This is from the 132 Page VSIN March Madness Betting guide.
UCLA TO MAKE ELITE EIGHT +650, FINAL FOUR 55-1
Mick Cronin has said the Bruins’ top two scorers, Tyler Bilodeau and
Donovan Dent, who dealt with injuries during the Big Ten Tournament ,
will play. That is massive for a UCLA team that is probably built better for
the tournament than the regular season. For starters, Cronin has taken
worse teams deep into the NCAA Tournament. He has consistently been
a good tournament style coach with the defense and intensity his teams
bring. Of the teams in the field, UCLA plays at the seventh-slowest
tempo but features the 22nd-most efficient offense with the ability to
score from 3-point range at a 38.2% clip. That is a recipe for success
this time of year.
Women:
Perhaps the least
heralded of the No. 1
seeds is UCLA, but this Bruins team can play.
UCLA is No. 2 in NET rankings, going 18-1
in Quad 1 games and 2-0 in Quad 2 games
this season, while having the highest-rated
offensive rating in the country and the No. 4
defense, per HHS. TSI is a little lower than
those metrics, though, formulating UCLA with
the No. 7 offense and No. 2 defense while
playing the difficult schedule of all of the
No. 1 seeds. UCLA is bolstered by its dominant big inside,
Lauren Betts, who averages 16.4 points per
game to go along with 8.6 rebounds and 3.2
assists. The Bruins have three other players
averaging double figures this season, so while
Betts is the premier name, this is a balanced
attack that can shoot the lights out, as all three
of those players shoot 38% or better from 3,
including Gianna Kneepkens, who shoots 44%
from behind the arc. Play man-to-man and get
beat inside. Play zone and get shot out of the
gym. Tough call for opposing coaches against
this team.