UCLA Basketball: The Bruins’ path in the NCAA Tournament is treacherous

The UCLA basketball women’s team has made it to the NCAA Tournament, but they have a very tough path ahead of them. So how far can the Bruins go in the Big Dance?

Head coach Cori Close and her UCLA basketball team are going dancing, but how long can they move to the groove of the NCAA Tournament, especially with a lot of big dance teams in their way?

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The Bruins have been one of the hottest teams in the nation heading into the postseason, mostly because of their efforts in the Pac-12. They had a 7-2 conference road record, they beat five ranked Pac-12 opponents and they have won 11 of their last 14 games.

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These facts should certainly strike fear into the heart of any team, but the Bruins’ path through the Big Dance has more than a few teams that not only have a lot of experience in the tournament but have had to deal with teams getting hot late. This kicks things up a notch for UCLA.

The Bruins may be on fire, especially since they burned a lot of teams in Pac-12, but they now have to figure out how to burn national powerhouses.

Let us start with the first weekend. Though the Bruins had an impressive resume, they are only a 6-seed. This means that they are the second-highest ranked team in their portion of the weekend bracket and will have to travel to Maryland for the first weekend. UCLA will start the dance on Saturday, March 23 at 10 a.m. PT by tangoing with #11 Tennessee and if they stick to their game plan, they should not have a problem with the Volunteers.

Things get a bit more serious in the Round of 32 when the Bruins will potentially take on #3 Maryland (28-4, 15-3) who was first in the Big Ten. The Terrapin women are chockful of talent as they have three All-Big Ten honorees, two Big Ten All-Freshman honorees, a Big Ten All-Defensive honoree and Brenda Frese, the Big Ten Coach of the Year.

UCLA is going to have to give it their all in this game if they want to get the win, but it only gets harder after that. If the Bruins get to the Sweet 16 in the Albany Regional, they will run into an old foe… UCONN.

In the last two seasons, Connecticut (31-2, 16-0) has been a nuisance for UCLA. Last season, they handed the Bruins a 78-60 loss in the non-conference. A few months prior to that in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, the Huskies gave the Bruins their Sweet Sixteen exit by a score of 86-71. Hopefully, the third time is the charm and UCLA can take down the mighty UCONN, but even if they do, it continues to get harder from there.

In the Elite Eight, it is quite possible that the Bruins meet the #1 Louisville. This is a team that went 29-3 this year with a 14-2 ACC conference record, losing only to Miami and Notre Dame (twice), one of the top teams this season.

Now consider that this is only through the Elite Eight. If UCLA makes it to the Final Four, they will most likely have to deal with two more elite teams. Now you know why I used “treacherous” to describe UCLA’s path through the tournament.

So how far can UCLA make it in the Big Dance? Honestly, it will be tough just to make it past the first weekend, but it is doable. What concerns me is the second weekend. Not that I do not have faith in UCLA, but I don’t believe the Bruins will beat UCONN until I see it. Still, UCLA has been playing some of their best basketball, not just of late, but in the past few seasons and that will help them stay afloat in the tourney.

Though the Bruins might not claim a national title, I do expect them to do some damage and leave several of these teams limping. That’s just how this team is built. Go Bruins!