The Cal State Northridge Matadors and the USC Trojans meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Galen Center. CSUN is coming off of a tepid season, going 9-13 overall and finishing far down the Big West Conference rankings. As for USC, they put up a strong 25-8 record overall last year and made it to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Cal State Northridge couldn’t get much going in 2020-21, finishing 9-13 overall and 5-9 in Big West play. That effort left the Matadors just three spots out of the basement in the conference standings, ahead of only UC San Diego, Long Beach State and Cal Poly.
CSUN was sitting at a decent 5-3 record in mid-January, but could only win consecutive games once after that. The Matadors lost their final two regular-season contests versus UC Riverside, then lost 85-63 to Long Beach State in the First Round of the Big West Tournament.
Over on the USC side, they’re coming off a strong season that featured a 25-8 overall record and a 15-5 mark in the Pac-12. The only team ahead of the Trojans in the competitive conference standings was Oregon at 14-4.
USC stumbled in the Pac-12 Tournament after beating Utah 91-85 in 2OT, losing to Colorado 72-70 in the Semifinals. The Trojans would earn an invite to the NCAA Tournament, where they beat Drake, Kansas and Oregon prior to falling 85-66 to Gonzaga in the Elite Eight Round.
The Matadors are 5-2 ATS in their last seven overall and 9-22-3 ATS in their last 34 Tuesday games. The over is 7-1 in CSUN’s last eight road games. Meanwhile, the Trojans are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 at home.
PICK: I’m going to stick with USC here probably. The Trojans have a few things working against them going into the season, as in a competitive Pac-12 Conference and the departure of Evan Mobley who was a defensive staple. Mobley earned Defensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors, so he won’t be easily replaced.
That said, USC still has some significant talent on the roster, starting with the returning Isaiah Mobley and senior Chevez Goodwin. Tahj Eaddy is gone, so junior Ethan Anderson will likely get much more court time. Overall it should be an interesting season for the Trojans, and I think they’ll start well here with a cover.