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ASU vs. Utah: Betting lines examined, Sun Devils favored by 7

We take a look at the trends for both teams and make our pick against the spread.

By Cory Williams
William Mancebo

The Odds: Arizona State (-7), Utah (+7), Over/Under: 64.5

The Breakdown: The Sun Devils have been playing at a very high level recently, winning their last three games by a combined total of 162-58, including a 55-21 smackdown of Washington State in Pullman on Halloween.

Utah has gone the other direction of late, struggling on the road against Arizona and USC. Many of the issues faced by the Utes stem from the ineffectiveness of Travis Wilson, a talented quarterback who was playing with an injured hand. All indications are that he has recovered over the bye week, however.

Salt Lake City is a tough place to play if you're the road team, and Utah has done well at Rice-Eccles Stadium in 2013. With two close losses to UCLA and Oregon State and a huge win over Stanford, no one has left unscathed yet. Then again, none of those teams run an offense quite like Arizona State's.

Lets take a look at the recent betting statistics as they pertain to ASU and Utah. All stats and odds are provided by OddsShark.

ARIZONA STATE

  • Arizona State is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games
  • Arizona State is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games
  • The total has gone OVER in 9 of Arizona State's last 10 games
  • Arizona State is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
  • Arizona State is 7-17 SU in its last 24 games on the road
  • The total has gone OVER in 6 of Arizona State's last 7 games on the road
UTAH
  • Utah is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games
  • Utah is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games
  • The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Utah's last 5 games
  • Utah is 7-3 ATS in its last 10 games at home
  • Utah is 17-8 SU in its last 25 games at home
  • The total has gone OVER in 6 of Utah's last 9 games at home
The Sun Devils and Utes haven't played a ton recently, but ASU has won handily in both contests since Utah has joined the Pac-12. Neither game was particularly close, either -- it's tough to pinpoint why, but the wide-open Arizona State offense and Utah's lack of BCS-quality depth added up to a dangerous combination for Utah.

The betting line indicates a few things to me. First, Arizona State should win this game, but with Travis Wilson returning to full strength, bookies are hesitant to make the spread too wide. Also, there is a lot of respect for Utah's home-field advantage.

64.5 is a very reasonable total, and I'd be inclined to think that this total will be exceeded in large part by ASU's high flying offense.

Give me Arizona State -7 and give me the over. Lets see what madness goes down in Salt Lake City on Saturday afternoon.

Final score: ASU 48, Utah 28

Note: For entertainment purposes only.

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