California at Stanford

Cal has picked up five victories against teams in the top 50 of the NCAA RPI. The highest win came against #21 Utah, while the Bears have wins against Davidson (#33), Colorado (#36), Saint Mary’s (#48) and UC Santa Barbara (#50). The Bears are on a 6-1 spread run with sensational defense, allowing 37.5 percent from the floor this season, leading the conference and ranking #12 nationally. In addition, the Bears are first in the country in two-point field goal percentage defense at 38.1 percent, just ahead of Purdue’s 38.2 percent. Cal has held 11 opponents to less than 40 percent shooting from the floor, including five in a row before Oregon managed 40.7 percent last week. They face a struggling Stanford team on a 1-2 run, even losing to Colorado at home as a favorite. The Cardinal are 11-28 ATS in Thursday games, plus 3-7 ATS vs. a team with a winning percentage above .600. And when these rivals clash the favorite is 11-4 ATS in the last 15 meetings. Play California.