Stanford vs Cal Predictions & Odds (Jan. 6)

• Stanford and California resume their Bay Area rivalry Friday, January 6.
• Stanford is a 7.5-point road favorite over the Golden Bears at Haas Pavilion.
• Read below for Stanford vs Cal odds and prediction

Stanford (5-9, 0-4 Pac-12) is a 7.5-point road favorite over Bay Area rival California in a Pac-12 game at 10 pm ET Friday at Haas Pavilion on EPSNU. The Cardinal has lost six of its last eight games, and all five of its victories have come against Quad 4 teams.

California (2-13, 1-3 Pac-12) has won two of its last three games after opening the season with 12 straight losses, the worst start in program history. The Bears are averaging 59.5 points per game, 358th among the 363 Division I programs.

Stanford vs California Odds

Odds from FanDuel on Jan. 5. Claim the FanDuel Sportsbook promo code. 

Stanford is a 7.5-point road favorite against Bay Area rival California in the 281st meeting  between the two. California is 4-3 SU and 5-2 ATS in the last seven games in the series, including wins and covers in two of the last three Pac-12 tournaments. The Golden Bears are 4-3 SU and 6-1 ATS in the last seven at home in the series and have covered four of the last five games at Haas Pavilion, all as an underdog.

Stanford is 6-8 ATS this season and Cal is 6-9. The Golden Bears are 2-8 ATS at home. Stanford covered but lost its only previous true road game, a 68-64 defeat at Arizona State as a 5.5-point favorite.

Stanford Looks to Break Out

Spencer Jones has been a bright spot in the Cardinal’s stumbling league start against a  top-heavy schedule that is ranked as the 10th most difficult in Division I. The Cardinal has played (and lost) to Wisconsin, San Diego State, Ole Miss, UCLA, Memphis and Texas. Forward 6’7 Jones is averaging 12.3 points per game, 18.0 in four Pac-12 games.

Pac-12 Preseason First-Team, per release.

Tyger Campbell, UCLA
Branden Carlson, Utah
Boogie Ellis, USC
Mouhamed Gueye, Washington State
Harrison Ingram, Stanford
Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA
Spencer Jones, Stanford
Drew Peterson, USC
Will Richardson, Oregon
Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) October 24, 2022

Forward 6’8 Harrison Ingram, the 2022 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, has had puzzling second season, averaging 9.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and a team-high 3.0 assists. After being projected as a potential late first-round pick in the 2022 NBA draft, he opted to return to school last summer. Ingram’s scoring and rebounding numbers have regressed from a year ago, and he is shooting 36.6 percent from the field.

The Cardinal returned eight of nine rotation players and added Davidson transfer Michael Jones (9.8 points per game but have struggled to find a serviceable mix. It has used six starting lineups, three when Spencer Jones was out with a lower body injury.

California Finds a Spark

The Golden Bears enter the rivalry game on a bit of a roll, having won two of their last three games after opening coach Mark gox’s fourth season with a 12-game losing streak, the worst start in school history. Senior four-year starting guard Joel Brown and freshman forward Grant Newell (no relation to Pete) have picked up the slack the last two weeks while leading scorer Devin Askew (16.1 points, 2.7 assists) has been in and out of the lineup with a right foot injury.

#Pac12MBB Freshman of the Week, presented by @Nextiva: Grant Newell 🐻

Full release ➡️ https://t.co/WeZWHgJnem#GoBears | @CalMBBall pic.twitter.com/zXUAdDxDj1

— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) December 26, 2022

Newell, 6’8, had his first career double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds in an 80-76 victory over Colorado in the Bears’ last game Saturday, when Brown had a career-high 21 points on 9 of 14 shooting. The Bears shot 58.0 percent against Colorado, their highest percentage in a Pac-12 game since beating Washington on Feb. 1, 2015 and only the second time this season they made at least 50 percent.

The Bears are among the worst offensive teams in Division I, shooting 41.3 from the field and 27.5 from three-point range. Their 4.3 made threes per game was 351st out of the 353 Division I schools through games of Wednesday. Askew’s status is unknown.

Stanford vs California Prediction

Stanford has the worst record in the Pac-12 through two weeks, but California certainly appears to be the worst team. The Bears needed a 58.0 percent shooting night to hold off Colorado by four points the last time out, a severe outlier for one of the least effective shooting/scoring teams in Division I. Cal held Stanford to 39 points in a 14-point home victory a year ago, giving the Cardinal extra motivation.

• Pick: Stanford -7.5 (-118)
• Season CBK: 14-6 ATS