NCAA Basketball Picks Tonight: December 30th ACC Openers and More

No. 7 Gonzaga just defeated Pepperdine for the 50th consecutive time. On Tuesday night, it looks to beat San Diego for the 20th straight time and 31st in the past 32 meetings.

That’s the big downer about the Bulldogs moving into the reconfigured Pac-12 next season. All these crazy streaks and unprecedented domination in their West Coast Conference era now get placed in the storage bin and hardly discussed again.

We’ll also look at two Atlantic Coast Conference openers, including Florida State visiting North Carolina. The other sees Louisville visiting Cal with the Golden Bears being more successful than anyone outside of Berkeley imagined.

FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES AT NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS

It looks like North Carolina will make the NCAA Tournament on merit this season as opposed to getting in last season by having the sheer luck of athletic director Bubba Cunningham doubling as selection committee chairman. The No. 12 Tar Heels (12-1) have just one blemish -- a 74-58 loss to Michigan State late last month.

Freshman star Caleb Wilson has been an immediate hit with averages of 19.6 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. He has made 80% or better of his shots four times while also shooting 33.3% or worse three times, including a dreadful 5 of 19 in a win over Kentucky.

Florida State (7-6) is attempting to find its stride under first-year coach Luke Loucks and it could be a long conference season. Three setbacks by 28 or more points tell more than the two-point loss to Florida.

North Carolina minus 14.5-point spread, -108 (DraftKings)

GONZAGA BULLDOGS AT SAN DIEGO TOREROS

There is zero question who will win this game. The only suspense is whether or not Gonzaga can cover such a large spread. Well, they just beat Pepperdine by 40 on the hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean and have won eight games by more than 25 points.

Gonzaga (13-1) has won its last six games and Tyon Grant-Foster and Braeden Smith have been stepping up their play while Braden Huff and Graham Ike have been leading the way. Huff has been particularly solid with an 18.4 scoring average while shooting 66.9% from the field.

San Diego coach Steve Lavin talked about the “nostalgia” of playing the Zags one last time but what if they lose by 35, like Kentucky did earlier this month? The Toreros (6-7) do have Ty-Laur Johnson, who made a career-high five 3-pointers while scoring 22 points and racking up a career-best six steals in Sunday’s 66-54 win over Pacific.

Gonzaga minus 28.5-point spread, -108 (DraftKings)

LOUISVILLE CARDINALS AT CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS

The Golden Bears (12-1) have experienced eight straight losing campaigns and suddenly are off to their best start since their 1959-60 started 28-1 before losing in the NCAA title game. It’s almost as if famed coach Pete Newell came back to life or Jaylen Brown ditched the Celtics to return to Berkley via the soon-to-be dubbed “Scott Drew Rule.”

Brown was on Cal’s most recent NCAA Tournament squad in 2016 and it remains to be seen whether the current squad can get there. But we can say this: the nonconference schedule was very soft. We will learn a lot about the Golden Bears in this clash with No. 16 Louisville (10-2).

The Cardinals may have freshman star Mikel Brown (back) in the lineup after a two-game absence and he’s definitely a difference maker. Louisville has topped 90 points seven times and will challenge the Golden Bears to match the pace.

Over 159.5 total points, -112 (DraftKings)