The Florida Gators have flipped the table on UCLA from a year ago. When the two schools met in the 2006 NCAA Tournament title game in Indianapolis, it was the Bruins who were the favorite while the Gators were expected to give the Boys of Westwood a good game, but not win. Well they did, and in resounding fashion too, putting the hurts on UCLA to the tune of 73-57 and winning the National Title. Fast forward to today, it’s the Gators whom all eyes are on, chalked in as a -3.0 favorite to get past the Bruins and move on to the championship game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. And the amazing thing is Florida is back with the same starting five, something almost unheard of today in the world of, NBA early entry, take the money and run. All five Gator starters, Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Corey Brewer, Lee Humphrey and Taurean Green could be drawing big paychecks now had they wanted to depart.
UCLA lost sophomore point guard Jordan Farmar to the NBA bug but found an eager and worthy replacement in sophomore guard Darren Collison. The Bruins were fortunate that All-American guard Aaron Afflalo decided to return and not take the NBA lure.
In last years title game , Noah had 16 points, nine rebounds and an NCAA title game record six blocked shots to earn Most Outstanding Player honors at the Final Four. Horford had 16 points and seven rebounds while Humphrey added 15 points. Taurean Green was near flawless at the point with eight assists and one turnover. Florida led 36-25 at the half and broke the game open early in the second half. Farmar was the leading scorer for UCLA with 18 points while Afflalo and Ryan Hollins added 10 each.
At the betting window, 66 per cent of the money is being played on the Gators -3.0 points while 80 per cent likes Florida on the money line (-175). The ML juice on UCLA is +155. On totals betting, 75 per cent of the public thinks the OVER (130 ½) is the best play.
In betting trends , Florida is 6-2 ATS in its last eight games and 5-0 in its last five games. UCLA is 9-2 SU over its last 11 games and gone 3-2 ATS in its last five games. The total has gone UNDER in 5-of-6 UCLA games while the OVER has cashed in 3-of-5 Florida games.
