NCAA Saturday Northwestern Wildcats +7.5 @ UCLA Bruins @ 8:40 ET - I often like to refer to the saying that the odds makers are the sharpest people in the room. The point is that, as we all know, the numbers they put out are so often spot on. That said, the low total on this game is telling you that this game is very likely to be grinder. Both these teams are solid defensively. That said, I love having sizable points in a low-scoring grinder and here we can get 7.5 with a Wildcats team that has been playing very solid basketball for a long time. Northwestern just beat a solid Boise State team while higher-seeded UCLA had a much easier draw in the first round. Of course they earned it but I feel that could come back to bite the Bruins here. This Wildcats team is so strong and feisty and so battle-tested. I was a little down on the Pac-12 this season and think the Big Ten was much deeper. That is not to say the Bruins are not the class of the Pac-12 or that they are not very strong because they absolutely are. But, the point is, they did not face the depth of quality opponents that the Wildcats had to deal with on a regular basis throughout the conference portion of the campaign. Note too that Northwestern had a 1-point loss to Auburn in non-conference action and of the only 4 losses they have had since early February, the Wildcats had 2 losses in OT and another loss by just 4 points. This Cats team is tough to blowout and I expect this game to go to the wire so we have excellent value here with the points. NORTHWESTERN +7.5