To UCLA fans, beating USC is always important.
For the Bruin men’s basketball team, beating the Trojans tonight is absolutely critical.
There aren’t any Lexus Gauntlet points on the line anymore, there is no bonfire, and the campout line outside Pauley Pavilion has shriveled.
But number-crunching coach Ben Howland knows it: His team has got to get a win.
“(Tonight is) a must-win because we really need it bad for this year’s team, the team right now,” Howland said.
These Bruins have to beat USC because they are currently hibernating on the NCAA Tournament bubble, and tonight is one of those toss-up games ““ a win could get them into the tournament, another loss could keep them out.
Of course, losing to USC again would extend the Bruins’ losing streak to the Trojans to five.
UCLA hasn’t dropped five straight to USC since before the John Wooden era.
But perhaps even more important, it would mean a second loss to a non-Tournament team, which USC is projected to be, and that won’t look good to the NCAA selection committee.
The Bruins stand at 14-7 overall and 6-3 in the Pac-10 with 10 games to play.
UCLA is also solidly in third place in a power conference that is currently looking rather weak. The Pac-10 has only two teams currently ranked in the top 25: No. 20 Washington and No. 21 Arizona.
The Bruins find themselves tucked neatly and distantly behind those two teams. They lost to both the Wildcats and the Huskies by a comfortable 11-point margin after playing the teams tough early.
With the exception of their loss to USC at the Galen Center, the Bruins took care of business, winning every other conference game against lesser teams.
If they go 7-3 in their next 10 games, as they did in their last 10, that would put the Bruins at 21-10 overall with still the Pac-10 tournament to play.
Conventional wisdom says, “Twenty wins, and you’re in.”
But, of course, it’s not that simple. Take conference foe Arizona State, for example.
The Sun Devils finished the season 22-10 last year and 12-6 in conference ““ good enough for the No. 2 seed in the Pac-10 Tournament.
They, however, did not make the NCAA Tournament.
The selection committee took only two teams from the relatively feeble Pac-10: regular-season champion California and Pac-10 Tournament winner Washington.
There were an array of reasons why Arizona State didn’t make it to the Big Dance that season, and UCLA’s resume will surely look different from ASU’s when it is all said and done.
But in the Sun Devils’ plight, the Bruins at least have a model. It appears it is more important whom you beat rather than where you finish in your league.
Finding wins against highly ranked teams still on UCLA’s schedule will be tough.
UCLA will host Arizona in late February, but the Bruins had a heap of trouble with potential Pac-10 Player of the Year forward Derrick Williams.
UCLA will play Washington in early March, but the Huskies have owned the Bruins at Hec Edmundson Pavilion, their raucous Seattle arena, where they have won six straight in the series since 2005..
If the reputation of the Pac-10 is not going to provide enough opportunities for UCLA to improve its profile, then the Bruins cannot afford to lose to the teams that would further damage their image.
USC is one of those teams, which means tonight could be the difference between watching and playing in the middle of March.
“Right now I’m looking at this as the biggest game,” UCLA point guard Lazeric Jones said. “I’m going to try and stay relaxed and calm about it, but I know what type of game this is.”
It’s not exactly “win or go home,” but UCLA’s tournament run begins tonight.
With reports from Eli Smukler, Bruin Sports senior staff.