The Clemson Tigers take on the Cal Golden Bears in Berkeley, California, on Saturday, Feb. 7. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. ET on ACC Network.
Clemson is favored by 3.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -155. Cal, meanwhile, enters as a +3.5 underdog and is +130 on the moneyline to pull off the upset. The over/under sits at 137.5 total points.
Here are my Clemson vs. Cal predictions and college basketball picks for Saturday, February 7.
Clemson vs Cal Prediction
My Pick: Under 137.5
My Clemson vs Cal best bet is on the under. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
Clemson vs Cal Odds
| Clemson Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-3.5 -110 | 137.5 -110o / -110u | -155 |
| Cal Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+3.5 -110 | 137.5 -110o / -110u | +130 |
- Clemson vs Cal Spread: Clemson -3.5, Cal +3.5
- Clemson vs Cal Over/Under: 137.5 Points
- Clemson vs Cal Moneyline: Clemson -155, Cal +130
Clemson vs Cal College Basketball Betting Preview
Clemson Basketball
Brad Brownell and Clemson continue to be an outlier winning program in college basketball.
The metrics and the media aren’t that high on this gritty Clemson team, but all it does is churn out wins. The Tigers are 19-4 on the season and 9-1 in ACC play while ranking 32nd on KenPom.
This team lacks star power and might not even have an All-ACC player, but it’s a super balanced and tough group that defends well as a unit. The Tigers have the top defense in league play, even better than 10-0 Duke.
Brownell loves to grind teams down in the half-court, playing at the slowest tempo in the ACC. Even with the lowest block rate in the league, the Tigers are No. 1 in 2-point percentage defense.
On the offensive end, Clemson likes to play bully ball through its frontcourt.
It’s a tough matchup for many teams to deal with, as the Tigers start 6-foot-7 RJ Godfrey, 6-foot-10 Carter Welling and 6-foot-10 Jake Wahlin, while bringing 6-foot-10 Nick Davidson and 6-foot-8 Chase Thompson off the bench.
The backcourt is inconsistent in the scoring department, but point guard Dillon Hunter orchestrates the offense well, and Jestin Porter brings some perimeter pop.
Cal Basketball
Mark Madsen has Cal in position in early February to make a push for an NCAA Tournament bid in Year 3 at the helm.
The Bears rank just 60th on KenPom but are still entrenched in the middle of the ACC with a 17-6 record and a 5-5 mark in league play.
Cal secured its best win of the season a week ago, beating Miami on the road, 86-85. John Camden scored 26 points, and the Bears knocked down 10-of-23 3-point attempts in the win.
That 3-point shooting is a key element of this Cal team. The Bears are shooting 37.8% from deep on the year, the 24th-best percentage in the country.
The aforementioned Camden, alongside Chris Bell, gives Madsen two elite wing shooters, flanking the creative guard tandem of Dai Dai Ames and Justin Pippen.
Defensively, Cal ranks 11th in the ACC during conference play and 58th overall on the season. One could definitely argue it's been lucky this year, as opponents are shooting 29.4% from 3 on the season and just 66.7% from the free-throw line, which are the 15th- and sixth-best marks, respectively.
Clemson vs Cal Pick, Betting Analysis
This is a huge opportunity for Cal in its quest for an NCAA Tournament bid. A win over Clemson would give it a high Quad 2 win, or potentially, a Quad 1 win, should Clemson finish the season strong.
It’s a tough spot for Clemson in the second game of the infamous ACC West Coast road trip. The Tigers grinded out a 66-64 win over Stanford on Wednesday and look to be the first team other than Duke to go 2-0 on the California trip.
Clemson has done a great job taking care of business in these spots as a short road favorite this season and last against lesser competition.
Cal does have the positional size to match up with Clemson’s frontcourt, but that’s not enough to sway me here.
While Madsen has done a great job and this is a solid team, I don’t think they're actually NCAA Tournament caliber, and I don’t expect them to perform well enough in February to put themselves in position for an at-large bid.
It’s a tough spot to back Clemson, though, because even if it has been fantastic on the road, a slip-up is most likely coming at some point.
All that to say, I’m looking to make a play on the under here. This will be a slow-paced matchup, and I could see Cal really struggling to generate easy looks in this one. It needs to shoot it extremely well from deep to get a win.
My Pick: Under 137.5 (Play to 136)
