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The Portland Pilots take on the San Francisco Dons. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Portland San Francisco prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Portland San Francisco.
The San Francisco Dons and Portland Pilots are playing a very important game. You might say that these teams are both below .500 in the West Coast Conference standings, that they're going nowhere, and are just playing out the string. Those details might be true, but for teams trying to make a late run to the NCAA Tournament, one thing which matters a lot is being able to get a bye in the conference tournament. That's what USF and Portland are playing for here. San Francisco and Pacific are 6-8 and tied for fifth place in the WCC. BYU is 6-9 and Portland is 5-9. The teams which finish sixth or higher get a first-round bye, meaning that they have to play only three games (and win them) in order to make the NCAA Tournament. Teams which don't get a bye have to win four conference tournament games in order to go to the NCAA Tournament as an automatic bid-holder. That stuff matters a lot to the teams in the middle tiers of conferences across the country. San Francisco can take a huge step toward that first-round bye. Portland can at least stay alive in the pursuit of a bye. This is a big game for both sides.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Portland-San Francisco College Basketball odds.
College Basketball Odds: Portland-San Francisco Odds
Portland Pilots: +7.5 (-102)
San Francisco Dons: -7.5 (-120)
Over: 153.5 (-115)
Under: 153.5 (-105)
How To Watch Portland vs. San Francisco
TV: CBS Sports Network
Stream: CBSSports.com
Time: 11:00 p.m. ET, 8:00 p.m. PT
*Watch Portland-San Francisco LIVE with fuboTV (Click for free trial)*
Why Portland Could Cover the Spread
San Francisco has been one of the bigger disappointments in men's college basketball this season. The Dons made the NCAA Tournament last season and were full of optimism and confidence heading into this campaign. They blew a six-point lead to Gonzaga in the final four minutes of a January game on the hilltop in San Francisco. They never really recovered from that game. They lost at home to Saint Mary's and continued to stumble against other WCC opponents, never finding their footing and consistently performing like the team many people thought they were capable of becoming. Portland has had a bumpy season in its own right, but the Pilots can lose by seven and still cover.
Worth noting: Portland beat USF by five, 92-87, in the first meeting between the teams this season.
Why San Francisco Could Cover the Spread
The Dons know they need a first-round bye in the WCC Tournament, and they're going to play hard to get it. This is, as articulated above, an important game. San Francisco players know they don't want to have to play four games at the WCC Tournament. That's a powerful incentive for a team which has underperformed this year, and hopes to make a late run which salvages the season.
The other thing to point out here is that USF's loss to Portland in the first meeting between these teams should leave the Dons hungry and angry in their attempt to gain a split. Revenge should be just the thing to inspire a group which hasn't been able to put the pieces together for a large portion of the campaign.
Final Portland-San Francisco Prediction & Pick
The reality that USF badly needs this game should spur the Dons to a strong, focused performance in which they win big.
Final Portland-San Francisco Prediction & Pick: San Francisco -7.5
