Talk about sad. While UCLA finished with a disappointing season, as a conference, things are even worse. The conference champions, having lost to the lowly Oregon State are most likely not going to make the Big Dance. Let that sink in for a moment. They were probably on the bubble before the tournament, but this loss will probably push them into the NIT instead.
When was the last time a Power 6 conference regular season champion didn’t make the big dance?
1986- (When Texas Tech won the league tournament instead of the regular conference champions) I’m starting to actually feel bad for the Huskies now. Even the refs are bad in this conference- we’re calling an average of 20 more fouls a game than the Big East.
The story of the Pac-12 this season can be summarized thusly- 6 mediocre teams (the top half), 5 bad teams, and one D2 team. (No prizes awarded for guessing the D2 team.)
Oh well. If the UCLA basketball team gets a NIT bid, I’ll be happy. I’ve heard some nonsense about UCLA fans talking about rejecting a NIT bid, but that’s just crazy. Any chance to give our players more experience on the court is a good thing.
For those of you talking about how John Wooden would be rolling in the grave right now, you’re right- but for different reasons. You guys should really check out his pyramid sometime, there’s a reason loyalty and enthusiasm are the foundation of the pyramid. And there’s a reason why faith and patience are on the top. Our basketball team clearly needs to improve, and even if we embarrass ourselves at the NIT, it would be a good learning experience.
I guess any large brand such as UCLA will have its fair share of fair weather fans, it’s just sad to see them come out of the woodwork whenever our team does poorly.
SO WHILE OUR TEAM IS DECIDEDLY MEDIOCRE, OUR SEASON MIGHT NOT BE OVER YET. CHEER THEM ON IN THE NIT, IF THEY RECEIVE A BID.
GO Bruins!