Pacific Tigers vs Santa Clara Broncos Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 03/08/26

Stop busting brackets and sign up for the Pickswise March Madness Premium Picks now! Our expert is up +30.7 units over the last 3 NCAA Tournaments and picked Florida at +4000 last year. Get futures picks and daily best bets throughout the entire tournament, all for just $50. Click here to join and get 20% off before Selection Sunday!

The WCC Tournament keeps on rolling along on Sunday, and this matchup between Pacific and Santa Clara is arguably the most important contest of the quarterfinal round. After all, the Broncos are squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble and after a Saturday in which not a single bubble team did anything to improve their stock, Santa Clara has a massive opportunity to make a statement on a national stage and take another step toward solidifying its tournament resume. The Broncos have not lost to any team in WCC play outside of Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s, and this matchup shouldn’t be one that gives them much trouble. With that in mind, while Pacific is coming off a solid victory over Seattle and has generally played above expectations this season, I can only look toward backing Santa Clara in a situation where it should win by margin.

A common refrain you’ll hear during conference tournament time is “it’s hard to beat a team 3 times”. However, the historical data has shown that this line of thinking is incorrect more often than not. In this particular instance, we’ve seen Santa Clara dominate Pacific over the first 2 meetings — winning each game by at least 15 points — and that should continue on Sunday. The Broncos offense is among the best at the mid-major level, as Santa Clara ranks 23rd in adjusted efficiency (BartTorvik) while tallying 80 or more points in 8 of its last 10 games played. Herb Sendek’s group is extremely efficient around the rim and also does a great job of attacking the offensive glass (19th in offensive rebounding rate). On the other side of the ball, the Broncos defense is excellent at forcing turnovers, which happens to be a major issue for a Pacific offense that ranks 349th in turnover percentage. The Tigers also really struggle at getting to the free-throw line, so manufacturing points could be a little more difficult to come by for an offense that is 151st in adjusted efficiency on the season. I’ll lay the points with the considerably better side on Sunday.

Pacific vs Santa Clara prediction: Santa Clara -9 available at time of publishing. Playable to Santa Clara -10.

Bet like a Caesar with this AMAZING new customer offer from Caesars Sportsbook, where you can receive a 100% bet match on your first wager up to $250! 👥 using the Caesars promo code PWCONTENT250BM, where you can bet on our Pacific vs Santa Clara picks.