NCAA Tournament March Madness Bubble Watch: UCLA

NCAA Tournament March Madness

#33 UCLA

Bubble Watch | Bracketology

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Projection: next four out

UCLA’s profile reads like a team that has defended its way into contention and still lacks a truly signature victory, with a narrow neutral-site loss to Arizona and a gritty road win at Washington proving it can compete while a neutral loss to California and a string of soft nonconference victories limit its upside. The Bruins have shown they can be difficult to score on and stay in games against elite opponents but they have yet to beat a top opponent away from home or on a neutral floor, and they have left themselves exposed by dropping a couple of games that a committee will view as damaging. Upcoming dates with Gonzaga at a neutral site, a home meeting with Purdue, and tough road trips to Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Michigan State give them clear paths to add the kind of signature wins that would erase doubt or to compound questions if they falter.

Date	Opponent	Ranking	Outcome
11/3	E Washington	247	W80-74
11/7	Pepperdine	286	W74-63
11/10	West Georgia	282	W83-62
11/14	(N)Arizona	9	L69-65
11/18	CS Sacramento	279	W79-48
11/21	Presbyterian	261	W86-46
11/25	(N)California	70	L80-72
12/3	@Washington	59	W82-80
12/6	Oregon	83	81%
12/13	(N)Gonzaga	3	20%
12/17	Arizona St	82	81%
12/19	Cal Poly	223	97%
12/23	UC Riverside	267	98%
1/3	@Iowa	31	38%
1/6	@Wisconsin	27	36%
1/10	Maryland	90	83%
1/14	@Penn St	96	67%
1/17	@Ohio St	36	40%
1/20	Purdue	5	36%
1/24	Northwestern	56	72%
1/28	@Oregon	83	62%
1/31	Indiana	24	57%
2/3	Rutgers	128	90%
2/7	Washington	59	73%
2/14	@Michigan	1	10%
2/17	@Michigan St	11	21%
2/21	Illinois	17	47%
2/24	USC	28	58%
2/28	@Minnesota	108	70%
3/3	Nebraska	48	69%
3/7	@USC	28	36%