Stanford vs Louisville Prediction 1/2/26 College Basketball Picks Today

The Louisville Cardinals and the Stanford Cardinal meet Friday in college basketball action from Maples Pavilion. Here’s a Stanford vs Louisville prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Stanford vs Louisville pick.

Louisville Cardinals Betting Preview

The Cardinals opened the year with wins over South Carolina State, Jackson State, Kentucky, Ohio, Cincinnati, Eastern Michigan and NJIT in succession over the first seven games. After a loss to Arkansas, Louisville went 3-1 over the next four. The loss in that quartet was versus Tennessee; otherwise it was wins over Indiana, Memphis and Montana for a 10-2 overall record across the first dozen games.

In the Tuesday matchup with Cal, the Cardinals went into the second half with a 48-34 edge. Louisville kept it going from there on a 42-36 run and took the win in the end 90-70. Leading the team in scoring was Ryan Conwell with 26 points, four rebounds and four assists. Adrian Wooley added 21 points with four rebounds and Sananda Fru doubled up with 13 points and 14 boards.

Stanford Cardinal Betting Preview

Over on the Stanford side, they beat Portland State, Montana, Montana State and Louisiana in their first four outings. The Cardinal went 3-2 over the next five with losses to Seattle and UNLV around wins versus Minnesota, Saint Louis and Portland. The next four games were wins over San Jose State, Texas-Arlington, Colorado and Cal State Northridge, giving the Cardinal an 11-2 run over their first 13 outings.

Matched up against Notre Dame on Tuesday the Cardinal had a five-point deficit heading into the second half. Stanford could only score another 23 points from there in a 47-40 loss. The only player on the team to reach double-digits was Chisom Okpara with 13 points and three rebounds. Oskar Giltay added 11 rebounds with two points and one assist as well.

Louisville Cardinals @ Stanford Cardinal Betting Trends: January 2, 2026

Why the Stanford Cardinal will win

• Stanford has won each of its last 11 Friday day games.
• Stanford has won the first half in 13 of its last 16 day games at Maples Pavilion.

Why the Louisville Cardinals will win

• Louisville has won each of its last nine games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Stanford has lost each of its last six games against AP-ranked opponents.
• Louisville has won the first half in 24 of its last 25 games against Conference opponents.

Stanford vs Louisville Prediction

I’ll lean toward Louisville. The Cardinals handled a pretty good Cal team well in their last outing, posting 46.4 percent shooting from the field with 12-of-14 (85.7 percent) from the line, 46 rebounds and 36 points in the paint. Louisville has now won four of their last five games, with 87 or more points in each of those wins and a combined 184 points in the last pair. The blowout loss to Tennessee seems pretty far away now.

As for Stanford, they’re coming off a very low-scoring game against Notre Dame, shooting just 23.2 percent from the field with 13.3 percent (4-of-30) from outside. The Cardinal were out-rebounded 43-34 along the way but had just six turnovers. The 40 points were by far Stanford’s lowest total of the season; I’d imagine they’ll at least flirt with 70 in this one.