Key concept: This kind of comparison is less about picking a winner with certainty and more about reading the numbers responsibly. Mean points tell you offensive strength; spread tells you consistency. Both matter.

Step by step

Let's compute a quick summary for each team.

UGA scores

$41, 59, 38, 45, 23, 27$

Mean:

$\frac{41+59+38+45+23+27}{6}=\frac{233}{6}\approx 38.8$

USC scores

$31, 70, 19, 34, 27, 23$

Mean:

$\frac{31+70+19+34+27+23}{6}=\frac{204}{6}=34$

So UGA scored more points on average in the last 6 games.

If we also look at consistency, UGA's scores are a little less scattered than USC's, especially because USC has a very high 70 and a very low 19. That suggests USC is more volatile.

Best guess

Based on the data, UGA looks like the better pick to win, because:

• higher average points
• slightly steadier recent performance

That said, this is only a rough prediction. A football game depends on matchups, injuries, home field, and defense too.

Pitfall alert

Don’t treat the mean as a guaranteed prediction. A team with a higher average can still lose a single game. Also, if you ignore spread completely, you can miss how streaky a team has been.

Try different conditions

If USC had the same average but a much smaller spread, that could make the matchup closer. In many real predictions, a team with slightly fewer points but more consistency can be attractive, depending on the opponent and game conditions.

Further reading

mean, standard deviation, spread