If you’re filling out your college basketball brackets, picking the Gophers over UCLA in the first round isn’t much of a stretch.
Right now, Vegas oddsmakers have Minnesota (100 to 1 long shots to win it all) as three point favorites over the Bruins.
One reason for that is the injury to UCLA’s freshman guard Jordan Adams, who broke his foot. He won’t play in Friday’s game, according to the Star Tribune. Adams averages 15.3 points per game
Minnesota is seeded 11th, UCLA is the 6th seed in the South Regional.
According to Larry Brown Sports, ESPN reported that over 70 percent of users submitting picks on their bracket challenge had the Gophers beating UCLA.
If you look at past performance, namely 11 seeds versus 6 seeds, Minnesota-based SportsDataLLC point out that in the past three years, No. 11 seeds are 7-5 in the first round.
The last time the Gophers played UCLA in the tournament was in 1997, defeating the Bruins 80-72, on the way to the Final Four. That victory, however, was wiped out from the record books due to Minnesota’s storied academic scandal.
