The Santa Clara Broncos and Xavier Musketeers will meet on Monday night in Cincinnati. Both squads enter undefeated at 2-0, but the Musketeers have home‐court advantage and are slight favorites to improve to 3-0 on the season. Before tip-off from Cintas Center, continue reading to get my Santa Clara vs Xavier prediction for tonight.
Our Santa Clara vs Xavier Pick
Pick: Santa Clara +2.5
Confidence: ★★★★☆
Game Snapshot
- Matchup: Santa Clara Broncos @ Xavier Musketeers
- Date & Time: Monday, November 10, 2025, 8:30 PM ET
- Venue: Cintas Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Broadcast: FS1
Key Storylines
Both teams are off to 2-0 starts and are trying to stay undefeated here. Santa Clara most recently beat McNeese 79-67 and looked impressive against a team that made the NCAA Tournament a season ago. The Broncos are grabbing 47 rebounds per game and they will try to dominate the glass again in this matchup.
Xavier has won a pair of close games against smaller schools going into this matchup. They won tight contests against Marist and Le Moyne at home and they will look for a more convincing performance in this game. If they are going to get that performance, the Musketeers are going to need to be more efficient shooting the basketball. Xavier is shooting 38.4% from the field and that is not conducive to long-term success.
Ball movement is also something to monitor on the Xavier side going into this matchup. They are averaging 16.5 assists per game through two games. Nobody on their roster is averaging four assists per game yet. They need to be more intentional about passing to set up easy buckets to avoid their first loss of this season.
Betting Trends
- Santa Clara is 1-0 against the spread to start this season.
- Xavier is 0-2 against the spread going into this contest.
- The first game of the season for Santa Clara against a Division I went under its total.
- Each of Xavier’s first two games of the season went under their totals.
Santa Clara vs Xavier Model Projection
Score Projection: Santa Clara 76 – Xavier 74
Win Probability: Santa Clara 40%, Xavier 60%
Final Thoughts
Xavier is a favorite on their home floor. But they have not looked convincing at all early in the season. Santa Clara hasn’t been tested all that much to start the year, but I think that they have a better chance to cover the number than the Musketeers do. I’m going to take the points with the Broncos in a game that Santa Clara could very well win outright in Cincinnati.
