It’s time to continue our College Basketball odds series with a Cal Poly-California prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Cal Poly California.
The Cal Golden Bears enter Year 2 of coach Mark Madsen’s tenure with a new landscape surrounding them. Cal enters the ACC this season, putting the Golden Bears up against some of the biggest brand names in college basketball. The nonconference schedule needs to sufficiently prepare Cal for the rigors of ACC play. It will be fascinating to see how Madsen is able to guide his team throughout a campaign which will be very challenging, especially when cross-country travel to Mid-Atlantic game locations becomes a regular part of the schedule.
Cal won its first game of the season earlier this week, cruising to a 13-point win over Cal State Bakersfield. The Golden Bears weren’t dominant, but they had a solid working margin for most of the game and were not seriously threatenened. That is a reasonable first outing for the Bears, who now have a better feel for Madsen’s way of proceeding and will try to make substantial gains this season as a result. This game might give us some hints of whether the Bears are ready to attain a steady upward trajectory, or if upward growth might be more difficult than previously thought.
Cal Poly played in the San Francisco Bay Area in its first game of the season earlier this week. The Mustangs went to the Hilltop to face the San Francisco Dons, one of the better teams in the West Coast Conference. Cal Poly did not come up with a victory, but it was competitive in an eight-point loss to USF. Given that we don’t know how well Cal and USF would stack up against each other if the two Bay Area teams played head to head, it is intriguing to wonder if Cal Poly can spring the ambush here versus Cal. More precisely, it is worth asking if Cal Poly’s level of play at San Francisco will be good enough to defeat or at least scare California in the second game of the season. There are lots of comparison-based questions one can ask about these two teams heading into Thursday night’s matchup in Berkeley.
Here are the Cal Poly-California College Basketball Odds, courtesy of FanDuel
College Basketball Odds: Cal Poly-California Odds
Cal Poly: +15.5 (-102)
Moneyline: +1060
California: -15.5 (-120)
Moneyline: -2300
Over: 157.5 (-110)
Under: 157.5 (-110)
How to Watch Cal Poly vs California
Time: 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT
TV: ESPN Plus, ACC Network Extra
Stream: fuboTV (Free Trial)
Why Cal Poly Will Cover The Spread/Win
Cal Poly lost to San Francisco on the road by eight. The Mustangs kept that game fundamentally close and were not blown off the court. They do not have to travel far for their second game of the season, so travel fatigue is not a concern for the Mustangs. If they can avoid getting blown off the court for a second consecutive game, they should cover the spread. We don’t know how good Cal is, but Cal Poly was competitive against a decent team on the road. That offers legitimate reason to think the Mustangs can stay within striking distance in Berkeley and ultimately cover the spread. Cal Poly scored 78 points at San Francisco. If the Mustangs score 78 here, Cal would need to score 94 to cover.
Why California Will Cover The Spread/Win
The Cal offense scored 86 points in the win over Bakersfield. If Cal can match that 86-point total, the Bears would be able to cover the spread if they could hold Cal Poly to 70 points or fewer. Given that Cal held Bakersfield to 73, and given that Cal should be better in the second game of its season compared to its opener, it’s more than realistic to think Cal can improve on defense and win by at least 16 points, maybe something in the area of 88-69.
Final Cal Poly-California Prediction & Pick
The spread is large, and we’re not entirely sure how good these teams truly are in the first week of the season. We think you should stay away from this game.
Final Cal Poly-California Prediction & Pick: California -15.5
The post Cal Poly vs. California prediction, odds, pick for College Basketball appeared first on ClutchPoints.
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