UCLA Bruins vs Gonzaga Bulldogs Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 12/13/25

We have a clash of top 25 teams as the UCLA Bruins head to Spokane to face the Gonzaga Bulldogs. These are two good teams, although they are wildly different styles of play. Gonzaga has suffered only one loss this season—a 40-point beating from Michigan in the Players Era championship game. But they just obliterated Kentucky in Rupp, and they have handled anyone else who has been willing to play them this season. For UCLA, there was a close loss to Arizona and a surprise loss at Cal, otherwise this team has been cruising. I could see UCLA being more competitive than the 10.5-pt spread, but I could also see things spiraling out of control in a tough road environment. Instead, I prefer to play the game total under 148.5.

Gonzaga plays at one of the fastest tempos in the country, as usual. They fly all over the court, playing more offense than defense, although oddly enough, the metrics folks mostly rate the Zags as a top 10 defensive team. UCLA is a slow, methodical, defensive team, as they are most years under Mick Cronin. Neither team shoots a lot of 3s, and both rebound well. When teams like this get together, the slow team usually wins out in terms of pace of place. Note that UCLA played Arizona to a 69-65 game, and Arizona is as similar in playing style to Gonzaga as anyone in the country. And when these teams faced off last year (with totally different players but the same overall team concepts and styles), the game was 65-62. I look for something more along those lines on Saturday night. Give me the under.

UCLA at Gonzaga Prediction: Under 148.5 (-110) available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number