March 9, 2026, 10:47 a.m. ET
The Santa Clara Broncos (25-7) and the No. 21 Saint Mary’s Gaels (27-4) meet Monday in the West Coast Conference Tournament semifinals. Tip-off from Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, is scheduled for 11:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s NCAA basketball odds around the Santa Clara vs. Saint Mary’s odds and make our expert college basketball picks and predictions for the best bets.
The Broncos and Gaels meet for the chance to go to Tuesday’s WCC championship game against the winner of Monday’s other semifinal between Oregon State and Gonzaga at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.
These teams split the regular-season series, with Santa Clara winning 62-54 at home as a 1.5-point favorite on Jan. 17 with the Under (152.5) cashing before Saint Mary’s won 86-67 at home in Moraga, California, on Feb. 25, covering as a 5.5-point favorite with the Under (153.5) cashing again. In the second meeting, Saint Mary’s F Paulius Murauskas went for 16 points and 11 rebounds with a block, while Santa Clara F Allen Graves paced the Broncos with 20 points off the bench. The Under has connected in 4 straight meetings.
Santa Clara topped Pacific 76-68 in a WCC quarterfinal on Sunday but failed to cover as a 10.5-point favorite as the Under (148.5) cashed. The Broncos are just 2-5 ATS in their past 7 games.
Saint Mary’s closed the regular season on an 8-game winning streak, covering in all but of the wins. The Under is 9-3 in the Gaels’ past 12 outings.
– Rankings: USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll (*-new rankings to be released Monday afternoon)
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Santa Clara vs. Saint Mary’s odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 10:38 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Santa Clara +170 (bet $100 to win $170) | Saint Mary’s -210 (bet $210 to win $100)
- Against the spread: Santa Clara +5.5 (-118) | Saint Mary’s -5.5 (-102)
- Over/Under (O/U): 147.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Santa Clara vs. Saint Mary’s picks and predictions
Prediction
Saint Mary’s 79, Santa Clara 70
Saint Mary’s (-210) will cost you more than 2 times your potential return. That’s just a little too expensive for me, as my personal moneyline limit is -180. However, if you were to use a boost or promo, or toss the Gaels into a multi-leg parlay, that would be perfectly OK.
PASS.
SAINT MARY’S -5.5 (-102) is a solid play to get the job done by at least 2 buckets. The Gaels enter this game on a roll, winning 8 in a row and covering 8 of the past 9 games. That includes a confidence-building 70-59 over Gonzaga in the regular-season finale. Saint Mary’s also pounded Santa Clara by 19 points in the penultimate WCC regular-season game as a 5.5-point home favorite.
The Gaels are red-hot against the number, while the Broncos are just 2-4 ATS in their past 6 games.
UNDER 147.5 (-110) is the lean, but go with a half-unit play at most.
While it’s been all about the Over for Santa Clara lately, cashing in 5 of the Broncos’ final 6 regular-season games, the total went low against Pacific in the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, Saint Mary’s has split the Over-Under 3-3 in its past 6 games; but the Under is a perfect 4-0 in the past 4 in this series.
For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
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