Santa comes early for UCLA

Dan Guerrero must be an incredibly charismatic and influential
man.

The UCLA athletic director was a member of the NCAA selection
committee that handed the UCLA Bruins a dream bracket Sunday.

UCLA and its fans could not have asked for anything better than
the gift they received in the form of the No. 2 seed in the Oakland
Region.

After playing the requisite low-major automatic qualifier (that
daunting task falls to the mighty Belmont Bruins who have never
before made an NCAA Tournament appearance), UCLA drew perhaps the
most beatable bracket of the four regions.

When the pairings were announced Sunday, the players and
coaching staff must have been salivating at what looks like a very
real chance to make a run to the Elite Eight and perhaps the Final
Four.

If UCLA can get past a tricky Marquette team (and I think they
will) they would face over-hyped and overrated Gonzaga.

I say, bring it on.

This was the one team I was praying UCLA would draw.

Of all the top teams in the country, UCLA just might match up
best with the Zags. Aside from Adam Morrison, the Zags’
biggest threat is center J.P. Batista.

The Bruins were able to limit Leon Powe last Saturday, so I
would expect the Bruins to be able to do the same to Batista.

Ben Howland’s rough and tumble defensive style should be
able to shut down the rest of Gonzaga’s offensive threats and
allow UCLA to grind out a win and show the country who truly is
best in the West.

UCLA also drew the lowest No. 1 seed in Memphis, which handed
the UCLA Bruins their first loss way back in November. The
difference now is that UCLA has been battle-tested, running through
the Pac-10 gamut while giving valuable experience to their five
freshmen. This team has grown up since then, and has the ability to
beat Memphis or any other team in the Oakland region.

Also playing into UCLA’s favor is that their bracket
appears to be weaker overall than the Minneapolis, Atlanta and
Washington D.C. regions. Any upsets would just give UCLA an easier
road toward the Final Four.

The best part of all of this is that UCLA would not have to
travel out of California unless they reach the Final Four in
Indianapolis. After taking a short two-hour bus ride to San Diego
for the first two rounds, UCLA would travel to Oakland for the next
two rounds. The advantage of limited travel and fan support cannot
be understated when having quick turnarounds between games.

In this same space two weeks ago I questioned whether or not
these Bruins could improve enough to make it to the second weekend
of the NCAA Tournament and play hard for a full 40 minutes.

These last two weeks have proven to me, and obviously to the
NCAA selection committee, that the UCLA Bruins have answered my
questions.

UCLA is clearly peaking at the right time of the season,
entering the tournament on a roll having won seven games in a row
by an average margin of almost 17 points. UCLA held each of their
opponents to 60 points or less during the winning streak.

And the best part of this recent hot streak is that the NCAA
actually rewarded UCLA and showed the Pac-10 some respect with a
No. 2 seed.

Combine the way the UCLA Bruins are playing with the perfect
draw they received on Sunday and incredibly a Final Four run
isn’t out of the question.

The best part of it all might be that this run wasn’t
supposed to happen until next year, but for UCLA fans this season
has been like Christmas come early.

And with a little luck, I’ll see you all in Indy.

E-mail Lee at jlee3@media.ucla.edu if booking a ticket to
Indianapolis is one of your top priorities right now.

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