UCLA vs. Brigham Young Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
East Region No. 11 seed UCLA could be without its leading scorer when it faces No. 6 BYU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday from Indianapolis. The Cougars are 3.5-point favourites on the college basketball odds with a total of 138.
UCLA Bruins vs. Brigham Young Cougars NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
The winner of this game will most likely face third-seeded Texas (slight chance it’s No. 14 Abilene Christian) on Monday for a trip to the Sweet 16. The Longhorns would be favoured over both.
The 2019 NCAA Tournament was the first time since 2013 that No. 6 seeds won at least three of the four meetings against No. 11s – yet despite that, the No. 6 seeds have won just 47.5 per cent of their games against No. 11s in the past 10 Big Dances. The No. 6s haven’t swept all four since 2004 and the lone time the 11s did was in 1989.
BYU is almost a de facto member of the Pac-12 – independent in football, Mountain West in basketball – so the Cougars have faced UCLA plenty. The schools have split 22 all-time meetings and last played in November 2019 in the Maui Invitational with the Cougars winning 78-63.
UCLA is 3-7 against the spread in its past 10 NCAA Tournament games as an underdog. BYU is 1-4 ATS in its past five NCAA Tournament games overall.
(11) UCLA Bruins
UCLA (18-9) was a slight underdog against fellow No. 11 Michigan State in the First Four on Thursday and was outplayed for almost the entire game – down 11 at the half — but rallied from down five points with just over a minute left in regulation to force overtime and then rode that momentum to an 86-80 victory. Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored a career-high 27 points, and Johnny Juzang added 23 points in the Bruins’ first win in any NCAA Tournament game since Mar. 19, 2017, against Cincinnati. The coach of the Bearcats team? Current UCLA coach Mick Cronin. However, Juzang injured his ankle late in OT and is listed as questionable for Saturday. He’s the team’s leading scorer at 14.5 ppg. The Bruins are 2-6 ATS in their past eight after a win.
(6) Brigham Young Cougars
BYU (20-6) is pretty darn good. It has those six losses but three were in West Coast Conference play against NCAA Tournament No. 1 overall seed and unbeaten Gonzaga. In the WCC Tournament final, BYU was shockingly up 12 on the Zags at halftime, but Gonzaga rallied for the 88-78 win. The Cougars were the last team to beat Gonzaga, 91-78 on Feb. 22, 2020. BYU’s best all-around player is honourable mention All-American Alex Borcello (15.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 4.5 apg) but their biggest difference-maker, at least on defence, is 7-foot-3 Purdue transfer Matt Haarms. His numbers (11.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.0 bpg) don’t scream dominance, but that’s because Haarms often finds himself in foul trouble. If he can stay out of that, BYU could make a run. It’s the Cougars’ 30th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2015. They have a 15-32 record in the tournament.
UCLA
BYU