Coach Ben Howland usually has one very important rule: Focus on your next opponent and never look ahead.
On Monday afternoon, however, Howland made an exception.
Howland took the moment to look ahead to the last four games of the Pac-10 season and stress the importance of receiving a favorable seed for the NCAA Tournament.
The reason is that the No. 4 Bruins, who hold a one-game lead over Washington State for first place in the Pac-10 standings, are currently on the inside track to receive the No. 1 seed in the West. A No. 1 seed would allow them to spend the first four rounds of the NCAA Tournament in California.
“Would I rather play in Sacramento and San Jose rather than going farther away? Absolutely,” Howland said. “It’s better for our fans; it’s better for our team; it’s better for the parents of the players to not have to travel across the country.”
If the Bruins receive the No. 1 seed in the West, they will play in Sacramento and San Jose before advancing to the Final Four.
Considering the Bruins’ success in the NCAA Tournament last year in California, where they advanced out of the San Diego and Oakland regionals, and their subpar road record (5-3) this season, it would be a decided advantage for the Bruins to remain close to home.
“Just look at our record,” junior guard Arron Afflalo said. “We’re undefeated at home, on neutral sites we’re undefeated, and on the road we’re just above 50 percent. We’re just a much better team when you have your support system nearby.”
In order for the Bruins to receive the No. 1 seed and have a chance at the No. 1 overall seed, UCLA likely will have to win three out of their last four Pac-10 games and have a decent showing in the Pac-10 Tournament.
Getting the No. 1 overall seed would allow the Bruins to play the No. 64 overall seed in the first round, the No. 32 overall seed in the second round, and so on.
“This is the most important time, when our focus must be at our highest, our intensity and our practice habits,” Afflalo said. “We must do everything to the fullest of our potential to ensure we go as far as possible once again this year.”
The Bruins know that the NCAA Tournament selection committee usually focuses on a team’s success in its last 10 games of the season, especially on its performance in the conference tournament.
Last season, for example, the Bruins were able to parlay four consecutive Pac-10 wins and a Pac-10 Tournament championship into a No. 2 seed, which gave them home-court advantage through the first four rounds of the tournament.
Howland, however, knows that receiving a top seed does not guarantee any team a direct route to the Final Four.
“I’m not sure if sometimes you’re not better off being a lower seed, where you have the chance to play the 12 (seed) rather than the 8-9 (winner) because those 5-12 games seem to go the 12 way so often,” Howland said.
“At the end of the day, you have to show up at the NCAA Tournament and win. Every game is difficult ““ the first round all the way through.”
Most important for the Bruins right now is making sure they don’t have slip-ups against the sub-par teams left on their schedule ““ Washington, Cal and Stanford ““ and things will play out in the Pac-10 Tournament and beyond.