San Francisco vs Saint Mary’s prediction
The San Francisco Dons take on the Saint Mary’s Gaels. Check out our college basketball odds series for our San Francisco Saint Mary predictions and picks. Find out how to watch San Francisco Saint Mary’s.
The Saint Mary’s Gaels looked like an NIT team in late December. They had absorbed losses to Washington and Colorado State in addition to an expected loss to Houston and a loss to New Mexico that is only getting better today. The Colorado State game is tough to handle right now, given how bad the Rams have been in the Mountain West. Saint Mary’s lost to the Rams at home and just didn’t play very well in that game. This team had clearly not reached its cruising speed. Head coach Randy Bennett must have wondered if all the pieces would fit on his roster.
In the WCC competition, those doubts were shattered.
Saint Mary’s is undefeated in the West Coast Conference game heading into February. The Gaels’ familiar combination of structured attack and relentless defense under Bennett puts them in first place, since Gonzaga lost at home to Loyola Marymount. The obvious significance of being undefeated in January is that Saint Mary’s transformed from a bubble team into a strong NCAA Tournament team. The other big part of SMC’s rampage through the WCC is that if the Gaels can win all of their non-Gonzaga games, they’ll put themselves in a position where a split streak against Gonzaga gives SMC the WCC regular season championship and the No. 1 seed at the WCC Tournament.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the San Francisco-Saint Mary’s College Basketball odds.
College Basketball Odds: San Francisco-Saint Mary’s Odds
San Francisco Dons: +11.5 (-102)
Saint Mary’s Gaels: -11.5 (-120)
Over: 129.5 (-110)
Sub: 129.5 (-110)
How to watch San Francisco vs. Saint Mary’s
Television: ESPNU
Stream: ESPN+
Time: 11:00 p.m. ET, 8:00 p.m. PT
*Watch San Francisco-Saint Mary’s LIVE with fuboTV (Click for Free Trial)*
Why San Francisco could cover the spread
This team is talented and has snipers. San Francisco led Gonzaga by six points with 4:12 remaining earlier this season before allowing the Zags to slip away late and steal that road win over the Dons. San Francisco crushed an Arizona State team that is currently an NCAA Tournament bubble team. The Dons are down just three points against an NCAA Tournament-eligible New Mexico team that was the last team in major college hoops to lose a game this season. San Francisco has proven, time and time again this season, that they can compete well against highly skilled, top-tier opponents. Saint Mary’s would certainly be one. Given that the gap is over 11 points, USF can certainly cover. He can lose by 10 and successfully cover the spread. It almost sounds too good to be true.
Why Saint Mary’s could cover the spread
The Gaels’ unbeaten record in the WCC speaks for itself. Coach Randy Bennett does a great job of game planning and preparing his Saint Mary’s teams for the opposition. When the Gaels come into WCC games, the fact that these teams know each other so well helps Bennett because he is so good at identifying opponents’ weak spots and getting his players to attack those vulnerabilities. Saint Mary’s beat San Francisco by 17 points on the road in the teams’ first meeting this season. It’s hard to think that SMC won’t continue to hold a clear advantage over their non-Gonzaga opponents in the WCC. The Gaels are ready to continue what they started.
The other thing to point out here is that San Francisco has faltered on the road in WCC play this year. The Dons lost in Portland and Santa Clara. Their victories – Loyola Marymount being one example – have been narrow rather than decisive.
Prediction and choice of the final San Francisco-Saint Mary’s
The Gaels are likely to win, but the grind of the WCC game is more likely to limit their cap in this game. San Francisco probably won’t win the game outright, but they should be able to keep this game relatively close. This is a very large gap; USF will cover it.
Prediction and choice of the San Francisco-Saint Mary’s final: San Francisco +11.5