UCLA Men's Basketball March Madness Bracketology Roundup: March 7
Following victories over Arizona State and Arizona, the Bruins' NCAA tournament stock continued to rise.
No. 2 UCLA men’s basketball (27-4, 18-2 Pac-12) ran away with the Pac-12 regular season championship, closing things out on a 10-game winning streak to help further attract the nation's attention as the NCAA tournament nears. Coach Mick Cronin doesn't seem to be putting much stock into what bracketologists have to say at this point in the year, however, as he jokingly dismissed ESPN's Joe Lunardi, who told the Los Angeles Times that the Bruins likely need to win the Pac-12 tournament in order to secure a No. 1 seed.
"Not sure who that is," Cronin said Tuesday. "I'd rather you speak to my father, somebody that actually knows basketball."
Additionally, guard Jaylen Clark’s lower leg injury could muddy projections related to UCLA's future, but with no timetable on the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year's return beyond this week, it remains to be see how the injury affect their seeding.
Here is where UCLA could land in the bracket, according to experts across the internet.
ESPN - Joe Lunardi
West Region
No. 1 UCLA (Automatic Qualifier)
No. 16 TAMU-CC (Automatic Qualifier)
No. 8 Florida Atlantic (Automatic Qualifier)
No. 9 Auburn
No. 5 Saint Mary’s (Automatic Qualifier)
No. 12 Charleston (Automatic Qualifier)
No. 4 Virginia
No. 13 Utah Valley (Automatic Qualifier)
No. 6 Kentucky
No. 11 Pittsburgh
No. 3 Gonzaga
No. 14 Furman (Automatic Qualifier)
No. 7 Northwestern
No. 10 Providence
No. 2 Texas
No. 15 Vermont (Automatic Qualifier)
Pac-12 (3): No. 2 UCLA, No. 2 Arizona, No. 10 USC, Arizona State (First Four Out), Oregon (Next Four Out)
UCLA’s most recent victories have boosted them to the fourth No. 1 seed on Lunardi’s projected bracket, and he has them staying in the West as well. The Bruins have played Texas A&M Corpus Christi – their projected first round matchup – in women’s volleyball and softball, but the men's basketball programs have never played against each other.
In a possible Sweet 16 pairing – should both teams make it that far – UCLA and Saint Mary’s could have a rematch of 2022’s Second Round contest. The Bruins defeated the Gaels by a score of 72-56 en route to their second consecutive Sweet 16 berth.
Kentucky and Gonzaga are also in Lunardi's West region and provide UCLA with additional recent March Madness head-to-head history. The Wildcats – who lost to the Bruins in December – most recently defeated UCLA in the 2017 Sweet 16, while the Bulldogs sent the Bruins packing in the 2021 Final Four on a Jalen Suggs’ half-court heave.
Throughout the rest of the region, UCLA was linked to Virginia’s head coach Tony Bennett during its 2019 coaching search that eventually landed on Cronin. Former UCLA coach Ben Howland – who has been an advisor of sorts to the program this season – was head coach at Pittsburgh before coming to Westwood in 2003.
CBS Sports - Jerry Palm
West Region
No. 1 Purdue
No. 16 Texas A&M CC/Southeast Missouri State
No. 8 Providence
No. 9 Pittsburgh
No. 5 Miami
No. 12 Drake
No. 4 Xavier
No. 13 Louisiana
No. 6 Northwestern
No. 11 Nevada
No. 3 Baylor
No. 14 Kennesaw St.
No. 7 Michigan State
No. 10 FAU
No. 2 UCLA
No. 15 Colgate
Pac-12 (3): No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Arizona, No. 10 USC, Arizona State (First Four Out)
Purdue and 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey stayed put as the No. 1 seed in this projection, leaving UCLA in the bottom half of the region, but they are still set to play the first two rounds in Sacramento.
UCLA men’s soccer sent Colgate home in the First Round of the 2016 NCAA tournament. However, that is the only recorded result between the two athletic programs.
The Bruins snuck by Tom Izzo's Spartans in overtime in the 2021 First Four. In this projection, UCLA could face off against Michigan State in the Second Round of the tournament.
Baylor is another possible matchup, but in the Sweet 16. The Bruins fell to the Bears in a nonconference contest in Las Vegas back in November.
Xavier and Nevada both have history attached to UCLA and Cronin. The Musketeers were Cronin's main rival while he was with Cincinnati, and he went 4-0 against coach Sean Miller when he was at Arizona.
Additionally, Nevada is led by coach Steve Alford, who was fired from the UCLA post on Dec. 31, 2018. Cronin took over for the Indiana native less than four months later.
USA Today - Eddie Timanus, Paul Myerberg and Erick Smith
West Region
No. 1 UCLA (Automatic Qualifier)
No. 16 Texas A&M CC (Automatic Qualifier)
No. 8 Maryland
No. 9 Florida Atlantic (Automatic Qualifier)
No. 5 Virginia
No. 12 Charleston (Automatic Qualifier)
No. 4 Tennessee
No. 13 Utah Valley (Automatic Qualifier)
No. 3 Kansas State
No. 14 Louisiana (Automatic Qualifier)
No. 6 Creighton
No. 11 Penn State/Mississippi State
No. 7 Duke
No. 10 Memphis
No. 2 Purdue (Automatic Qualifier)
No. 15 UNC Asheville (Automatic Qualifier)
Pac-12 (3): No. 1 UCLA, No. 3 Arizona, No. 11 USC, Arizona State (First Four Out), Oregon (Next Four Out)
USA Today has listed the Bruins as a No. 1 seed for the past month, and it was no different in their latest update. Like ESPN, USA Today also has UCLA projected to face Texas A&M Corpus Christi in the First Round.
Maryland – which lost its only home game of the season to the Bruins on Dec. 14 – is a potential Second Round opponent for UCLA, should they both advance.
Tennessee's Rick Barnes and Virginia's Tony Bennett were once connected to the UCLA job as possible coaching candidates in 2019, and both run distinct low-tempo, defense-first programs that could counter the Bruins' in this theoretical bracket.
In the rest of the bracket, Memphis has history with UCLA after knocking them out of the 2008 Final Four. On the other hand, UCLA defeated Memphis to win the 1973 National Championship.
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