UCLA men’s basketball leads the nation with 11 national championships in program history. Ten of those titles were won under former head coach John Wooden, and the Bruins have not won since 1995.
The Bruins finished the regular season 23-11 overall and sixth in Big Ten conference play. Although UCLA was not one of the most dominant teams in the nation or in the Big Ten during the regular season, head coach Mick Cronin said the program’s focus has remained on peaking in the NCAA Tournament.
“We’re at UCLA, so the regular season is to get better (and) earn your way into the NCAA Tournament,” Cronin said, per the Orange County Register. “(The) conference tournament is practice on playing with the effort you need to play with to do what you want to do and advance in the NCAA Tournament.”
“So everything we do here is about this week, everything. And you know, it’s been that way since I took the job and that’s just the way it should be for anybody that wears the four letters and coaches here in basketball,” Cronin added.
UCLA’s Path in the NCAA Tournament
The Bruins earned the No. 7 seed in the East Region for the NCAA Tournament. UCLA will open its tournament run with a first-round matchup against No. 10 seed UCF on Friday at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
UCLA is the favorite to win the first round but there have already been some big upsets on the first day of the tournament on Thursday. No. 12 seed High Point pulled off an upset over No. 5 seed Wisconsin in the West Region, and No. 11 seed VCU took down No. 6 seed North Carolina in overtime in the South Region.
If the Bruins win the first round, UCLA will have its biggest challenge in a second-round matchup against No. 2 seed UConn.
Photo Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images