Thursday night college hoops usually take place largely out west, so let’s take a look at WAC and PAC Ten hoops for Thursday night.

1. Did you know that WAC leader Louisiana Tech is 17-2, including 9-4 against the pointspread?  Of course, their schedule has been a piece of cake, with Pomeroy suggesting the 212th toughest slate in the land, and Sagarin rating it #222.  Vegas and online sportsbooks have the Bulldogs laying 6.5 points tonight at San Jose.  The Spartans are an improved team (5-2 pointspread run) off a heartbreaking loss at Hawaii last Saturday night.

2. Utah State travels to Fresno tonight and money has come in on the homestanding Bulldogs, dropping the line from USU -4 to -3 at most major Vegas and online sportsbooks.   Understand the move, as the Aggies have an enormous home court edge in Logan (including altitude) which results in them underperforming on the road.   USU is 10-1 at home but only 3-5 away from home.  They average 81 points per game at home but only 64.4 on the road.  Aggie coach Stew Morrill is just 2 wins away from 500 for his career.

3. Oregon State faces Stanford tonight, with the Cardinal bet up to -7 at Vegas and online sportsbooks.  These clubs actually faced each other 4 times last year, twice in the regular season, in the Pac Ten tourney, and in the CBI postseason tournament.  Beavers coach Craig Robinson is seen as a good fit for the Depaul job, as he’s a Chicago native and would enjoy enormous visibility in the Windy City, as he is first lady Michelle Obama’s brother. 

4. The 7-10 UCLA Bruins were victims of the biggest thumping by USC in the program’s history last weekend, and attempt to bounce back against Washington tonight as a 4-point underdog.  Even if you isolated how down the Bruins would be this year, it hasn’t been that profitable, as the Bruins are a not-awful 7-8 against the line.  The pointspread really can be the great equalizer sometimes.

5. UCLA’s decline is a highly visible example of the overall weakness in the Pac Ten.  The conference has lost a ton of talent to the draft, but the Wall Street Journal points out that West Coast recruits choosing to explore other parts of the country has contributed to the conference’s low ebb.  And when not only the entire sports media but also the WSJ is reporting on how bad you are, it isn’t exactly a good sign for a college conference, is it? 

Good luck in Thursday night’s basketball.  As always, be careful.