The UTEP Miners take on the Arizona Wildcats. Check out our college football odds series for our UTEP Arizona prediction and pick. Find how to watch UTEP Arizona.
A big stir was caused in the college football betting world last week. UTEP was, for much of last week, a road favorite at Northwestern, with the line staying at UTEP minus-1.5 points for a few days. There was late line movement toward Northwestern before kickoff, but the point remained that UTEP at Northwestern was basically seen as a toss-up. UTEP on the road against a Big Ten team? Usually, UTEP would be a double-digit underdog in such circumstances, but this game was basically a coin flip. As it turned out, UTEP was blown out by Northwestern in a 38-7 game. The two teams were tied 7-7 at halftime, but in the third quarter, Northwestern scored 21 points to pull away.
It’s true that UTEP’s position relative to Northwestern in the betting markets last week was much more a product of the public being down on Northwestern than being up on UTEP, but that’s one lesson for every bettor: One team might not merit trust, but if that team is going up against an opponent which doesn’t merit trust, it’s not necessarily wise to make a bet. People were so focused on Northwestern being bad that they disregarded UTEP (except for the people whose late money moved the line toward Northwestern and who cashed a fairly easy money line win).
Here are the UTEP-Arizona College Football odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Football Odds: UTEP-Arizona Odds
UTEP Miners: +17.5 (-110)
Arizona Wildcats: -17.5 (-110)
Over: 57.5 (-105)
Under: 57.5 (-115)
How To Watch UTEP vs Arizona
TV: Pac-12 Network
Stream: Pac-12 Now
Time: 11:00 p.m. ET/8:00 p.m. PT
*Watch UTEP vs Arizona LIVE on fuboTV (click for free trial)*
Why UTEP Could Cover the Spread
Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura is very mistake-prone. This was true two years ago when de Laura played at Washington State. It was true last year at Arizona. It is true early in the 2023 season at Arizona. De Laura is talented, but he just can’t take care of the ball and exhibit the level of ball security Arizona needs in order to be consistently good. Arizona committed four turnovers early in its loss to Mississippi State. If the Wildcats commit four turnovers in this game against UTEP, they are not going to cover what is a fairly large spread. Arizona exhibits glimpses of potential, but it also shows enough bad habits often enough to not merit trust in this or other similar betting situations.
Why Arizona Could Cover the Spread
UTEP is really bad. We all saw it last week against Northwestern. Losing by 31 to a truly bad Northwestern team, and scoring only seven points against the Wildcats in the process, is a pretty damning indictment of how lowly UTEP truly is. If you didn’t learn about the Miners and their ineptitude last week, you can at least turn around this week and cash a point-spread bet against the Miners by riding with Arizona, which has high-end skill-position talent and will be able to score in bunches versus the Miners. Jayden de Laura is a frustrating quarterback to watch, given the mistakes he makes, but when he doesn’t make mistakes, he’s very potent. UTEP does not have the defense which can keep de Laura contained. He will put up huge numbers here.
Final UTEP-Arizona Prediction & Pick
The Arizona offense will roar. UTEP doesn’t have the horses to keep pace. Take the Wildcats.
Final UTEP-Arizona Prediction & Pick: Arizona -17.5
