Portland vs San Francisco Prediction 1/4/2026 Today’s College Basketball Picks

The Portland Pilots and the San Francisco Dons meet Sunday in college basketball action from War Memorial Gym. Here’s a Portland vs San Francisco prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Portland vs San Francisco 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.

Portland Pilots Betting Preview

Portland managed to win four of their first five games, falling to only Wyoming in that stretch. A 3-3 run came next with losses to Northern Colorado, St. Thomas-Minnesota and Stanford. The next four games were all losses to Oregon, UC Santa Barbara, Washington State and Santa Clara in succession. Over 15 games that would give Portland a 7-8 overall record.

In the Saint Mary’s game on Friday the Pilots were in trouble at the break on a 42-27 deficit. Portland finished off with 30 more points in a 78-57 loss. The only player on the team to finish with double-figures on points was Jermaine Ballisager Webb with 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Dante Censori-Hercules led the team on 12 rebounds with one assist in 28 minutes during the loss.

San Francisco Dons Betting Preview

Over on the San Francisco side, they managed to win five of their first six, with a lone loss to Memphis mixed in there. The Dons would lose to Colorado, Nevada, North Alabama and Saint Louis over the next five games, then beat Loyola, Morgan State and Seattle before a loss to Oregon State. In the first 15 games that would give the Dons a 9-6 record this year.

Matched up against San Diego on Friday the Dons ended up powering out a 74-64 victory to move to 10-6 overall. San Francisco was led by Tyrone Riley with 22 points and three rebounds. Legend Smiley had 15 points in the victory effort and Ryan Beasley added 13 points with three rebounds and six assists alongside a pair of steals for the Dons.

Portland Pilots @ San Francisco Dons Betting Trends: January 4, 2026

Why the San Francisco Dons will win

• San Francisco has won each of its last 13 games against the West Coast Conference at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
• Portland has lost each of its last six road games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• San Francisco has won the first half in eight of its last nine day games against Conference opponents.

Why the Portland Pilots will win

• San Francisco has lost three of its last four day games against the West Coast Conference.

Portland vs San Francisco Prediction

I’ll go with the Dons. San Francisco got past a struggling San Diego team pretty easily in their last game, shooting 42 percent from the field with 13-of-17 (76 percent) from the line and 42 rebounds. The outside shooting (7-of-35 for 20 percent) wasn’t great, though. San Francisco has a 4-1 run in their last five games. They’ve scored 74 or more points in three of those four wins as well.

As for Portland, they shot just 33.9 percent from the field and 2-of-19 (10.5 percent) from outside in their latest loss to Saint Mary’s. The Pilots did well from the line (13-of-15 for 86.7 percent) and outscored the Gaels 34-28 in the paint, though. That makes five straight losses for Portland, and they’ve finished below 70 points in four of those games.

Andrew Jett's Pick: San Francisco Dons -13