The college football world will be focused on Las Vegas on Sunday when 23rd-ranked USC and No. 13 LSU meet at Allegiant Stadium.
Both teams are in transition at quarterback as they transition from Heisman Trophy winners who were top-two picks in last April’s NFL Draft.
The Trojans have replaced No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams with Miller Moss, who starred in last December’s Holiday Bowl by throwing for six touchdown passes in a 42-28 victory against Louisville. New Tigers QB Garrett Nussmeier gets his opportunity to start after the departure of Jayden Daniels, who was drafted No. 2 after Williams.
On defense, both squads are going through much-needed changes. USC plucked D’Anton Lynn from cross-town rival UCLA to be its new defensive coordinator. LSU went out and made Missouri defensive coordinator Blake Baker the highest-paid assistant coach in the country.
The pick — USC +4.5 (-110, BeMGM)
In a game with this much uncertainty, I’m going to side with the underdog on a neutral field.
I view the Trojans as a potentially undervalued team because they don’t have a big name at quarterback in Moss. However, USC head coach Lincoln Riley has showed he can get the most of any quarterback at the college level. Also, it says a lot he didn’t aggressively pursue a transfer QB this offseason to challenge Moss for the starting job.
The Tigers offense could be in good hands with Nussmeier this year, but it still must overcome the losses of offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock to Notre Dame and wide receivers Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. to the NFL as first-round picks. I also have questions about the personnel on a LSU defense that was horrible last season and missed out on several key transfer portal battles.
The point spread on this game has moved from Trojans +6 to +4.5 over the last few weeks, but it’s still worth a play on USC at the current price if you are looking for a bet on Sunday night.