Cal Baptist vs. Utah Valley Prediction & Best Bets: WAC’s Top Two Teams Tangle for Tournament Title

If the excitement of Selection Sunday means that you have as much trouble sleeping as a child on Christmas Eve, watching the WAC tournament championship game will be a good way to spend the late hours. And it's not because it will put you to sleep, as Cal Baptist vs. Utah Valley (midnight ET, ESPN2) should be an entertaining matchup.

Prior to this season, Cal Baptist and Utah Valley were picked first and second, respectively, in the WAC preseason poll.

And the Lancers and Wolverines went on to occupy the top two spots in the regular season standings, though Utah Valley (25-7, 14-4 WAC) edged Cal Baptist (24-8, 13-5 WAC) for the regular season title thanks to winning two of the three head-to-head meetings between the two teams.

Now, after each did their part in the semifinals, the second-seeded Lancers and top-seeded Wolverines will meet tonight with a March Madness debut on the line for each team.

This Cal Baptist vs. Utah Valley matchup will also mark the end of an era for the WAC, which will cease to exist as the WAC on July 1, 2026, when it will become the United Athletic Conference. And it will be the final WAC game for both of these programs, as they will be foes in the Big West next season.

Which program will leave with bragging rights? At Lucky Rebel and other top online sportsbooks, Utah Valley is holding steady as a three-point favorite.

Cal Baptist vs. Utah Valley Prediction and Analysis

While this matchup won't garner as much attention as many others this weekend, it does feature two teams who are in Bart Torvik's top 100, with Cal Baptist 99^th and Utah Valley 86^th.

The Lancers and Wolverines take different approaches to the same high level of success. Cal Baptist has one of the nation's leading scorers, Dominique Daniels Jr. (23.2 PPG), but has only two other players averaging at least 9.5 PPG for a team averaging 73.3 PPG.

Utah Valley, meanwhile, averages 80.8 PPG and has four players averaging double figures, led by Jackson Holcombe (15.6 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 3.6 APG).

How the fourth Cal Baptist vs. Utah Valley matchup this season plays out will largely depend on how the Wolverines fare in trying to keep Daniels quiet.

In Utah Valley's two home wins against CBU, Daniels scored 17 (on 5 of 13 shooting in a 73-66 loss on December 29) and 12 (on 3 of 16 shooting in a 65-46 loss on February 19). But in the home win over the Wolverines, Daniels scored 47 of the Lancers' 78 points (13 of 21 FG, 3 of 7 3PT, 18 of 21 FT) in a seven-point overtime win on January 24.

Daniels is coming off a 41-point performance (15 of 23 FG, 4 of 7 3PT, 7 of 9 FT) in last night's 86-72 win over Utah Tech and is shooting 64.3% (36 of 56) in his last three games.

That level of performance makes Cal Baptist tough to bet against, but Utah Valley already has the blueprint for stifling he and the Lancers. That blueprint will prove to be valuable tonight as the Wolverines, who won their fifth WAC regular season title this season, finally book their first ticket to the Big Dance.

Cal Baptist vs. Utah Valley Best Bets

Utah Valley -3 (-111 at Lucky Rebel)

I briefly considered Utah Valley's team total, as the Wolverines, who edged UT Arlington 67-65 last night, have been held under 70 points in back-to-back games just once this season.

But because they have scored just 73, 71 (in overtime), and 65 points in three games against Cal Baptist this season, passing on that play felt like a smart choice.

But I have a lot of confidence in this play, even with the prospect of a close game in mind. This season, Utah Valley is 7-2 SU and ATS when favored by seven or fewer points, and after winning three straight games by four or fewer points, the Wolverines will be ready for whatever Daniels and the Lancers throw at them tonight.

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