As the March Madness 2015 NCAA Annual Men’s Basketball Tournament moves into the Sweet 16 round of games on the 26th and 27th of March 2015, this preview will focus on the game on Friday the 27th of March with the No. 2 Bulldogs of Gonzaga 34-2 playing the No.11 Bruins of UCLA 22-13 with the game being played at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas and the tip-off planned for 7:20 PM ET and seen on CBS TV.
The opening odd have the Bulldogs of Gonzaga favored at – 8 ½ and the Oven/under in the game is 144 and the Money Line for Gonzaga at -450 with the comeback Money Line on UCLA at +350. In the past 5 seasons the Bulldogs have not made it to the Sweet 16, but this year they overcame that early exit status and here they are.
Meanwhile the Bruins of UCLA who just happen to be one of the surprise participants, who were able to get here by beating in a big way the UAB team, and now they face the powerful Bulldogs who earlier this season beat the Bruins 87-74 and thus come into this tournament and especially in the Sweet 16 facing the Bulldogs.
So if your one to Bet on College hoops at a Sportsbook, especially with the teams that are remaining in this March Madness Dance, we will give you some information that will assist you in making a decision on your wagers to be made, or you will still be left to draw your own conclusions.
If you are a Bulldogs fan then you know that this year their team is playing far different from previous years when they got burnt early and never made it to the Sweet 16 stage of this Big Dance. In the game that brought them to this stage was their win over Iowa on Sunday beating them by some 19 points in the 32nd Round game? Thus the Bulldogs of Gonzaga in this dance to date have won both games by more than 10 points. In that game they had a 62% completion rate on field goals and on 3 pointers they were a bit stronger at 63 percent.
Even though the Bulldogs beat the Bruins earlier this season, the UCLA team is much improved, and Gonzaga will have to strengthen and shape up their defense to win this match-up and move on to the Elite 8 stage of the dance. They also defensively will be led by their 7’1” center that previously held the Bruins star forward to only 5 points in their 1st and only previous game this 2014-15 seasons.
Then if you’re a Bruins of UCLA fan, your Cinderella team will have also step up their defensive efforts in this game if they care to advance to the next stage of this dance. Previously they have played a tight defense which then left the outside 3-pointers very open, and SMU and UAB both made their share of 3’s playing against the UCLA defensive strategy, and furthermore the Bulldogs are by far better scorers that either UAB or SMU.
If the Bruins can crank up their offensive scorers and their defense and slow done the Bulldogs then the Bruins have an excellent chance to upset the favored Gonzaga in this Sweet 16 as some experts are taking the Bruins and the spread in this match-up.