Stanford disappoints again. It is a tough spot of playing traditional rivals UCLA and USC in back-to-back home games, They have lost three straight where it counts by six or more each game. Again failing against the spread not straight up. Utah is 15-4 the last 19 by 6.4 points per game but they are not slowing down, covering the last two by 17.5 and 22.5.

Utah defense has been its hallmark this season, and it has been especially tough going for guards. The Utes have the Pac-12s third-best 3-point defense, holding opponents to under 32 percent shooting from deep. Only four players have scored 20 or more points against Utah this season.

Some of the most dangerous scorers in the conference, including Washington State DaVonte Lacy and Washington Nigel Williams-Goss, have failed to reach their scoring averages against the Utes backcourt. Even those who have managed to rack up some points did not find it easy, such as BYU Tyler Haws, who scored 23 in December on 9 for 22 shooting.

That does not bode well for Stanford, whose best chance of covering is for their star guard Chasson Randle to explode. The Utes lead the Pac-12 in both offensive points per possession (1.135) and defensive points per possession (0.856) and ranked in the top nine nationally in each category.