Utah is 8-0 at home and should get a convincing win Thursday against the struggling Bruins. Utah features an experienced roster while UCLA has seven freshmen and enters as the fifth-worst ATS team in the nation (-6.7 points per game below expectations). The Bruins have lost seven of eight and have not defeated a team in the Top 200. Look for a big game from Branden Carlson (17.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg) as the Utes cover.

Host Utah, despite recent disappointments in the Arizona desert last week vs. the Sun Devils and Wildcats, deploys a much sharper edge than the Bruins, with some real threats like 7-1 Branden Carlson (17.6 ppg) and floppy-haired 6-6 wing Gabe Madsen, who was hurt down the stretch last season but a reliable 14 ppg scorer nowadays for Craig Smith. We are not nervy enough to pick the night when UCLA shakes out of its current doldrums that include SU losses in seven of the last eight games, and a 2-7 spread record since Thanksgiving. Play Utah