STEVE MERRIL
NCAAF Screen Shot Saturday
ARIZONA STATE at UCLA (-13.5, 61) (7:30 pm ET, FOX)
UCLA won 56-30 in Arizona last Saturday night. The Bruins played a perfect game, especially freshman quarterback Josh Rosen who threw for 289 yards with 2 touchdowns and zero interceptions. In their previous game, UCLA squeaked by BYU 24-23 after scoring a late touchdown. The Bruins are likely to regress in this game off those performances, especially since they waxed Arizona State 62-27 on the road last season.
Arizona State comes in off a 42-14 home blowout loss against USC, and because of the polar opposite results from last week, the oddsmakers have inflated this line to protect themselves from a flood of UCLA money. My power ratings only make UCLA an 11-point favorite in this game, so there is some line value with Arizona State, but I was hoping to get +14.5 or more to make it an official Best Bet. I would still lean towards Arizona State at the current line of +13.5.