North Carolina State (21-9) vs. California (20-10), 7:20 Eastern
by Ultimatecapper.com Staff
The North Carolina State Wolfpack, who stumbled down the homestretch this season, meet up with the California Golden Bears in an NCAA first-round dance in Dallas Friday.
North Carolina State lost its last four games and fell to a #10 seed. In their last outing, the Wolfpack got bounced from the ACC tournament by Wake Forest last week.
California, the seven seed, has won three of its last four games. But the Bears fell hard to UCLA Saturday in the PAC 10 tournament, losing by 19.
The Wolfpack went 10-6 in the ACC this season, good for fourth place. Cal finished third in the PAC 10 at 12-6.
NC State made it to the Sweet 16 last season before falling to Wisconsin. The Bears last played in the NCAA tournament in 2003.
The Pack is 14-12 against the spread this season, 9-9 ats as chalk. Cal is 16-11 ats this season, 3-4 ats as underdogs.
Both teams shoot the ball pretty well, based largely upon shot selection. On the other end, NC State holds opponents to 41% shooting from the floor this season, 31% from 3-point range. But the Wolfpack gets outrebounded by an average of 2 per game, while the Bears, thanks to Leon Powe, outrebound foes by 1.3 a game.
NC State would seemingly have an experience advantage; they start three seniors, whereas Cal starts three sophomores.
The Sagarin PREDICTOR ratings at usatoday.com have NC State ranked 26th at 84.7, Cal 39th at 83.5. The RPI at NCAAsports.com has the Wolfpack ranked #51, the Bears #52.
Sagarin’s conference rankings have the ACC rated third, the PAC 10 seventh.
The over is 15-8 in NC State games this season, but 11-18 in Cal games.
The Ultimatecapper Pick: This game opened with Cal as a -1 favorite. The line has moved 3.5 points for a reason. We like NC State to win here.
