USC vs Nebraska Prediction 2/28/26 College Basketball Picks Today

The Nebraska Cornhuskers and the USC Trojans meet Saturday in college basketball action from Galen Center in Los Angeles. Here’s a USC vs. Nebraska prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best USC vs. Nebraska pick.

Nebraska Cornhuskers Betting Preview

The Cornhuskers got off to a very nice start this year, winning 20 straight games out of the gate before taking losses to Michigan and Illinois in consecutive games. The next five outings were a 3-2 run with wins over Rutgers, Northwestern, and Penn State mixed among losses to Purdue and Iowa. Over the first 27 games of the season that would give the Cornhuskers a 23-4 record in the books.

On Wednesday versus Maryland, Nebraska was ahead by a margin of 33-27 going into the second half. The Cornhuskers kept it up from there on a 41-34 run and took the victory in the end, 74-61, in a home matchup. Braden Frager was tops on the team with his 21 points, eight rebounds, and one assist. Pryce Sandfort added 16 points with eight rebounds and four assists as well.

USC Trojans Betting Preview

Over on the USC side, they posted a 12-1 start over their first 13 games this season. The Trojans would then lose five of the ensuing eight games, however, losing to Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Northwestern, and Iowa in that time. After wins against Rutgers, Indiana, and Penn State came a loss to Ohio State and another versus Illinois, then two more versus Oregon and UCLA for an 18-10 overall run.

Matched up against UCLA on Tuesday, the Trojans were trailing 38-29 going into the second half. USC didn’t end up getting any closer than that, getting outscored 43-33 the rest of the way during an eventual loss 81-62 on the road. Chad Baker-Mazara led the team with 25 points, eight rebounds, and two assists, while Alijah Arenas had 10 options with four rebounds.

Why the USC Trojans will win

• The home team has won each of Nebraska’s last four games.
• The home team has won the first half in each of Nebraska’s last four games.

Why the Nebraska Cornhuskers will win

• Nebraska has won each of its last 11 day games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• USC has lost each of its last seven games against AP-ranked opponents.
• USC has lost the first half in seven of its last eight day games against AP-ranked opponents.

USC vs Nebraska Prediction

I’ll lean toward Nebraska. The Cornhuskers posted a pretty solid all-around game versus Maryland in their last outing. Nebraska shot 43.4 percent from the field and 75 percent (18-of-24) from the line in that one, along with a 32-30 rebounding edge and just six turnovers. The Huskers are a tepid 4-4 over their last eight games (amid some difficult matchups), but they’ve won two consecutive and three of the last four now. All three of those wins were at home, though.

As for USC, they struggled to keep any kind of pace against UCLA this week. The Trojans shot just 35 percent from the field with a 32-24 deficit on points in the paint and 14 turnovers in that defeat. The good news is that USC did well on the boards, posting a 37-28 advantage. The Trojans have four straight losses now, giving up 81 or more points in three of those and 71 or more points in all of them.