T.M. Selection: USC.

I like USC to cover the spread against Miami-FL in this game on Friday. USC hasn't been winning a lot of games lately with just 1/4 wins in their previous 4 games but they haven't looked bad in those games and their losses were to strong teams that were also seeded high in this tournament. Their 3 most recent losses were to Arizona and to UCLA 2 different times and those are both 2 really good teams. Before that stretch of losses, they had won 6 games in a row, including a win over UCLA during that time, and they looked like they had a good handle on most of their games. I think they can come out and win this game over Miami who had a great start to the year but started to slip later on in the year. Miami hasn't looked great in their games lately and they have been struggling to win in some of their games against weaker teams. They have 3/4 wins in their previous 4 games but their 2 most recent wins were by 2 points over Boston College and by 3 points over Syracuse, neither team made the NCAA tournament either. Even their most recent game was a loss to Duke but Duke went on to lose in their conference finals and Miami has beaten them this year early on so there is no excuses for that loss, especially when they lost by 4 and had a chance to win it still. I think USC is the better team here and I think they have been losing more games lately because they have faced stronger teams. I think they won't have any trouble blowing past Miami here with how they have looked lately. I like USC to cover the spread here.

T.M. Prediction: 74-66 USC.