Bruins still looking for that one shining betting moment

A negative about the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament is that only one team will win its final game of the season and go home happy.

For every other team, the tournament ends in disappointment -- no matter how many victories were gained during the season.

For UCLA, that has been the case the last two seasons despite consecutive trips to the Final Four.

And the Bruins’ final games have not been pretty.

In 2006, UCLA entered the championship game as a one-point underdog to Florida, but was run off the court in a 73-57 defeat to the Gators. UCLA ended the season with a 32-7 record.

Last season, Florida again was too much for the Bruins. The Gators were favored by three points and easily defeated UCLA, 76-66, in a Final Four semifinal, which ended the Bruins’ season at 30-6.

On Saturday, UCLA (35-3) will take the floor as a two-point underdog to Memphis (37-1).

Like UCLA, Memphis is also trying to have a different ending to a season compared to its previous two tournament trips.

Last season, the Tigers were two-point underdogs and lost to Ohio State, 92-76, in the Elite Eight. In 2006, UCLA was a 2 1/2 -point favorite and ended Memphis’ season with a 50-45 victory in a West Regional final.

Although UCLA has failed to cover the point spread in four of its last six games, the Bruins are 8-2 against the spread over their last 10 games as an underdog by 6 1/2 points or less and 3-2 against the spread in its last five NCAA tournament games played as an underdog.

Memphis’ biggest trend is a 5-1 record against the spread in its last six NCAA tournament games.

With the combined over/under point total for the UCLA-Memphis game at 134 1/2 points, there are a couple of over trends working for both teams.

The over is 5-0 in Memphis’ last five tournament games and 4-0 in the Tigers’ last four games against a team with a winning percentage above .600.

The over is also 4-1 in UCLA’s last five games as an underdog and 6-2 in the Bruins’ last eight tournament games.

Boxing

Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Oscar De La Hoya are not scheduled to meet in the ring again until Sept. 20, but betting action for the fight has already begun.

Mayweather is a -285 favorite, which means a bettor needs to wager $285 to win $100. De La Hoya, who lost by decision in the first bout between the fighters, is at +225, according to Sportsbook.com.

Mayweather is coming off back-to-back strong betting showings with victories over Ricky Hatton and De La Hoya.

Tennis

Here are the updated odds on Roger Federer’s total number of Grand Slam victories this year, according to Sportsbetting.com. Zero slams (4-1), one slam (3-2), two slams (6-5) or three slams (4-1).

Total number of Grand Slam wins for Rafael Nadal: Zero slams (2-1), one slam (1-1), two slams (2-1), or three slams (6-1).

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