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It's time to continue our College Basketball odds series with a Cal-Louisville prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Cal-Louisville.
The Louisville Cardinals enter the final week of the ACC regular season with something to play for. No, it is not likely that North Carolina will beat Duke on Saturday. The Blue Devils have been a machine this season, and North Carolina has one of the weakest rosters in the history of the Tar Heel program. It is very probable that Duke will beat Carolina and win the ACC championship. However, we have seen North Carolina teams which were significant underdogs pull huge upsets against Duke before. It happened in 2022, in Mike Krzyzewski's last home game as Duke coach. It has happened other times as well. If Carolina can somehow beat Duke, and Louisville wins each of its last two ACC games, the Cardinals will share the ACC championship. Duke is 18-1 in the ACC. Louisville and Clemson are both 16-2. Louisville and Clemson are both hoping Duke will slip up one time and open the door for a shared conference championship.
Louisville cannot control if Duke wins or loses on Saturday, but the Cardinals can win their next two games and at least apply pressure on Duke to have to hold serve one last time.
It's 5-4 Duke in the fifth set. Maybe the Blue Devils will hit a few double faults and give Louisville and Clemson the chance to get back into the match, the battle for the ACC regular-season championship.
Here are the Cal-Louisville College Basketball Odds, courtesy of FanDuel
College Basketball Odds: Cal-Louisville Odds
Cal: +14.5 (-110)
Moneyline: +810
Louisville: -14.5 (-110)
Moneyline: -1450
Over: 153.5 (-115)
Under: 153.5 (-105)
How to Watch Cal vs Louisville
Article Continues Below
Time: 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT
TV: ACC Network
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Why Cal Will Cover The Spread/Win
The Louisville Cardinals did not play very well this past Saturday at home versus the Pittsburgh Panthers. The game was extremely close until the final few minutes, when Louisville pulled away for a win. Louisville needs to be dramatically better — not merely slightly better — to cover what is a very large point spread in this game. Cal should be revved up to play a quality opponent in a big-time atmosphere. The Golden Bears just have to be reasonably competitive to cover this large number. As long as they don't get completely blown out, they will be fine. Louisville has not shown the consistency on defense and rebounding needed to truly blow the doors off this game. Cal will hang around long enough to cover the number.
Why Louisville Will Cover The Spread/Win
The fact that Louisville did not play great against Pitt should not be too concerning. Pittsburgh was a bubble team playing for its NCAA Tournament existence. Pitt was desperate and going all-out to try to win that game. Cal is not playing for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Golden Bears know the really important week is not this week, but next week, at the ACC Tournament. The Golden Bears have been hit hard by injuries this season and are not in a position to chase this game. That should enable Louisville — which has more incentive to play well, given the possibility of a split ACC championship with Duke — to pull away from Cal and make this game a romp on the scoreboard.
Final Cal-Louisville Prediction & Pick
Our lean is to Louisville, but we're not especially confident in the Cardinals after seeing them struggle most of the way versus an average Pitt team. Sit back and wait for a halftime or early-second half live bet.
Final Cal-Louisville Prediction & Pick: Louisville -14.5
