Bovada Has The Early Odds For Next Year’s NCAA Championship, For UCLA Fans, That Is A Strong Bet
Because it is “Way-Too Early Season”, we stay with the theme as we take a look at the Las Vegas side of things as the online betting site, Bovada, has released their early odds for the 2016 NCAA Championship. Bruin fans, UCLA basketball is set to win the next year’s championship at 50 to 1 odds! Considering how scrappy and tough they played down the stretch and into the post-season, I would take that bet!
Mar 19, 2015; Louisville, KY, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Bryce Alford (20) celebrates as the UCLA Bruins defeat the Southern Methodist Mustangs 60-59 in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KFC Yum! Center. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
The Bruins will be losing two key players Norman Powell and Kevon Looney. They return a core of veterans with guards Bryce Alford and Isaac Hamilton and soon-to-be senior center Tony Parker. If the bench can get in top physical condition and take a jump in development, than we could see the likes of Thomas Welsh and Gyorgy Goloman making substantial contributions to the Bruins next season.
UCLA also has three players coming in the fall as 4-star guards Aaron Holiday and Prince Ali and 3-star forward Alex Olesinski will help the Bruins reload.
So in terms of gambling, one can put money on the fact that UCLA will be a good basketball team next year. But they are not quite elite yet.
For those that do fancy a good bet, here are the top odds by Bovadad:
UCLA Bruins
North Carolina 6/1
Kentucky 8/1
Maryland 12/1
Virginia 12/1
Duke 16/1
Kansas 16/1
Iowa State 18/1
Michigan State 20/1
Arizona, Gonzaga, Indiana, Oklahoma,
Villanova 25/1
Arkansas, Louisville, NC State, Notre Dame, Wisconsin 33/1
Baylor, Butler, Miami (FL) 40/1
With UCLA in the 50/1 pool is Dayton, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Michigan, Ohio State, SMU, Texas, Texas A&M, Utah and Wichita State.
As I wrote about in the piece, The Way-Too-Generous Way-Too-Early Predictions, UCLA is getting a little bit too much praise a little too soon for next season. These odds seem to give a bit more accurate reading of how the preseason (and postseason) rankings should play out. With 21 one teams ahead of the Bruins based on these odds, that seems to be a fair assessment of how UCLA will do next season.
So will UCLA make good on this bet? I would gamble on it!