UCLA vs. California Prediction and Odds: Golden Bears Are Better Than Their Record
The No. 5 UCLA Bruins are set to take on the California Golden Bears in Saturday Pac-12 college basketball action.
The Bruins finally returned to action on Thursday, after not playing for almost a month due to continued issues with COVID-19. They didn't skip a beat, downing Long Beach State by a final score of 96-78.
The Golden Bears enter the game with a 2-2 conference record, but dropped their last game out, falling 77-63 to USC.
Here are the odds via WynnBET for this Pac-12 matchup.
UCLA vs. California Odds, Spread, and Total
Spread:
- UCLA -9 (-110)
- California +9 (-110)
Moneyline:
- UCLA -420
- California +320
Total:
- 133.5 (Over -105/Under -115)
UCLA vs. California Betting Trends
- UCLA is 11-5 ATS in its last 16 games.
- The UNDER is 5-1 in its last six games.
- UCLA is 4-1 ATS in its last five games vs. California.
- UCLA is 3-7 ATS in its last 10 road games.
- California is 8-2 ATS in its last 10 games.
- The UNDER is 11-4 in the last 15 meetings between these teams.
UCLA vs. California Prediction and Pick
It's time to look past their record, and give the California Golden Bears some respect.
They have one of the best shooting defenses in the country, ranking 38th in opponent effective field goal percentage, which is significantly better than UCLA who ranks 124th in that stat.
Both teams also rank in the top 100 in two-point shot rate, with the majority of their offense coming down low. California sports the superior interior defense, ranking 54th in opponent two-point field goal percentage compared to UCLA who ranks 88th.
UCLA had a lot of hype coming into this season, and if you only look at each team's record, they'd seem like the obvious bet. Once you dig into some numbers, this game is a lot closer than what it originally seems. I'll take the Golden Bears and the points.