It’s hard to fathom a scenario under which Washington State wins its opening round game against Stanford as the Cougars are an atrocious 2-11 ATS on the road versus teams with a win percentage between .600 and .800 and 2-8 ATS on the road versus conference opponents. In contrast, Stanford is a profitable 6-0 ATS versus teams with a losing record, 10-2 ATS versus teams with a win percentage between .200 and .400 and 7-1 ATS as double-digit favorites.
Washington State possesses one of the worst offenses in the nation as the Cougars are averaging 62.4 points per game against teams that would combine to allow 70.8 points per game. Moreover, the Cougars are 3-13 on the road where they are averaging a mere 59.7 points per game on 39.8% shooting from the field. Let’s also note that Washington State averaged 56.8 points per game in conference play this season, managing to shoot just 36.8% from the floor Overall, Washington State is 8.4 points per game worse than average offensively this season, which gives the Cardinal a 12.4 points per game advantage on the defensive end of the floor.
Many sports bettors will be influenced by Washington State’s shocking 73-55 upset win over UCLA to end the regular season, but that win was an aberration. Prior to that season finale upset, Washington State had lost ten of its last eleven games, including blowout defeats to Utah (81-63), Stanford (69-56) and Washington (72-49). The Cougars even lost games against Oregon State and USC, with the latter defeat coming as five-point favorites!
The only hope Washington State has is on the defensive end of the floor where the Cougars are 5.9 points per game better than average (66.9 points per game to teams that would combine to average 72.8 points per game). With Stanford being 4.7 points per game better than average offensively (73.8 points per game against teams that combine to allow 69.1 points per game), the Cougars actually possess a nominal 1.2 points per game advantage defensively in tis game. The concern for Washington State backers is the fact that the Cougars are yielding 47.1% from the field and 38.4% from beyond the arc over their last five games.
Pro Edge Sports Pick: Stanford (-11.5) (-110)