Written and authored by NCAA Basketball March Madness Expert Analyst Charlie McDougall. Charliessports.com produces it for Basketball news and notes. The UCLA Bruins College Basketball program is as high profile as you can get. It’s a so-called pressure cooker and fans in Westwood expect nothing less than an NCAA Tournament bid season after season. The circumstances surrounding such a prominent program allows coaches and recruits benefits like no other in the College Basketball landscape. UCLA has only had thirteen head coaches at the Los Angeles school. Former Indiana All-American Steve Alford became number 13 in the 2013 season. Alford replaced Ben Howland, who took the team to consecutive Final Four appearances from 2006-2008. The 2014-15 Bruins are 16-12 and maybe on the outside looking in as we approach the Month of March. There are no doubt that the school attracts a lot of one and done players, but that’s not an excuse in a culture of instant gratification.
This Sports Handicapper believes the Bruins have the talent to advance if they can get into the NCAA March Madness field of 64. The UCLA Bruins has some of the high profile recruits in all of College Basketball, especially the starting five. The Bruins went to the Sweet 16 last season but lost to Florida 79-68. Alford’s team is in the middle of the pack in the Conference standings. The Bruins had a golden chance to improve their resume’ on Saturday February 21st at Arizona. UCLA got out to a 20-0 lead only to lose the game 57-47. The Bruins are looking up at teams such as Utah and Stanford in the Pac-Twelve Standings. The UCLA offense has no problem scoring the basketball on 2015 NCAA Basketball ATS Predictions. The Bruins average over seven points per contest in a high scoring Conference. The defense allows opponents 67.8. Recruiting is never a problem with at the University of California Los Angeles. Keeping players there is, three UCLA underclassmen went in the first round of the 2014 NBA draft. One drafted in the first round was not a starter, but Zach Lavine won the 2015 NBA slam dunk championship on All-Star Weekend.
The Bruins have three regular season games left. Washington comes to Pauley Pavillion on the 25th of this month and The Bruins host the Washington State Cougars on March 1st, 2015. UCLA will close out the regular season with a home game against crosstown rival USC.All three are winnable games. Alford team is highly skilled, most are High School All Americans who will leave the program after a few seasons or less. UCLA leading scorer is unusual; he is Senior Guard Norman Powell. Powell sat most of his first three seasons at UCLA put waited his turn and is reaping the benefits.The NCAA March Madness selection committee can’t overlook the reputation of the UCLA Bruins. A strong showing in the Conference Tournament can’t hurt either .
Charliessports.com.
This Sports Handicapper believes the Bruins have the talent to advance if they can get into the NCAA March Madness field of 64. The UCLA Bruins has some of the high profile recruits in all of College Basketball, especially the starting five. The Bruins went to the Sweet 16 last season but lost to Florida 79-68. Alford’s team is in the middle of the pack in the Conference standings. The Bruins had a golden chance to improve their resume’ on Saturday February 21st at Arizona. UCLA got out to a 20-0 lead only to lose the game 57-47. The Bruins are looking up at teams such as Utah and Stanford in the Pac-Twelve Standings. The UCLA offense has no problem scoring the basketball on 2015 NCAA Basketball ATS Predictions. The Bruins average over seven points per contest in a high scoring Conference. The defense allows opponents 67.8. Recruiting is never a problem with at the University of California Los Angeles. Keeping players there is, three UCLA underclassmen went in the first round of the 2014 NBA draft. One drafted in the first round was not a starter, but Zach Lavine won the 2015 NBA slam dunk championship on All-Star Weekend.
The Bruins have three regular season games left. Washington comes to Pauley Pavillion on the 25th of this month and The Bruins host the Washington State Cougars on March 1st, 2015. UCLA will close out the regular season with a home game against crosstown rival USC.All three are winnable games. Alford team is highly skilled, most are High School All Americans who will leave the program after a few seasons or less. UCLA leading scorer is unusual; he is Senior Guard Norman Powell. Powell sat most of his first three seasons at UCLA put waited his turn and is reaping the benefits.The NCAA March Madness selection committee can’t overlook the reputation of the UCLA Bruins. A strong showing in the Conference Tournament can’t hurt either .
Charliessports.com.
