College Hoops Saturday Picks – UCLA vs. Notre Dame

BetOnline NCAA Basketball Odds and Preview:

Neither of these teams has been dazzling lately. Notre Dame is 9-2 SU and is at the .500 mark in college basketball betting, but the Irish have played a lot of "gimme" games, and last Saturday they fell flat is losing to West Coast Conference lesser light Loyola Marymount at home, despite making ten three-pointers.

UCLA has been going through even a rougher phase. The Bruins went on a five-game losing streak, which included getting smacked around by Portland, Long Beach State and Mississippi State, before taking out their frustrations on New Mexico State in a Tuesday game. UCLA is suffering the after-effects of losing a lot of guys after their freshman and sophomore years, which is the flip side of going out of your way to recruit "one and done" talent.

Here are some of the college basketball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

• UCLA has lost five of its last six games SU
• UCLA has played seven of its last eleven games UNDER the total
• UCLA has won six of its last nine road games SU
• UCLA is 1-4-1 ATS in its last six road games
• UCLA has played five of its last six road games OVER the total
• ND has won four of its last five games SU
• ND has played ten of its alst 12 games UNDER the total
• ND has won ten of its last 11 home games SU

It is usually the custom under Ben Howland that the Bruins get better as the season progresses, but this particular period, and this particular game, don’t fit that timetable. The Bruins, like the Irish, are at .500 (4-4 ATS) in the spreads.

Notre Dame missed the NCAA tournament last season, and that was a disappointment, but they still have the best player on the floor in Luke Harangody, who is averaging almost 25 points and ten rebounds a game. Without Drew Gordon, who announced plans to transfer a few games ago, UCLA has one less power forward who can deal with Harangody under the boards.

UCLA is a young team, while Notre Dame has three seniors starting for it. And the Irish would not only love to bounce back, but would dearly love to deal out revenge for last season’s 89-63 beat down that UCLA issued at the Pauley Pavilion in February.

UCLA may get well eventually, but this is not the time nor the place for that to happen. We’re going with Notre Dame as a favorite.

JAY’S PREDICTION: NOTRE DAME BY 24