The 21st-ranked Oregon Ducks will look to extend their winning ways when they host an unranked California Golden Bears team that is playing its best basketball of the season coming into this affair. With Oregon looking to take care of business in their first home conference game this season, let’s find out where the best NCAA Basketball betting value lies in this California Vs Oregon matchup so you can place your bets against their College Basketball odds.
NCAAB Odds and Picks – California at No. 21 Oregon
Why Bet On California
After dropping four of its first six games this season, Cal has won three straight including a 70-65 win over Seattle in their last game on Dec. 22. Ryan Betley scored a team-high 17 points while Joel Brown added 12 points to help the Bears come back from a 37-33 halftime deficit.
6-4 junior guard Matt Bradley, who leads the Pac-12 in scoring at 19.1 points per game, is expected to return for this matchup after missing the past two games with an ankle injury. Forward Grant Anticevich, who is third on the team in scoring (10.3 ppg), is out for an extended period following his recent appendectomy. Local COVID-19 restrictions prevented the Golden Bears from going home for the Christmas holidays. The team couldn’t even get together for a holiday meal.
“The daily life of a player right now is no fun,” Cal coach Mark Fox said. “They’ve got to get up in the morning and stick a thing down their nose at 8:45 and sit around and wait for the results until we can even have a shootaround. It’s a very isolated and difficult existence. The fun is we still get to play the game that we love, represent the school we care deeply about. But the sacrifices they make to do that are immense.”
Cal averages a modest 68.7 points per game on 45.5 percent shooting from the field and 32.3 percent from three-point distance. The Golden Bears allow 65.8 points per game on 44.5 percent shooting from the field and 36.9 percent from beyond the arc.
Why Bet On No. 25 Oregon
The 21st-ranked Ducks had their Pac-12 home opener against UCLA last Wednesday postponed because of testing problems for the coronavirus – for game officials. Now, Oregon will play their home opener on New Year’s eve.
“We’re just gonna have to fight through, make the best of the situation, just like football did,” said Oregon coach Dana Altman, of today’s virus-dominated times. “It’s just going to be one of those years.”
Oregon has won six straight after getting their 2020-21 campaign started off with a 83-75 road loss against Missouri on Dec. 2. The Ducks cruised to 80-41 blowout win over Portland on Dec. 19 in their last contest. Chris Duarte scored a team-high 21 points while LJ Figueroa added 15 points in the win. Oregon lost starting center N’Faly Dante for the season because of an ACL tear he suffered in Oregon’s 74-64 victory against San Francisco on Dec. 17.
“I thought he was really starting to come along, and then this happens,” Altman said of the 6-foot-11 sophomore from Mali, who was averaging 8.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. “He’s a wonderful young man; I love being around him. One of the most pleasant guys we have. I feel terrible for him.”
Oregon averages 77.4 points per game on 48.4 percent shooting from the field and 31.7 percent from three-point distance. Defensively, the Ducks allow a modest 63.9 points per game in 38.9 percent shooting from the field and 29.0 percent from beyond the arc.
California Golden Bears (5-4) Vs Oregon Ducks (6-1)
- When: Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020 at 10:00 PM ET
- Where: Matthew Knight Arena, Eugene, OR
- TV: PAC12
- NCAAB Odds: TBD
Expert Analysis and Prediction
Cal might be riding a three-game winning streak, but I expect Oregon to bring their winning ways to an emphatic end by getting the huge home win on Thursday night. The defending Pac-12 champs are the better statistical team at both ends of the floor and simply have a better roster of players.
The Ducks have won seven straight in this rivalry and nine of the last 10 meetings overall. While Cal has gone 13-6-1 ATS in their last 20 games against Oregon and a bankroll-boosting 8-2 ATS in their last 10 road dates against the Ducks, the Bears are also just 2-4 ATS in their last six games.
Oregon has gone 8-3 ATS in its last 11 games and a stupendous 20-0 SU in their last 20 home games. Oregon is 9-4 ATS in its last 13 games in the month of December and will win this Pac-12 pairing by double digits.
Pick: Oregon 76 Cal 65
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