This is where it pays off.
For months now, coach Kathy Olivier has harped on the importance
of playing a tough schedule. And after facing the likes of Texas,
Purdue, Michigan State and Ohio State, Olivier can only hope the
NCAA committee will look favorably upon the Bruins come Selection
Sunday, despite being denied last season with one more win than
this year’s total.
“We have a stronger leg to stand on than last year,”
Olivier said. “Our RPI is stronger and our strength of
schedule is high. Our case is a little stronger this
year.”
According to CollegeRPI.com, UCLA played the 34th toughest
schedule in the nation. Last year, the Bruins had the 85th toughest
schedule. Their RPI rank is 50 this year, as opposed to their rank
of 66 last season.
UCLA will have to hope its high strength of schedule will
overshadow several bad losses ““ namely Saint Mary’s and
Oregon.
However, both losses came before the Bruins suddenly came
together in late January, when UCLA won eight of its last 10
games.
It was the late season run that carried the Bruins out of the
depths of the Pac-10 standings and to their present bubble
status.
Luckily for UCLA (17-12, 11-7 Pac-10), the NCAA selection
committee does consider how teams perform down the stretch to be
important.
“The good news is that they lost to St. Mary’s
early,” said Marie Tuite, the Pac-10 representative for the
NCAA selection committee. “If you look at their other losses,
even though they had 12 losses, there are really no bad
losses.”
Another issue is the state of the Pac-10, where anyone can beat
anyone.
Much talk has recently centered around whether parity is good
for the Pac-10. According to Olivier, it means that the Pac-10 is
stronger than in years past. Whether the selection committee will
feel the same way is still up in the air.
“As we go through this process, we don’t discuss
conferences as much as we address institutions,” said Cheryl
Marra, the chair of the NCAA selection committee.
“When we are looking at the total RPI, the RPI of the
conference is a big factor, but only because it’s who they
face on a week-to-week basis. Conferences don’t matter that
much,” she said.
If selected, UCLA would almost certainly be underdogs, even in
the first round.
Nevertheless, the Bruins’ perimeter-oriented play and
quickness could create matchup problems, and UCLA’s recent
hot streak makes them a team that few opponents would want to deal
with in the first round.
“You would not want to match up with them,” Tuite
said, adding that the Bruins’ talent is the single biggest
factor helping their case.
Throughout the week, the team remained in good spirits,
following its impressive win over Arizona State and its narrow
defeat to eventual-champion Stanford in last weekend’s Pac-10
tournament.
“I’m not nervous,” freshman forward Noelle
Quinn said. “Everyone is optimistic about us being in the
tournament. I think everything is going to be all right. I’m
waiting to see our name on the screen.”
Come Sunday at precisely 2 p.m., with their televisions tuned to
ESPN, 18 UCLA players and coaches will be waiting anxiously for the
announcement of the brackets. That much is certain.
Whether UCLA will be dancing remains to be seen.