The Colorado Buffaloes take on the UCLA Bruins. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Colorado UCLA prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Colorado UCLA.
The Colorado Buffaloes have been unpredictable for a good portion of their college basketball season, but they might be entering a new phase of their campaign in which they are easier to assess and pin down. Colorado might simply be a good home team and a bad road team. This wasn't necessarily true earlier in the season, when the Buffs went to Nashville and stunned Tennessee by 12 points, easily the team's biggest and best win of the season. However, in Pac-12 play, Colorado certainly has played like a different team at home compared to its road games. Colorado outplayed Arizona State for most of a home game one month ago. It lost, but it looked like a good team for a majority of the contest before faltering late. The Buffs were bad in a road loss to Washington. They struggled at Stanford — the team which is in the Pac-12 basement — and lost at Cal, a horrendous result which will very likely keep CU from the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Colorado looked great at home last week against Oregon and Oregon State. Then it went on the road and lost at USC on Thursday. We'll see if this trend continues.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Colorado-UCLA College Basketball odds.
College Basketball Odds: Colorado-UCLA Odds
Colorado Buffaloes: +11.5 (-110)
UCLA Bruins: -11.5 (-110)
Over: 136.5 (-110)
Under: 136.5 (-110)
How To Watch Colorado vs. UCLA
TV: Fox
Stream: Fox Sports app
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET, 5:00 p.m. PT
*Watch Colorado-UCLA LIVE with fuboTV (Click for free trial)*
Why Colorado Could Cover the Spread
The Buffaloes are going to be very mad when they take the court for this game. They know they let a game slip away against USC on Thursday. They received strong performances from big man Lawson Lovering — 13 points, 14 rebounds — and Javon Ruffin (12 points from a player who had previously been averaging five points per game). They trailed by one point in the final minute of the game and had the ball. A turnover from starting guard K.J. Simpson ruined their chances of winning. Colorado committed 22 turnovers. If the Buffaloes had committed merely 15 turnovers — which still isn't very good, but is considerably lower than 22 — they probably would have won that game. Instead, they lost 68-61. They're unlikely to commit nearly as many turnovers, and if they can protect the ball against UCLA's defense, they can muck this game up and keep it close. The spread is a large one, and Colorado has enough defense to prevent UCLA from running away with this one.
Why UCLA Could Cover the Spread
This Colorado team is just not very good. Crushing Oregon one week ago doesn't prove much, given how poorly Oregon has been playing for most of the Pac-12 season. The Buffaloes almost got swept by Stanford and Cal, the two worst teams in the Pac-12. They did in fact lose to Cal. The final score of that game was 80-76, but Colorado trailed by nearly 20 points at one stage of that game. Getting solidly outplayed by Cal shows how bad it can get for Colorado when it isn't focused and isn't playing together as a team. UCLA, which just throttled Utah, is playing elite defense right now. The Bruins struggled in the first month of their season but really found their best defensive identity when they shut down Kentucky and Maryland in December. UCLA has largely carried that winning defensive edge into January. The Bruins are going to suffocate Colorado's offense and win big.
Final Colorado-UCLA Prediction & Pick
UCLA's defense is locked in. Colorado will have nowhere to hide. The Bruins will win by 20.
Final Colorado-UCLA Prediction & Pick: UCLA -11.5
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