UCLA Bruins Odds to Win the 2008 NCAA Tournament
Written February 29, 2008 by Jack Jones
The UCLA Bruins come into the final two weeks of the regular season as the #4 team in the country. They currently sit alone on top the Pac 10 Conference at 12-2, and have an overall record of 23-3. UCLA has only one real bad loss on the season when it lost to the Washington Huskies on Feb. 10. The other two have came against the #5 Texas Longhorns and the very tough and young USC Trojans. UCLA can argue that it was the second best team in the country the last two years, as it has ended its season against the eventual National Champion Florida Gators the last two years in the NCAA Tournament. In 2006 they lost in the National Title game and last year they lost in the Final Four. UCLA is making a push for a #1 seed and will likely need a very strong finish to get one.
Coach Ben Howland, who has done a great job bringing the Bruins back to legit National Championship contenders, leads the Bruins. The Bruins are led on the court by freshman sensation Kevin Love. Love is averaging a double double with 17 PPG and 11 RPG. While Love leads the team in scoring he has a lot of help from fellow starters Darren Collison, Josh Shipp, and Russel Westbrook. All three of these guys are averaging over 12 PPG. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute round out the rotation and averages 9 PPG and is second on the boards with 5.5 RPG. Westbrook is the team leader in assist with nearly 5 a game, and Collison isn’t bad either as he averages a little over 4 APG. Without a senior on the floor this is still a pretty old team, as so many good players leave early for the NBA. The team will rely on Love in most likely his only season as a Bruin to lead them to a National Title.
The Bruins will definitely be battle tested before heading to the NCAA Tournament, as they have road games against both Arizona and Arizona St. before heading home to face the #8 Stanford Cardinals for the Pac 10 regular season title. The Bruins will wind up their season with what should be an easy win against California. If the Bruins are able to escape unbeaten in the final four games of the year they will greatly increase their odds of being a #1 seed, but their work won’t be over as they will still have the Pac 10 postseason tournament to deal with. While the Bruins are definitely one of the best teams in the country, they could easily face defeat before heading into March Madness.
We really like the Bruins chances of doing some damage in the NCAA Tournament this year. Howland does an excellent job getting his team ready for the grueling 4-week tournament. With no clear-cut favorite to win this year the Bruins have as good as chance of any to win it all. We are going to wait and see how they look over the next few weeks leading up to the big dance before we crown them our 2008 National Champions. If they are able to run the table leading up to the tournament, they will be coming in as hot as any team in the country.
2008 UCLA Bruins Odds to Win NCAA Tournament 9-2
So if you like what you see in the Bruins, there is no need to wait till the brackets are set. Head over to Sportsbook.com and get your bet in early on one of college basketballs favorites to win it all in 2008. You can also check the odds for all of your other favorite college basketball teams at Sportsbook.com. If anything you can get your account up and running so you will be ready to go come tournament time. Feel free to leave any comments you have on the tournament or the Bruins in our comment box.
If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:
- NCAA Tournament Picks & Predictions: UCLA vs VCU
- UCLA vs Villanova: NCAA Tournament Predictions
- UCLA at Stanford NCAA Football Odds
- NCAA Tournament Predictions: Pac-10
- Xavier 2009 NCAA Tournament Predictions & Odds to Win
Got something to say?
No comments yet, but your thoughts are welcome!