Week 0 is here, which means college football is officially back. Seven games are on the schedule for Week 0, including the sixth-ranked USC Trojans hosting the San Jose State Spartans.
Oddsmakers list USC as a massive favorite, giving around 30.5 points in this matchup, with Caesars Sportsbook listing USC as a 31-point favorite. This is also expected to be a high-scoring game, with the total sitting around 66.5 points.
This may not be the greatest matchup, but we will still break down the San Jose State vs. USC odds and give our best betting prediction.
San Jose State vs. USC Odds: Spread, Moneyline, Total
Here are the San Jose State vs. USC odds from some of our favorite sports betting apps:
San Jose State Spartans (7-5 SU, 4-8 ATS in 22)
Across the board, USC is more talented than San Jose State, and while the Spartans took tremendous strides as a program last season, they could be walking into a buzzsaw.
However, the Spartans have a deep and experienced skill room for the Mountain West preseason Offensive Player of the Year Chevan Cordeiro to play with. Last season was Cordeiro’s first with San Jose State after four seasons at Hawai’i. He led the conference with 3251 yards passing and 23 passing touchdowns to only six interceptions. He also added nine touchdowns on the ground, and four of his five starting offensive linemen are returning.
San Jose State also has one of the best running backs in the MWC in Kairee Robinson, who put up 10 rushing touchdowns last season. Although leading receiver Elijah Cooks is gone, they have a lot of experience in their receiver room, led by fifth-year player Justin Lockhart and tight end Dominick Mazotti.
Defensively, they have a lot to replace from one of the best units in the Mountain West. Five of the top 11 leading tacklers are gone, but with experienced players such as linebacker Bryun Parham and corner Tre Jenkins, this is still a very talented defense.
They also added some reinforcements through the portal, with Virginia Tech transfer corner D.J. Harvey and Cal Poly’s Jay’Vion Cole. They have a challenging task in San Jose State’s first game of the season, but this roster is very talented and experienced.
USC Trojans (11-3 SU, 8-6 ATS in 22)
USC is bringing back the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and a loaded offense in year two of the Lincoln Riley era. While last season left a bitter taste in their mouths, the Trojans must feel really good heading into 2023.
They were one game away from a spot in the College Football Playoffs. The problem was they had no idea how to tackle, and Utah just embarrassed them in the second half of the Pac-12 Championship game.
Despite how many turnovers this unit caused last season, they just could not get off the field. They will give defensive coordinator Alex Grinch another chance at building a National Championship-caliber defense. Still, he has not proven he can put together an above-average defense in his time as defensive coordinator at Ohio State, Oklahoma, and now USC.
Luckily, they added some talent via the portal with defensive line transfers Bear Alexander and Anthony Lucas. They also have some starting NFL talent on defense in All-American safety Calen Bullock and linebacker Eric Gentry. This is, no doubt, a talented defense. Now, we just have to see if they can get off the field and allow the offense to smother teams.
Speaking of the offense, Caleb Williams is back, and while the losses of Jordan Addison and Travis Dye are huge, this is still a loaded offense. They added a few starters on the offensive line through the transfer portal, and they have a deep receiver room led by Mario Williams and Brenden Rice.
USC also has a ton of young offensive weapons like running back Raleek Brown and receivers Zachariah Branch and Duce Robinson. The Trojans ranked in the top five in most offensive categories last season, and they should be a lethal scoring unit again in 2023.
San Jose State vs. USC Betting Trends & Notes
San Jose State
- San Jose St. is 0-7 ATS in its last seven games.
- The total has gone OVER in four of San Jose St.’s last six games.
- San Jose St. is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 games against the Pac-12 Conference.
- San Jose St. is 1-5 SU in its last six road games.
USC
- The total has gone OVER in eight of USC’s last eight games.
- USC is 7-0 SU in its last seven home games.
- The total has gone UNDER in eight of USC’s last 11 games against the Mountain West Conference.
- USC is 4-8 ATS in its last 12 opening games.
Conference previews: SEC odds | Big 10 odds | Pac 12 odds | ACC odds | Big 12 odds
In five lifetime meetings between these two, San Jose State has covered the spread twice, with the last time coming in 2001. Since then, they have played USC two times, failing to cover the spread in both games and losing by an average of 38 points.
San Jose State has been an underdog of 30+ points 10 times in program history. While they are 0-10 SU in those games, they are 5-5 ATS, and they have not been an underdog by this much since 2018, which speaks to the progression of this team.
Meanwhile, USC is 10-0 SU as a 30+ point favorite, and they have covered in four of the last five games when giving at least 30 points. The only time they did not cover in their last five came against Oregon State in 2017 when they won by 28 as a 32-point favorite.
San Jose State vs. USC Prediction: Expect a Lot of Scoring
San Jose State is an interesting team heading into this season. While they probably don’t have a chance at beating USC in this Week 0 matchup, they have an offense that can put up some points and make this game a sweat for a while.
Eventually, the massive talent advantage should be enough for USC to pull away. However, there is still not a lot of confidence in the Trojans’ defense, and San Jose State has one of the best passing attacks in the Mountain West.
USC will win this game because they are much better at moving the ball. While the Spartans’ defense is solid up front, they are going up against the best offense in the country. Even if this game gets ugly fast, USC showed last year that they will let the backups go out there and put up some numbers.
San Jose State is way too talented to feel confident laying the 30.5 with USC. The San Jose State vs. USC odds favor a high-scoring game, and the Spartans should be able to score enough to push this one over the total.
San Jose State vs. USC Pick: Over 66.5 via FanDuel Sportsbook
How To Watch San Jose State vs. USC
Date: Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023
Kick Off: 8 p.m. ET
Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum — Los Angeles, CA
Where to Watch: Pac-12 Network
Read: College Football Week 0 odds | How to bet on CFB | Heisman Trophy odds | NCAAF National Championship odds
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