The Sweet 16 continues on Thursday night with a contest between the UCLA Bruins and the Florida Gators from the FedExForum in Memphis. Florida, the number-one seed, will have its hands full with the four-seed Bruins. Both of these teams have the pieces in place to reach the Final Four, but only one will survive this contest. As strong as UCLA is, we still like Florida in this contest as they work towards another title.
We know, the line is cliche, but we had to use it. Florida has had an incredible season, with just two losses and an undefeated mark in the SEC. Now, they have their sights set on a Sweet 16 win and a berth in the Elite Eight. If the Gators get off to a fast start, then they should have absolutely no problem winning this game against the Bruins. Florida has held opponents to just 57.5 points per game this year.
If UCLA even wants to be in this game during the final minutes, they will need to start fast and hold strong against an impressive Florida team. UCLA was able to hold opponents to 70.1 points per game this season, which is nothing to sneeze at, but nowhere near as good as the Gators defense. They are the third-ranked team in the country with 9.3 steals per game. If both defenses play to their potential tonight, this should be one incredible game to watch.
We head over to the popular Sportsbook.ag to find the betting odds for tonight’s Sweet 16 contest between the Florida Gators and the UCLA Bruins. The Gators are favored by five points over the Bruins, but this is not why we are backing them. They are hands-down the best team in the nation, which is why we will lay the line with 20 percent of our bankroll for Florida tonight.
