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The 2023 Pac-12 Championship Game on Saturday night will be a battle between the conference’s two best teams all season — the second-ranked UCLA Bruins and No. 9 Arizona Wildcats. The top-seeded Bruins (29-4) have won 12 straight games and come in off a 75-56 shellacking of Oregon in Friday’s semifinals. The No. 2 seed Wildcats (27-6) cruised to a 78-59 victory against rival Arizona State in their semifinal matchup. The Bruins and Wildcats met twice in the regular season, with the home team winning comfortably each time. Now they will meet in the rubber match at a neutral site — T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas — with the Pac-12 title on the line.
Tip-off is set for 10:30 p.m. ET. The Bruins are 1-point favorites in Caesars Sportsbook’s latest UCLA vs. Arizona odds, and the over/under for total points scored is set at 147.5, down a point from the opening line. Before locking in any Arizona vs. UCLA picks, be sure to see the college basketball predictions and betting advice from SportsLine’s advanced computer simulation model.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every Division I college basketball game 10,000 times. The model enters conference tournament week 76-51 on all-top rated college basketball picks this season, returning nearly $1,200 for $100 players. Anybody who has followed it has seen huge returns.
Now the model has zeroed in on Arizona vs. UCLA and just locked in its picks and CBB predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see the model’s picks. Now, here are several college basketball odds and betting lines for UCLA vs. Arizona:
- UCLA vs. Arizona spread: UCLA -1
- UCLA vs. Arizona over/under: 147.5 points
- UCLA vs. Arizona money line: UCLA -115, Arizona -105
- UCLA: 19-13-1 ATS this season
- AZ: 9-5 ATS this season against teams with a winning percentage of .650 or higher
- UCLA vs. Arizona picks: See picks at SportsLine
Featured Game | UCLA Bruins vs. Arizona Wildcats
Why UCLA can cover
UCLA is 20-12-1 against the spread and has covered in four straight Saturday games. The Bruins went 18-2 in the Pac-12, while Arizona was 14-6, and UCLA won the most recent meeting 82-73. Pac-12 Player of the Year Jaime Jaquez scored 22 points in that game, and Tyger Campbell added 21. Campbell scored 28 in Friday’s victory, and Jaquez had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Jaquez averages 17.5 points and 8.5 rebounds, while Campbell scores 13.5 points, averages a team-high 4.8 assists and leads the Pac-12 in assist/turnover ratio (2.87).
The Bruins are more balanced than the Wildcats, who lead the conference in scoring (83.3 ppg) but have the worst defense in the conference (71.9). UCLA leads the Pac-12 in scoring defense (60.3) and is second on the offensive end (74.4). Their 14-point margin leads the conference. UCLA had nine steals and forced 17 turnovers when the teams met last Saturday, winning by nine after going down 13-2 at the start.
Why Arizona can cover
Arizona is looking to avenge its loss to the Bruins last week, and it is on quite a revenge tour. The Wildcats have lost three of their past 15 games, and the past two tournament victories came against two of those teams. They beat Stanford 95-84 on Thursday, then beat Arizona State by almost 20. They have the highest-scoring team in the Pac-12 and rank fourth in the nation at 83.3 points per game. They also lead the conference in field-goal percentage (49.9) and 3-point shooting (38.4%). They hit 40% from long range in the last meeting with UCLA.
The Wildcats are 8-2 ATS in their past 10 against teams with a winning percentage of .600 or better. They are led by big men Azuolas Tubelis, who averages 19.8 points and 9.1 rebounds, and center Oumar Ballo (14.2 points, 8.5 rebounds). Tubelis had 17 points and nine rebounds Friday and had 24 and 10 in the matchup with the Bruins last week. Ballo had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds against the Ducks. Three other Wildcats average at least 10 points. Kylan Boswell and Kerr Kriisa went a combined 7-for-11 from outside last Saturday.
How to make Arizona vs. UCLA picks
SportsLine’s model is leaning Over on the total, projecting 149 combined points. The model also says one side of the spread has all the value. You can only see the model’s picks at SportsLine.
So who wins UCLA vs. Arizona? And which side of the spread has all the value? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the spread you need to jump on, all from the model that has crushed its college basketball picks, and find out.
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