Betting on the ULCA Bruins Basketball Team
The Pauly Pavilion is home to the UCLA Bruins, with a seating capacity of 13,800. The Bruins claim 11 Division I NCAA Championships and 4 undefeated seasons (1964, 1967, 1970 and 1973). The team's only non-Wooden championship came under previous head coach Jim Herrick in 1995. And former coach Ben Howland piloted UCLA to 3 straight final 4 appearances from 2006 through 2008. The team plays its basketball in the competitive PAC 12 division, and is generally a contender year in and year out. The UCLA Bruins men's basketball team is always a popular California sports betting pick, and claims USC, Arizona and Notre Dame as its chief rivals.
Top Sportsbooks Offering Betting Lines on the UCLA Bruins Basketball Team
Each of the following sportsbooks provides comprehensive coverage for betting on California basketball teams, including the UCLA Bruins, the Golden State Warriors, and the California Golden Bears basketball teams. They also provide betting lines for the state's professional basketball teams, including options for the LA Clippers, the LA Lakers, and the Sacramento Kings. Each of these sites has been carefully and thoroughly vetted by a team of online sports betting professionals with extensive experience in the industry, so you can be sure they are all legally licensed and regulated, and offer a premium betting environment.
| Sportsbook Name | New Players Promotion | USA Friendly? |
| Bovada Sports | 50% Match Bonus Up To $250 | Yes |
| BetOnline Sports | 25% Match Bonus Up To $1000 | Yes |
| Sportsbetting.ag | 25% Match Bonus Up To $1000 | Yes |
| Topbet Sportsbook | 50% Match Bonus Up To $250 | Yes |
| Bookmaker Sportsbook | 15% Match Bonus Up To $2500 | Yes |
The UCLA Bruins 2014 - 2015 Season
Heading into the 2014 – 2015 regular-season, it appears that California sports betting is definitely going to include a lot of UCLA Bruins action. The team received 35 votes from Associated Press pollsters and just narrowly missed making the AP Top 25 Preseason Poll. In the difficult PAC 12 the Bruins will have to rely on sophomore guard Bryce Alford to step up, as 5 top UCLA players moved on to the NBA at the end of last season. In the 2013 – 2014 season, UCLA finished second in the PAC 12 with a 12 - 6 record.
California sports bettors should probably not expect the Bruins to post a 28 - 9 record this year like they did last season. But the team looks to be competitive, with head coach Steve Alford (Bryce's father) probably steering the Bruins to a second or third place PAC 12 finish at best. Alford will be the starting point guard, with shooting guard / small forward Norman Powell already in the talk for Pac 12 player of the year at the end of the season. A March Madness appearance in 2015 is certainly not out of the question.
John Wooden's Impact on the UCLA Bruins
When John Wooden, the Wizard of Westwood, took over as head coach at the University of California at Los Angeles in 1948, he certainly did not expect to coach for 27 years. He could not have predicted he would deliver 10 NCAA National Championships over a 12 year period by coaching some of the best college basketball players of all time. He probably did not expect to win a record 88 consecutive games at one point, or nail down an amazing 7 NCAA Championships in a row.
Nor would he have told you he would expect to be named national Coach of the Year 6 times. But all of those achievements occurred when Wooden was head coach of the Bruins. An incredibly, he was immediately successful. Before Wooden got to UCLA, the Bruins only claimed 2 conference championships in its previous 18 years. But in his very first season, he took a team which had only posted a 12 - 13 record the previous year to a Pacific Coast Conference Subdivision Championship and a 22 - 7 record. That was the most Bruins men's basketball wins in a single season since 1919. Eventual college and NBA Hall of Famers Bill Walton and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were cornerstones of many of Wooden's championship teams.