UCLA was bullied in their matchup against Michigan as they lost 86-56 and moved to 17-8 on the season. Putting them in a tough position needing to win games down the stretch and not put their fate in the hands of others. Now they have two tough matchups against Michigan State and Illinois. They will need to at least split those matchups to get to 18-9 on the season. If they drop both of those contests they will sit at 17-10 and on the outside looking in.
FINAL: Michigan 86, UCLA 56#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/yXjfPLPJCv
— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) February 14, 2026
UCLA will then not control their fate anymore. As they will still have Nebraska on their schedule as a tough opponent. Considering the way, USC is playing, winning both of those matchups is not guaranteed as well. Which could make the Bruins getting to 20 wins a tough task. That’s why these next two games are very important. What team will show up, and can they get a win or two?
We can sit here and play the what if game all day. What if they didn’t lose the Indiana and Cal matchups? But that is over with and cannot be corrected. They sit at 17-8 and will need to dig deep to try and punch their ticket to the tournament. 21 wins would get you in, 20 most likely would. If you sit at 19-12 that most likely is getting an NIT bid unless you miraculously win the Big Ten tournament. But as a lower seed, that is just too tall of a task to ask.
There's a very real chance UCLA doesn't make the NCAA Tournament
— Jason Scheer (@jasonscheer) February 14, 2026
UCLA is talented enough to play March basketball. They have lost some games this season that they should not have lost. They also had the Arizona game won before Jaden Bradley went clutch and won the game by himself. Now here we are staring down Michigan State and Illinois with their NCAA tournament lives on the line. They will be underdogs in both games and will need to claw their way to at least a 1-1 record at worst.