Colorado vs. Washington prediction and odds for PAC-12 Tournament first round

The PAC-12 tournament gets underway on Wednesday afternoon with Colorado and Washington facing off.

Both teams are elite defensively, but have struggled in PAC-12 play, and now the Buffaloes are going to be without their starting point guard KJ Simpson for the year due to injury, adding in some variables to this first round matchup.

Here’s the odds for the PAC-12 opener as we try to sift through the news and who can keep their tourney dreams alive.

Colorado vs. Washington odds, spread and total

Colorado vs. Washington prediction and pick

The loss of Simpson is massive for the Buffs, who are already struggling on offense, 330th in effective field goal percentage over the last month of the season. However, the team has made up for it by being a lockdown defense, holding teams below 30% from beyond the arc and top 40 in defensive rebound percentage.

To be fair, Washington is just as bad as offense, 293rd in effective field goal percentage and are especially poor from beyond the arc, shooting below 30% from three over the last month.

However, Colorado dropped both games to Washington this season, by 10 back in December on the road and by three at home. Yet, they are laying five without their starting point guard against a sturdy Huskies defense that is an elite perimeter defense as well, also holding teams below 30% from deep.

Colorado has been a team that is super reliant on their home court advantage at altitude in Boulder, as they are 327th in Haslametrics away from home rating, which rates the drop off in performance when the team plays on the road or on a neutral court. On the other end, Washington improves their play away from home and are 37th in the country.

I’m going to take the underdog in a game that may be a tough offensive showing for both sides.

PICK: Washington +5

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.