UCLA Basketball: 2023 Bruins Emerge With Decent Odds To Win NCAA Title
After a few seasons of falling short in March, your UCLA Bruins men's basketball team continues tits quest for the program's first title since 1995.
This season, despite a plethora of new faces and the losses of program staples Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Tyger Campbell, Mick Cronin and co. have stayed in the national title fold. This year's new-look roster is still highly-regarded, as Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times notes.
40-1 odds given the team's youth, relative inexperience, and new faces, is shockingly high.
The oddsmakers are clearly confident in guard Sebastian Mack, and the recently-cleared Berke Buyuktuncel to produce at a high-level down the stretch.
In their two games against teams with better odds than them (Marquette and Gonzaga), the Bruins lost by 2 and 4, respectively. And, in those games, there have been asterisks for UCLA, as key pieces have either not played, not played much, or made their debuts, stifling their ability to contribute.
The teams ranked above UCLA are not only likely more talented, but have all been together longer. Purdue, Kansas, Duke, Marquette, and UConn are returning most, if not all of their cores.
Mick Cronin has made a reputation of making the most out of his March runs, taking a First Four Bruins to the Final Four in 2021, while making the Sweet 16 in each of the following two seasons.
As the team continues to gel together and the newcomers find their roles, expect the Bruins' title odds to rise, likely jumping teams like Villanova and Alabama, who have tons of question marks.
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