UCLA will face Rutgers and Washington at home over the next two games before they hit the toughest part of their schedule. They head to Michigan to face one of the best teams in the country in the No. 3 Wolverines. A team that has Aday Mara, the former Bruin has had a standout season being the defensive anchor of the team. Michigan is 20-1 on the season and currently the favorites to win the Big Ten after beating Michigan State. UCLA will have their hands full in this one.
Aday Mara maximizes his length defensively, with quick reactions and excellent instincts. Having a guy at 7’3” with these traits defensively will be valuable it’s really all on certain parts of his offensive game maturing. pic.twitter.com/tpL2WQgYrR
— Josh M (@JknowsBBall) January 24, 2026
UCLA has a signature win against a top 5 team this season. They upset No. 4 Purdue recently and play good basketball against ranked teams. They were one Jaden Bradley stretched away from beating Arizona earlier this season. Now Arizona is currently 22-0 on the season. The Bruins will face Michigan in this game kicking off a three-game stretch that could make her break their March hopes. After this game they will face No. 7 Michigan State and No. 9 Illinois. Not to mention No. 5 Nebraska shortly after.
Depending on how that stretch goes, UCLA could catapult themselves or drop into bubble talks. Which could lead to them missing March Madness. At 15-7 on the season. Both Rutgers and Washington before this game become must wins. That would put them at 17-7 on the season. Not great, but an ideal position to get a good seed in the Big Ten tournament then needing to go as far as they can to help their March push.
“We couldn’t score for a long time, that’s how we got down 10 – missing wide-open shot after wide-open shot.”
— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) February 1, 2026
Coach Cronin, speaking to reporters after UCLA’s double OT loss pic.twitter.com/nXu2SRtozm
Michigan is a very good team at home and very deep and balanced. They have five players that average and double digits and seven players overall that average at least eight points per game. They're also one of the best rebounding teams in the nation at 41.7 per game. This will be a very tough matchup for the Bruins. But one that is needed to see where this team is at 25 games into the season.