The UCLA Basketball team captured their first conference road sweep in the Steve Alford era over the weekend which is another big step in making this team elite again.
Something happened to the UCLA Basketball team over the weekend which has not happened since Ben Howland ran the program. The Bruins got a road sweep. Hallelujah!
This is a big step in elevating the status of this program and making them a national powerhouse again.
On Saturday, UCLA completed what has only occurred three times since Utah and Colorado joined the Pac-12 conference, which is sweeping the mountain schools.
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This was not an easy trip for the Bruins but they came away with two huge road victories and are standing tall at the top of the Pac-12 standings, just behind Arizona and Oregon.
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Currently, UCLA is 18-1, 5-1 on the season. This is great for the direction of the program, but the Bruins still have a lot to prove. Especially with 12 regular season games remaining.
The Bruins are on a roll and that should not be taken for granted. What this team is doing this season is impressive and could land them not only a conference title, but a deep run in the NCAA tournament. That is a nice projection, but nothing of significance has happened yet.
UCLA still needs to prove that they can end the season strong. Last season, the Bruins seemed to run out of gas late in the year, ending up 10th in the conference and costing them a trip to the big dance. That should result differently at the end of this season.
Currently, a few college basketball pundits are projecting the Bruins to be a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. That is all well and good, but that is solely based on if they can continue to succeed and possibly win a conference championship.
There is no doubt that it feels good to give UCLA proper congratulations for their success this season, but it may be a little premature to crown them champions of anything with only an 18–1 record.
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Steve Alford has had coaching issues in the past and this season he has made it a point to change his style, so the outlook is very promising that UCLA can in fact end on a strong note. But that is yet to be seen.