In theory, the Pac-10 conference is built with regional rivalries in mind. There are the two L.A. schools, the two Bay Area schools, the Oregon schools, the Washington schools, and the Arizona schools. Five sets of two and the rivalries follow.
College basketball has worked a little differently.
Ever since Lute Olson arrived on the scene in Arizona in the 1980s, Arizona has become a rival of UCLA for Pac-10 supremacy.
At least until two years ago.
Since coach Ben Howland finally accumulated the talent necessary to play his defense-oriented brand of basketball at UCLA, the Bruins have increasingly pulled away from the rest of the Pac-10. They have won the conference the last two years and lost only seven total conference games in that time.
It has been a string of dominance for the Bruins, and they lead the Pac-10 as of this moment by a full game over Washington State.
As UCLA’s star has risen, their long-time Pac-10 nemesis ““ Arizona ““ has fallen off.
The Wildcats, in the last three years, have been exposed as a soft, offensive-minded team.
While never a defense-oriented program, players such as Chase Budinger, who cannot move well enough laterally to be a good defender but can shoot very well, have left the Arizona program well-off on offense, but bereft of the kind of success that was had in the late ’90s.
The Wildcats have not seriously contended for the conference championship since Howland won his first, and with the changing of the guard in Arizona as Olson prepares for his inevitable retirement with Kevin O’Neill taking his place, it leaves UCLA in the position of being essentially rival-less.
“It’s a tough one,” guard Josh Shipp said. “(Arizona’s) definitely a great program. But a lot of the other schools are coming up too, so it’s not like Arizona is our toughest game. It’s not like we’re looking forward to that game more than any other games. Everybody’s good now, and every game’s a battle now.”
But it wasn’t always that way.
No matter how good the other teams in the Pac-10 were, this annual matchup between UCLA and Arizona was the game that both teams looked forward to. More than USC, Arizona was the Pac-10 school UCLA measured itself against, and vice versa.
Now, the Bruins are essentially in a position where the matchup against Arizona State on Thursday holds equal importance with the matchup against Arizona on Saturday.
Part of that is just the nature of being at the top. Being the nearly unanimous pick to win the Pac-10 by the conference media at the beginning of the year, the Bruins are in a position where they aren’t just focusing on their nearest contender for the conference title ““ they’re also trying to build up a profile in conference that will make it easier to get a high seed in the NCAA Tournament. That means the Bruins have to take every game seriously.
“Every team in this conference is good,” point guard Darren Collison said. “Oregon State, they played with us in the first half. Not to say that we didn’t play well, that’s a good team that just hasn’t won a game yet in-conference. You never know what to expect.”
So now, talking about the Arizona schools this weekend, the UCLA players speak in platitudes about how every game is important, and how they have to take every game one at a time.
Bear in mind, UCLA last lost to Arizona in Howland’s second season, when Shipp was a freshman.
Now the redshirt junior equates the Wildcats with the rest of the Pac-10.
“I think everybody (is our rival) really,” Shipp said. “Everybody’s improving. The Pac-10’s the best league, and every week is a battle in this league.
“It’s fun to play here.”