National Championship odds shift following Gonzaga’s stunning win over UCLA

Gonzaga and UCLA caped off an epic Sweet 16 evening with another classic between the two programs.

After squandering a 10-point lead in the final three minutes, Gonzaga stunned UCLA in the last seconds with a game winning Julian Strawther 3-pointer to send the Bulldogs to the Elite Eight.

Gonzaga, who closed a one-point favorite after UCLA’s big man Adem Bona was ruled out, covered the small spread and advanced to face UConn in the Elite Eight.

UCLA set the tone for this game in the first, matching Gonzaga’s frenetic tempo and building a 13 point lead, but the Bruins short rotation caught up with them as the team went more than 10 minutes without a field goal as Gonzaga pulled ahead in the middle of the second half behind 36 points from Drew Timme.

However, a few turnovers and fouls opened the door for the Bruins to come back. After Timme missed two free throws with 25 seconds left while leading by two, UCLA pounced as Amari Bailey hit a 3 to go up one, an improbable run.

Strawther’s 3 eased the concerns of the Gonzaga faithful, who likely had visions of the infamous Sweet 16 implosion against UCLA in 2006 that had a similar sequence of events — which was 17 years to the day! The Bulldogs led for most of that game, 13 at half and nine with 3:26 remaining, but ended up losing in the final seconds.

Now, the Bulldogs are into the Elite Eight to face an upstart UConn team as two-point underdogs on Saturday night with an 8:49 p.m. EST tip.

For now, check out the updated National Championship odds as Gonzaga moved closer to win its first title.

2023 National Championship odds

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.