Clemson vs Louisville Prediction 2/28/26 College Basketball Picks Today

The Louisville Cardinals and the Clemson Tigers meet Saturday in college basketball action from Littlejohn Coliseum. Here’s a Clemson vs. Louisville prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Clemson vs. Louisville pick.

Louisville Cardinals Betting Preview

Louisville started out well, posting an 11-4 record in their first 15 games out of the gate. Next came a 3-2 run with victories versus Boston College, Pittsburgh, and Virginia Tech among losses to Virginia and Duke. Wins over SMU, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, NC State, and Baylor came in the next five outings. After that came a 1-2 run with losses to SMU and North Carolina, giving the Cards a 20-8 overall record.

In the North Carolina game on Monday, the Cardinals were down by one point, 39-38, going into the second half. Louisville kept a decent pace the rest of the way but got outscored 38-36 in an eventual 77-74 loss during a road matchup. The Cardinals’ leading scorer was Mike Brown with 24 points, three rebounds, and two assists. Ryan Conwell added 23 points with two rebounds.

Clemson Tigers Betting Preview

Over on the Clemson side, they won seven of their first 10 games, then beat Mercer, South Carolina, Cincinnati, Syracuse, Pitt, SMU, Notre Dame, Boston College, and Miami before another loss to NC State. Wins over Georgia Tech, Pitt, Stanford, and Cal came next, then losses to Virginia Tech, Duke, Wake Forest, and Florida State. In 28 games this year, that gives Clemson a 20-8 record as well.

Matched up against Florida State last weekend, the Tigers were looking up at a 36-33 advantage on the scoreboard by halftime. Clemson was outscored 37-29 the rest of the way, however, and eventually took the loss 70-65 in the end on their home court. The Tigers’ leading scorer in the losing effort was Ace Buckner with 15 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

Why the Clemson Tigers will win

• Clemson has won 11 of its last 12 games when playing with a rest advantage.
• Louisville has lost three of its last four road games against conference opponents.
• Clemson has won the first half in each of its last six home day games against conference opponents.

Why the Louisville Cardinals will win

• Louisville has won each of its last 13 Saturday games as an AP-ranked team against a non-AP-ranked team.
• Clemson has lost each of its last four games.
• Louisville has won the first half in five of its last six February day games as an AP-ranked team.

Clemson vs Louisville Prediction

I’ll lean toward Louisville. The Cardinals didn’t have the gas to keep up with a very good North Carolina team in a road loss this week, shooting 38.8 percent from the field with a 40-24 deficit on points in the paint. Louisville did hit a 37-25 advantage on the boards, though, and posted just nine turnovers in the defeat. The Cardinals have lost two of the last three games but they’ve still got a 6-2 record in their last eight. This will be a tricky road matchup, so that shooting percentage needs to elevate.

As for the Tigers, they didn’t shoot well either (37.5 percent) in their loss to Florida State last weekend. Clemson was reasonably competitive in the paint and on the boards while shooting 86.7 percent (13-of-15) from the line. The 50 percent shooting allowed on defense really hurt their cause, though. The Tigers have lost four straight games now, scoring fewer than 67 points in three of those.