The UCLA Bruins take on the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison, Wisconsin. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. ET on Peacock.
Wisconsin is favored by 3.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -165. The total is set at 153 points.
Here’s my UCLA vs. Wisconsin prediction and college basketball picks for January 6, 2026.
UCLA vs Wisconsin Prediction
My Pick: Wisconsin -3.5 (Play to -5)
My UCLA vs Wisconsin best bet is on the Badgers to cover the spread. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
UCLA vs. Wisconsin Odds, Spread
| UCLA Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+3.5 -110 | 153 -110o / -110u | +140 |
| Wisconsin Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-3.5 -110 | 153 -110o / -110u | -165 |
- UCLA vs Wisconsin spread: Wisconsin -3.5
- UCLA vs Wisconsin over/under: 153 points
- UCLA vs Wisconsin moneyline: UCLA +140, Wisconsin -165
UCLA vs Wisconsin NCAAB Betting Preview
UCLA Basketball
UCLA entered the season with pretty lofty expectations, so sitting at 10-4 and 35th in KenPom feels underwhelming.
The Bruins have strayed away from what Mick Cronin wants to do. The veteran coach is used to having a defensive-first team, but the Bruins rank 58th in defensive efficiency in 2025-26. That's the worst since Cronin's debut season in L.A.
This season, everything ties to poor interior defense. The Bruins rank 171st in 2-point field goal defense, and opposing bigs tend to have a field day against them. Plus, opponents batter UCLA on the glass, grabbing offensive rebounds 32% of the time.
The struggles have led Cronin to look at the bench for defensive bigs. The smaller, but burly Brandon Williams played 18 minutes in UCLA's last game against Iowa, and Xavier Booker played just 12.
On the other end of the floor, I think UCLA should be even better. Cronin is so stuck in his ways that he refuses to play uptempo, even with the fastest point guard in America on his team.
In the second half against Iowa, Donovan Dent pushed the tempo because the Bruins got down big, and he brought them back. He drove countless times, and it worked, scoring 29 points. But the Bruins' offense will be left in the dust a bit if Cronin refuses to play fast.
Dent isn't a shooter, but the Bruins are a good shooting team, connecting on 38% of their looks from deep. The trio of Skyy Clark, Eric Dailey Jr. and Tyler Bilodeau accounts for most of the shooting.
Bilodeau leads the Bruins with 18 points per game while boasting a 50/40/90 shooting split, so he'll need to show up on the road.
Wisconsin Basketball
The season-long disaster that is 3-point shooting stung Wisconsin once again in an ugly loss to Purdue. There's nothing wrong with losing to Purdue, but going 4-for-25 tells the story of the season for the Badgers.
That doesn't mean they can't right the shooting. They attempt 3s on half of their field goal attempts and hit just 32% on them. Most teams that shoot that poorly from deep would be a pretty mediocre offensive team. The Badgers being 62nd in offensive efficiency is a bit impressive then.
That's because they shoot 57% on 2s — the 51st-best mark in the country.
The game plan in this one should be simple: Give the big man Nolan Winter the ball and let him cook. The 7-footer can be a bruiser and can also pick-and-pop, which could cause problems for UCLA's poor interior defense. Allowing Winter to dominate should open the floor for clean looks from deep.
The Badgers need their veteran guards — Nick Boyd and John Blackwell — to show up here. Boyd scored 24 in the Purdue game, but he's shooting just 29% from deep this season.
Meanwhile, Blackwell is in a slump. He scored fewer than 10 points in three of the last four games — and they lost all three games.
Defensively, Wisconsin is nothing special. It ranks 48th in defensive efficiency, but it's outside the top 110 in 2-point and 3-point field goal defense.
However, the Badgers hold teams to very few offensive boards, which makes up for some of the issues.
UCLA vs. Wisconsin Betting Analysis
Both of these teams have their warts, but Wisconsin has more solvable issues to me.
The Badgers are a better shooting team than 32%. Blackwell can be a 40% shooter, and Boyd has a long track record of shooting better than 29% from deep. They could use a fourth guy to help the big three, though. Maybe it's Andrew Rohde, who can also shoot.
Plus, you have to consider the travel. UCLA was in Iowa City and now it's headed Madison. That long trip has to be getting to the Bruins.
My Pick: Wisconsin -3.5 (Play to -5)
