The Colorado Buffaloes (17-15) and the No. 2 UCLA Bruins (27-4) meet Thursday in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals. Tip-off from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas is set for 3 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Colorado vs. UCLA odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Rankings courtesy of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
The 9th-seeded Buffaloes beat the 8th-seeded Washington Huskies 74-68 Wednesday in the opening round of the Pac-12 Tournament, covering as 2.5-point favorites despite being the lower seed. Colorado has won 2 straight games and covered the spread in 5 of its last 6 outings.
UCLA beat Colorado in both of their matchups this season. The Bruins covered as 12-point home favorites in a 68-54 victory on Jan. 14 but failed to cover as 7-point road favorites in a 60-56 victory at Colorado on Feb. 26.
UCLA has an 18-12-1 ATS record on the season and is 2-1 ATS in its last 3 games. Colorado has a 14-17-1 ATS record and is 3-0 ATS in its last 3.
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Colorado vs. UCLA odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 12:15 p.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Colorado +350 (bet $100 to win $350) | UCLA -450 (bet $450 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Colorado +9.5 (-115) | UCLA -9.5 (-105)
- Over/Under (O/U): 133.5 (O: -105 | U: -115)
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Colorado vs. UCLA picks and predictions
Prediction
UCLA 72, Colorado 60
Moneyline
AVOID.
The Bruins (-450) should be able to come away with the win in this matchup and complete the 3-0 season sweep of the Buffaloes. However, this line is far too rich for my blood and the risk here is not worth the reward.
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Against the spread
LEAN UCLA -9.5 (-105).
Colorado is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 overall but are only 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 Thursday games. UCLA is 6-2-1 ATS in their last 9 overall and 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 games coming off an ATS win. Colorado could very well give the Bruins some trouble here but UCLA is the safer bet to cover.
Over/Under
BET UNDER 133.5 (-115).
The Under is 6-0 in the Bruins’ last 6 games vs. an opponent with a winning record, 6-1 in the Buffaloes’ last 7 vs. an opponent with better than a .600 record and 6-0 in the Buffs’ last 6 vs. teams with a straight up winning record.
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