Pac-12 Rundown: UCLA Hits Road for Pair of Tough Tests

UCLA and Arizona State are the only two teams in the Pac-12 to have winning road records, while the top nine teams in the standings are a combined 76-17 at home.

UCLA (-400) has the best odds to win the Pac-12 title followed by Arizona at +375. There are still some naysayers when it comes to the Sun Devils, who are priced at +1400 to win the conference title.

UCLA moved up to No. 5 in both national polls, jumping two spots in the Associated Press Top 25 rankings and one position in the coaches’ poll.

Arizona fell two spots to 11th in both polls while Arizona State is the only other Pac-12 team receiving votes in the two polls.

According to the college basketball playoff odds, UCLA (+1200) is tied for fourth in the odds to win the national title while Arizona comes in at +2200.

Here’s a look at the best games this week in the Pac-12.

Let’s check the latest NCAAB picks, stats, injury reports, and NCAAB predictions. We’ve plenty of NCAAB expert picks for you to consider.

Game of Week

UCLA vs Arizona

• Date, time (TV): Saturday, Jan. 21, 2 p.m. ET (ABC)

This will be a challenging stretch for the Bruins. First comes a road game on Thursday against an Arizona State team that is in sole possession of second place in the Pac-12 and then comes the much-anticipated showdown with Arizona.

The Bruins have lost four of the last five road games against the Sun Devils and three of the last six contests played at Arizona.

“When you put the work in, like this team has, and I give them all the credit – they’ve earned the right to be in huge games. There is nothing better than going out there with the whole crowd against you.”

Coach Cronin, on preparing for this week’s road games pic.twitter.com/M0mIkQJ2r5

— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) January 17, 2023

UCLA (16-2, 7-0 Pac-12) has played without freshman Amari Bailey since late December and look to get David Singleton going after he shot 8 of 24 over the last three games.

Arizona State (15-3, 6-1), which also plays host to Southern California on Saturday, continues to win even without Marcus Bagley. Desmond Cambridge is coming off back-to-back 21-point games.

For Arizona (15-3, 4-3), which welcomes USC to town on Thursday, Azuolas Tubelis has more than 20 points in four of the last six games.

The Bruins have the best mark in the conference against the Las Vegas odds, going 11-7 against the spread, while Arizona State is tied with USC at 10-8 ATS.

Keep on reading for more information on the upcoming action in the Pac-12.

Other Games to Watch

Oregon vs Cal

• Date, time (TV): Wednesday, Jan. 18, 10 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)

Oregon (10-8, 4-3) has a tough act to follow after an 87-68 blowout against a top-10 Arizona team.

South Carolina transfer Jermaine Couisnard led the way with 27 points while N’Faly Dante matched his season high with 22 points.

Oregon remains on the road with a game at Stanford on Saturday night.

Cal (3-15, 2-5) narrowly missed picking up its third conference win of the season before falling to Washington in overtime. The Bears were listed by the sportsbook as 10-point underdogs.

Stanford is the lone team yet to pick up a win in conference play even though Spencer Jones has scored in double figures in five games in a row.

Washington State vs Utah

• Date, time (TV): Thursday, Jan. 19, 9 p.m. ET

Utah (12-7, 5-3) has dropped three straight games to fall into fourth place in the Pac-12 standings.

Perhaps having Washington State and Washington, who are a combined 7-9 in conference play, coming to town will help get the Utes back to their winning ways.

Senior Branden Carlson continues to improve for the Utes. He has gone from averaging 7.0 points and 3.9 rebounds as a freshman to 16 points and 7.5 rebounds as a senior.

Washington State (9-10, 4-4) has won three straight games, including a stunner at Arizona, as Mouhamed Gueye had 24 points and 14 rebounds.

Washington vs Colorado

• Date, time (TV): Thursday, Jan. 19, 9 p.m. ET (ESPNU)

This is not exactly the most compelling Pac-12 matchup of the week with the Buffaloes and Huskies tied for eighth in the conference standings.

Washington (11-8, 3-5) is winless in true road games while Colorado (11-8, 3-5) is 8-1 at home.

Keion Brooks has three straight double-doubles for Washington and is averaging 20 points and 10.3 rebounds during that stretch. He is one reason why Washington leads the conference with 11 of its games going over the college basketball odds total.

KJ Sampson has six 20-point games, including a pair of 30-point efforts for Colorado.

Oregon State vs Stanford

• Date, time (TV): Thursday, Jan. 19, 11 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)

Could this be the game when Stanford picks up its first conference win of the season? Stanford has won two of the last three matchups against the Beavers.

Oregon State (7-11, 1-6) is winless on the road so the possibility for the Cardinal (5-12, 0-7) to end their conference winning streak is there.