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The Stanford Cardinal take on the Utah Utes. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Stanford Utah prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Stanford Utah.
The college basketball season has been a disaster for the Stanford Cardinal. A program which has not made the NCAA Tournament since 2014 shows no real signs of waking up from its slumber and finding a winning identity. Head coach Jerod Haase has been on the job in Palo Alto for more than half a decade, and yet he hasn't made the NCAA Tournament even once. His seat is supremely hot, and most Pac-12 basketball insiders think his fate has been sealed. Stanford has scored a few blowout victories in recent weeks, but they came against the other two especially bad teams in the conference, Oregon State and Cal. If Stanford wants to really change perceptions, it will go into Salt Lake City and beat a Utah team which has stalled after starting 5-0 in Pac-12 play. The Utes are 3-4 in their last seven games and need to collect a lot of wins in February if they want to make the NCAA Tournament.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Stanford-Utah College Basketball odds.
College Basketball Odds: Stanford-Utah Odds
Stanford Cardinal: +5.5 (-102)
Utah Utes: -5.5 (-120)
Over: 133.5 (-110)
Under: 133.5 (-110)
How To Watch Stanford vs. Utah
TV: Pac-12 Network
Stream: Pac-12 Now
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET, 5:00 p.m. PT
*Watch Stanford-Utah LIVE with fuboTV (Click for free trial)*
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Why Stanford Could Cover the Spread
Stanford isn't a very good team, but the Cardinal destroyed Cal a week ago. Given that Stanford was blown out by Cal earlier in January, the 180-degree turn against the Golden Bears shows that Stanford is improving and is capable of evolution. We didn't see any real evolution before these recent decisive wins over Cal and Oregon State. Yes, those are bad teams, but Stanford hadn't been defeating bad teams earlier in the season. The Cardinal clearly seem to have gotten sick and tired of playing below their potential and endlessly losing games. This team is now more animated, more passionate, more committed to sacrificing and paying the price for victory.
Utah has been struggling. The Utes lost at Oregon this past Saturday, scoring only 56 points. Utah guard Gabe Madsen suffered a leg injury against Oregon, and his playing status is unknown roughly seven hours before the start of this game. If Madsen can't play, that might make the difference for Stanford.
Why Utah Could Cover the Spread
The Utes have struggled in recent weeks, but this is Stanford we're talking about. The Cardinal have beaten Oregon State and Cal in recent weeks, but that's not an indication of real improvement. The only moderately decent team Stanford has beaten over the past month is Oregon. The Cardinal struggled against Chicago State in a recent home game.
It also has to be noted that Stanford's three Pac-12 wins all came at home. More than that, Stanford doesn't have a single win this season in a true road game. Stanford has won a few neutral-site games, one being against Florida State in a late-November holiday tournament, but the Cardinal have not won any true road contests. It will be very hard for this team to prevail on the road in Salt Lake City, even if Gabe Madsen can't play for the Utes.
Final Stanford-Utah Prediction & Pick
The Gabe Madsen injury situation is certainly something to monitor here, but the spread remains noticeably low, and the difference between these teams is considerable even if Madsen is not in the mix. Take Utah.
Final Stanford-Utah Prediction & Pick: Utah -5.5
