Cleveland State vs UAB Prediction 12/17/2025 Today’s College Basketball Picks

The Cleveland State Vikings and the UAB Blazers meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Bartow Arena in Birmingham. Here’s a Cleveland State vs UAB prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Cleveland State vs UAB pick. We will examine the recent form and player performances for both teams, as well as the recent betting trends and streaks pertaining to this matchup. As we conclude, we will tie it all together with a summary that produces a sensible pick for a favorable betting outcome in this game.

Cleveland State Vikings Betting Preview

The Vikings limped to a 2-3 start this year, beating only Capital and Radford. The losses otherwise were versus Loyola Chicago, Northwestern and Kent State. Cleveland State is just 2-5 since then with wins over Waynesburg and Oakland City. The losses came versus Valparaiso, Kent State, Missouri, Northern Kentucky and Detroit in that time, giving the Vikings a 4-8 overall record through 12 games so far.

In the Oakland City game on Sunday, the Vikings opened the game on a 45-22 advantage. Cleveland State scored 51 more points from there in a 96-52 blowout win. The Vikings’ lead scorers were Jaidon Lipscomb (six assists) and Chevalier Emery (five assists). Dayan Nessah added 14 points with eight rebounds and three assists in 20 minutes of work on the floor as well.

UAB Blazers Betting Preview

Over on the UAB side, they beat Mississippi Valley State in their opener before losses to NC State and Alabama State. The Blazers would hit a win streak from there over High Point, Rhodes, South Alabama, Southern Illinois and UTEP. It’s been a 1-2 run in the last three though, with a lone win over Drake amid losses to Middle Tennessee and Troy. Over 11 games so far the Blazers have a 7-4 overall record.

Matched up against Troy on Sunday the Blazers were up by four at the break. UAB was outscored 51-46 the rest of the way however, leading to an 86-85 loss. Ahmad Robinson led the team on 25 points with eight assists and three rebounds. Salim London added 19 points with three boards and three assists while Daniel Rivera had 10 points and seven boards in the losing effort.

Cleveland State Vikings @ UAB Blazers Betting Trends: December 17, 2025

Why the UAB Blazers will win

• UAB has won each of its last 12 Wednesday night home games against non-Conference opponents.
• Cleveland State has lost each of its last seven road games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Cleveland State has lost the first half in seven of its last eight games against non-Conference opponents.

Cleveland State vs UAB Prediction

I’ll stick with UAB. The Blazers need a good bounce-back effort after a tough loss to Troy, though. UAB shot well (55.7 percent) in that defeat but missed a few free throws (9-of-13 for 69.2 percent) that really would have helped down the stretch. The Trojans’ 14-of-28 result from 3-point range didn’t help the Blazers, either. The good news is that UAB is scoring well; they’ve hit 70 or more points in 10 of 11 games so far this year.

As for Cleveland State, they got an easy win over Oakland City in their last game with 54.4 percent shooting and 47 rebounds along the way. The Vikings have finished lower than 60 points in two fo their last four games however, so that could be a problem against a good offense like UAB.

Andrew Jett's Pick: UAB Blazers -17.5