In the rafters hang the banners, and the banners are many.
Hanging from the ceiling of Pauley Pavilion are national championship banners for men’s volleyball, women’s volleyball, softball and so on, down the line of successful UCLA sports.
But the most prominent are the 11 individual banners for each of the 11 men’s basketball titles.
The last one came in 1995 ““ the only one raised after the John Wooden years ““ and it hangs on the south end of the arena, lonelier with each passing year. Next to it is the 1964 banner, the first men’s basketball title won by Wooden.
What this season is about, and what the past two seasons have fallen short of, is filling the space between.
When UCLA had its media day last season following its first loss under coach Ben Howland in the Final Four, Howland’s eyes kept flicking up to that spot, consciously or unconsciously, while speaking with the media.
He spoke about losing the year before and how they wanted to hang another banner, all the while focusing his on the spot where that banner would have gone.
Two years have gone by with Howland bringing his team to the Final Four only to be bounced by Florida. Two years ago it was in the championship game. Last year it was in a national semifinal.
Both times, puzzle pieces were missing. In 2006, there was little offensive punch from anyone outside of Arron Afflalo and Jordan Farmar. Last year, the Bruins simply did not have the depth at forward to challenge the big men of Florida.
This year, there is no discernible piece missing.
UCLA has a highly skilled center in freshman Kevin Love, a good 3-point shooter in junior guard Darren Collison, and enough slashing ability from sophomore guard Russell Westbrook and junior swingman Josh Shipp to break down most zones. On defense, the quickness of Collison and Westbrook and the versatility of junior forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute make this another in a line of good defensive teams for UCLA.
A top-four team: a fine team for a last hurrah.
This mini-dynasty that Howland has formed has carried the Bruins to two consecutive Final Fours, and this year UCLA is being picked by many to win it all or at the very least make it to another Final Four.
But with Collison and Love expected to depart for the NBA following this season, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Josh Shipp expected to at least test the draft waters, and Russell Westbrook’s NBA Draft stock rising with each acrobatic dunk, this could be the last, best chance for the foreseeable future for Howland’s team to win it all.
Next year’s team could be long on guard talent but short on experience and short in height as well. Though the Bruins have the No. 1 incoming recruiting class, they will likely lose Love, the man who has made UCLA into such a complete team. Senior center Lorenzo Mata-Real will also be graduating, meaning the depth in the frontcourt will be a serious question. The Bruins will almost assuredly not be favorites to win a national championship next season.
Drilled in the mantra "one game at a time," none of the UCLA players could be persuaded to look that far ahead.
"We definitely don’t think like that," Shipp said. "We’re trying to take it one game a time. That’s all we think about right now."
But regardless of the players’ steadfast refusal to acknowledge that they may be leaving following this season, most were inclined to say that the season would be a disappointment if they did not take down nets in San Antonio.
"No, I don’t think this season (would be a success)," Mbah a Moute said. "At UCLA, I mean, if you go over to the gym and look up, it’s all national championship banners. They don’t care what you do in the Pac-10 or Pac-10 tournament. It’s all based on what you do in the (NCAA) Tournament.
"We’ve been to the Final Four the last two years, but to me, to us, to everybody here at UCLA, it seems like we haven’t done anything still."
This is a more complete team than any Howland has coached, and even he is willing to say that this is the best team he has had in his five years at UCLA.
The Bruins have received a No. 1 seed for the first time under Howland. Most analysts agree UCLA has a relatively easy bracket on the way to the Final Four. The stars, essentially, have aligned.
There is no real dominant team in the tournament field, as Florida was last year. UCLA probably has as much claim to calling itself the best team in the nation as any of the other No. 1 seeds ““ North Carolina, Memphis and Kansas. They have an experienced roster in which every player, outside of Love and little-used forward Chace Stanback, has gone to at least one Final Four.
"If we got to the Final Four again and didn’t win it all, then it would be a letdown just because we’ve been the last two years," Love said. "We’ve got a long road ahead of us. I want a national championship."
Expectations in Westwood are now higher than they have been at any time in the past five years, not only because of the quality of this year’s team, but also because of the success of the teams from the previous two years. Given that those less-talented teams made it as far as they did, expectations are that this team should be the one to finally climb the mountain and raise another banner.
Howland doesn’t shy away from those expectations; he welcomes them as a necessary component of coaching at a school with as much historical success as UCLA.
"I think this program is unique in that the level of expectation is always there, regardless of what year it is," Howland said. "I don’t find a difference (between this year and any other)."
But, of course, there is a difference. This year the Bruins are a favorite, and they are expected to get to the Final Four. It will, as most of the UCLA players have acknowledged, be a disappointment if they don’t win it all.
All year long it’s been a season of expectations. Now the NCAA Tournament, where one loss sends you home, makes it a season of last chances.
So now three weekends of Madness potentially await the Bruins, the fans and those who have yearned and wished for a title the last 13 years. With six games to go, UCLA will try to finish off what it’s been building toward the past three years:
A championship and a 12th blue and gold banner to join the 11 waiting in Pauley Pavilion.