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A pair of Pac-10 matchups on Thursday night could end up causing some big swings in the conference if the heavy favorite doesn’t come through.

In the first interesting matchup of the night the Arizona Wildcats. Both squads have had up-and-down seasons so far, but it’s their upcoming games that will ultimately decide their playoff fate.

The Trojans are coming off a 70-65 loss as a 9.5-point underdog to Pac-10 top guns UCLA. If USC could have pulled off an upset in that game they could be sharing first place in the conference with the Bruins right now. Nick Young led the Trojans with 20 points in the loss and Gabriel Pruitt was also his usual reliable self with 16 points and six assists. Lodrick Stewart delivered 13 points but might have given the game away late in the fourth quarter after taking an undisciplined technical.

Arizona looks to finally have shaken out of a slump after winning their last three games. Prior to their short winning steak, the Wildcats had lost five of their previous six games. Arizona looked like they were going to make that seven in their last game versus Oregon after they trailed by 10 points at the break. But the Wildcats came alive in the second half led by Chase Budinger and his 30 points and 10 rebounds. Marvin Williams and Ivan Radenovic each poured in 16 points as the Wildcats defeated Oregon 77-74 as a 2.5-point underdog.

The Trojans and Wildcats clashed earlier this season back in January. USC came away with an 80-73 victory as a 1-point underdog in that game. Young delivered another solid performance for USC with 30 points and eight rebounds, while Stewart chipped in with 18 points. The Wildcats were led by Williams and Mustafa Shakur, who each had 19 points and eight rebounds.

Thursday night’s other big Pac-10 matchup pits two struggling teams against each other: California.

The Ducks have been grounded lately while losing three of their last four games. Oregon is a paltry 0-3-1 ATS in those four games and aren’t much better over their last 10 games at 2-7-1 ATS. Oregon’s most recent game was that 77-74 loss to Arizona. The Ducks got 18 points from Bryce Taylor and 17 points from Maarty Leunen, but the common theme in most of their losses remained the same: A poor performance from leading scorer Aaron Brooks. Brooks was held to only six points on 2-of-14 shooting in the loss.

California hasn’t been able to buy a win lately. The Golden Bears have lost their last six games, while going 1-4-1 ATS in the process. California is coming off a 59-46 loss to Washington State in which they were a 12-point underdog. Ryan Anderson led the Bears with 13 points and nine rebounds while Ayinde Ubaka added 11 points, but it wasn’t enough to keep pace with the Cougars.

California and Oregon clashed in January when the Ducks topped the Golden Bears 92-84 as a 10.5-point favorite. The Ducks got 22 points from Brooks and Malik Hairston poured in 19 points. Theo Robertson led the Bears with 19 points and Ubaka had 17 points.

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