a 5-1 run featuring a lone loss to California alongside wins over Chattanooga, Idaho State, Texas Arlington, San Jose State, and Grambling. Three straight losses versus Saint Mary’s, New Mexico, and Oregon followed, then four wins over Washington, Montana State, Cal State Northridge, and Southern. Since then it’s been a 2-3 run over the last five games for the Trojans. They’ve got wins over Illinois and Iowa mixed with losses to Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin during that time for an 11-7 overall record so far.


In the Wisconsin game on Saturday, the Trojans came out of halftime with a 42-27 deficit. USC kept the pace going from there on a 42-42 second half but still took a sizable loss 84-69. Leading the charge in the losing effort was Saint Thomas with 19 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Rashaun Agee added 15 points with four rebounds, two assists, and two steals, while Wesley Yates put up 11 points with three rebounds and two assists.

Nebraska Cornhuskers Betting Preview

Over on the Nebraska side, they got off to a great start this year, with only a couple of blemishes over their first 14 games. Since then, however, the Cornhuskers have hit a losing streak in their last four outings. Nebraska lost to only Saint Mary’s and Michigan State in those first 14 outings, beating UTRGV, Bethune-Cookman, Fairleigh Dickinson, Creighton, South Dakota, North Florida, Indiana, Murray State, Hawaii, Oregon State, Southern and UCLA otherwise in that time. Over the last four games, Nebraska has taken a string of consecutive losses. Those defeats have come in succession versus Iowa, Purdue, Rutgers, and Maryland, giving the Cornhuskers a 12-6 overall record so far this season through 18 games.

Matched up against Maryland on Sunday, the Cornhuskers were within two points at the break. Nebraska didn’t end up getting any closer on a 32-31 second half and fell 69-66 in the end. Leading team scorer Andrew Morgan came off the bench to provide 17 points with five rebounds and a steal in 24 minutes of work. Brice Williams added 14 points with four rebounds, three assists, and three steals in 33 minutes to lead the starters.

Why the Nebraska Cornhuskers will win

  • Nebraska has won each of its last 12 games at Pinnacle Bank Arena when playing with a rest disadvantage.
  • USC has lost three of its last four games when playing with a rest advantage.
  • Nebraska has won the first half in 15 of its last 16 games at Pinnacle Bank Arena against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Why the USC Trojans will win

  • Nebraska has lost each of its last four games.
  • USC has won four of its last five games following a home loss.
  • Nebraska has lost the first half in each of its last three games against the Big Ten Conference.

Nebraska vs USC Prediction

I’ll lean toward Nebraska I suppose. You could make a case either way, though—and both teams could use a good performance here. The Cornhuskers didn’t play horrendously against a talented Maryland team in their last outing—but did make a couple of statistical mistakes. Nebraska missed five of their 11 free throws (54.5 percent) and had 13 turnovers during the tight road loss. The Cornhuskers have given up 69 or more points in each of the last four games (all losses) and 85 or more in three of those. To be fair, however, Nebraska has played some tricky teams in that time.

As for USC, they’re a stellar squad themselves this year when they can put everything together. The Trojans were quite permissive in their latest loss to Wisconsin though, giving up 56.4 percent shooting and posting 16 turnovers for 22 Badgers points. Still, USC has some nice wins in the bag, including their 10-point victory on the road over Illinois earlier this month. I like the Trojans to put up a good fight here, but in the end, I think Nebraska pulls it off. It’ll be a fun matchup to watch though, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see USC shine in this one either.

Andrew's Free Pick: Nebraska Cornhuskers -5.5

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Andrew

Andrew has been writing about college, professional and fantasy sports betting since 2013. Andrew's goal is to break down the complicated numbers and trends into a language that's easily accessible to novice sports bettors and seasoned professionals alike.

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