The level of betting intrigue surrounding a Friday night showdown in Bloomington, Ind., rates extremely high.
Basketball blue bloods Indiana and UCLA square off on national television with numerous moving parts.
First, the Hoosiers snapped their five-game losing streak in emphatic fashion, defeating Tom Izzo and No. 11 Michigan State as a double-digit road underdog. That prevented Izzo from passing legendary Hoosiers coach Bobby Knight for most conference wins all time.
That was likely Mike Woodson’s best coaching job this season after news surfaced that this is his final season coaching his alma mater. So how will Indiana respond to the emotional win?
Meanwhile, the Bruins just saw their seven-game win streak snapped with a narrow loss at Illinois. With the cover, UCLA is 5-2-1 against the spread (ATS) in its last eight games.
UCLA coach Mick Cronin has not minced words regarding the new travel schedule in the Big Ten. Simply, he hates it. The Bruins are 13-1 at home this season but have struggled in other time zones with a 5-6 mark in neutral-site and road games.
Despite the travel, I am rolling with the Bruins as short 1.5-point favorites. I do not have a ton of confidence in Woodson’s ability to get the Hoosiers to respond professionally off that gigantic win. That was a big one and perhaps it can turn around their season, given IU has more talent than the record indicates.
However, I am backing Cronin in what could be an audition as Woodson’s replacement. The offenses have similar ranks but UCLA ranks 11th in defensive efficiency, while the Hoosiers rank 58th. If Indiana is as flat as I anticipate, I think we see the poor defense crystallized.
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Doug Kezirian is a New York Post contributor who currently serves as the Chief Content Officer for Only Players, a sports betting media company. Doug has over two decades of experience in the betting space, including spending 11 years at ESPN as a host, columnist and betting analyst. He’s also the rare personality who has documented success – 14th place in 2023 Circa Million and Las Vegas SuperContest ($37K), two top-10 finishes in 2022 William Hill College Football Challenge ($58K) and also grabbed headlines with a $297K win on the 2021 NFL Draft.
