Cal State-Bakersfield vs California Prediction College Basketball Picks 11/4/24

The Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners and the California Golden Bears meet Monday in college basketball action from Haas Pavilion. Here’s a CSU Bakersfield vs California prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best CSU Bakersfield vs California pick. We will examine:

The Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners recent form and player performance

The California Golden Bears recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the California Golden Bears

Recent betting trends in games played between CSU Bakersfield and California

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the CSU Bakersfield vs California game

Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners Betting Preview

The Roadrunners didn’t have a great season in 2023-24, going 13-19 overall with an 8-12 run in Big West Conference games. CSU Bakersfield landed just two spots out of the basement in the standings, ahead of only Cal State Fullerton and Cal Poly.

Roadrunners head coach Rod Barnes will enter his 14th season at the helm in 2024-25. He’s got high hopes at some improvement this year with four returning starters. The lone exception was last season’s top scorer Kaleb Higgins (17.9 PPG).

California Golden Bears Betting Preview

Over on the California side, they had a similar campaign last year, going 13-19 overall with a 9-11 run in the Pac-12. The Golden Bears finished near the middle of the pack with that effort, ahead of five other teams. California lost in the first round of the conference tournament to Stanford in their final appearance.

This season California will start fresh in head coach Mark Madsen’s second season. All five starters from last year have departed, including Fardaws Aimaq (graduation), Devin Askew (LBSU Transfer), ND Okafor (Washington State transfer) and Jaylon Tyson (NBA Draft).

Why the California Golden Bears will win

• California has won five of its last six day games against the Big West Conference.
• Cal State Bakersfield has lost 15 of its last 20 day games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Cal State Bakersfield has lost the first half in four of its last five day games against non-Conference opponents.

Why the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners will win

• California has lost each of its last four games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Matchup/League Facts

• Cal State Bakersfield ranked 357th among Division 1 teams for three-point field goals made per game last season (4.7).
• Cal State Bakersfield ranked 18th among Division 1 teams for opponent field goals made per game last season (22.6).

CSU Bakersfield vs California Prediction

I might take a stab on CSU Bakersfield here. The Roadrunners have plenty of returning experience this season, and they hit the junior college ranks hard in the offseason to add some additional talent. Junior Jemel Jones (33.6 PPG) comes in from College of the Sequoias after an NJCAA Division II Player of the Year award and should help immediately. The only major drawback on paper is the Roadrunners’ front court; they could get pushed around by the bigger teams.

As for Cal, they took a step forward last season—even with the ugly losing record. Only two players from last year’s roster (Devin Curtis and Vladimir Pavlovic) stuck around though, so we’ll see plenty of new faces. On paper though, the Bears have enough talent to sustain their upward trajectory. It may not translate to a winning record yet, though.

Andrew Jett's Pick: CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners +12.5