The Arizona State Sun Devils take on the Cal Golden Bears. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Arizona State Cal prediction and pick. Find how to watch Arizona State Cal.

The Arizona State Sun Devils have had a knack for fighting back this season. It doesn't look pretty, and the reality of fighting back means that ASU has often been playing from behind this season, but it does show that the Sun Devils have a measure of resilience. Arizona State trailed Stanford by eight points midway through the second half of Friday night's road game in the Bay Area, but the Devils would not stop. They continued to pressure Stanford at the defensive end of the floor and were able to grab a richly satisfying 76-73 win over the Cardinal. ASU was a 5.5-point underdog in the game and was in a good position to cover the spread in the final minutes of regulation, but the Devils did even better and won on the money line.

ASU is a slight underdog at Cal on Sunday. That might come as a surprise to many, but one thing to keep in mind about the Golden Bears is that they have a first-year head coach, Mark Madsen, who is viewed as a rising star in the coaching ranks and is seen as someone who will make Cal better. To a certain extent this season, he already has. Cal was good enough to take San Diego State to overtime. Cal has been competitive this season and has not been blown out with the regularity of last season's woeful team under since-fired head coach Mark Fox. Cal is better. We'll see how much better against ASU on Sunday night in Berkeley.

Here are the Arizona State-Cal College Basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel.

College Basketball Odds: Arizona State-Cal Odds

Arizona State Sun Devils: +3.5 (-110)

Cal Golden Bears: -3.5 (-110)

Over: 145.5 (-110)

Under: 145.5 (-110)

How To Watch

Time: 8:00 pm ET / 5:00 pm PT

TV: Pac-12 Network

Stream: fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why Arizona State Could Cover the Spread

The Sun Devils might not always win, but they play close games. They might fall behind opponents, but they rally. They trailed UMass-Lowell by 10 late in the second half and won. They trailed SMU by double digits late in the second half and won. This is not a good offensive team, but coach Bobby Hurley preaches toughness, defense and rebounding. This is a “try hard” team which regularly puts forth good effort. Arizona State is a team which is rarely going to blow out opponents, and will rarely get blown out. Defense keeps this team in games, so with Cal being a 3.5-point favorite, ASU losing by only one basket seems like a really good and realistic scenario.

Why Cal Could Cover the Spread

The Cal Golden Bears got trounced by Arizona on Friday. That might seem like a reason to pick against Cal, but the other way to look at the game is that playing Arizona — a possible No. 1 seed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament — could sharpen up the Golden Bears for this game and have them supremely prepared for ASU, a much less talented and capable opponent. It could all work to Cal's benefit here.

Final Arizona State-Cal Prediction & Pick

This is a great game to stay away from. You might lean ASU, but don't make this a huge play if you do.

Final Arizona State-Cal Prediction & Pick: Arizona State +3.5