Ten straight wins and a runaway Pac-12 regular season championship have put UCLA No. 1 in NCAA Tournament predicted results.
It may not be enough to keep the Bruins there.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardione of the top bracket experts in the country told the Los Angeles Times on Monday that UCLA needs to win the Pac-12 tournament to get a no. 1 seed on Selection Sunday.
According to Lunardi, the Bruins chase Purdue, Texas and Baylor for the final No. 1 behind Houston, Kansas and Alabama. Bracket Matrix, which tracks projected bracket results, has been ranked #1 by UCLA since Monday. 1 seed in 35 of 85 brackets shown.
Lunardi said he propelled UCLA to a No. 1 spot in the Western Region in his final group due to their cumulative performance and strong regular season finish, combined with Purdue’s loss in four of its last eight games.
UCLA also rose to No. 2 in Monday’s Associated Press poll, just behind Houston. This is the highest finish for the Bruins (27-4) this late in a season since they were ranked No. 1 on March 17, 2008. 2 in the coach poll.
But the Bruins could lose to a No. 1 seed if they stumble in the Pac-12 tournament and the other challengers outperform in their respective conference tournaments.
“If Texas or Baylor win the Big 12 tournament,” Lunardi said, “they’ll have an equal or better resume to follow them.”
Lunardi said it is impossible for any team to win the Big 12 tournament without racking up three Quad 1 wins, competing against top teams and highly valued by the selection committee.
There is also a chance that UCLA will be shipped west if they don’t get a number 1 if four Big 12 teams secure either number 1 or number 2. In this scenario, with Kansas taking over the No. 1 Midwest, a No. 2 Big 12 would be sent west since playoffs are designed to win top teams from the same conference from the same region
Is there a scenario where UCLA gets a no? 1 seeds and not in the west? Why yes. Lunardi said that if UCLA finishes fourth and Houston finishes third, the Cougars could end up in Las Vegas because it is geographically closer than New York.
Lunardi said he hopes common sense in the selection committee will prevail over the parenthesis principles in this scenario.
“I think someone in the room should say, 100 extra miles for Houston doesn’t matter if they’ve already done 1,500 miles, so why bother two teams?” said Lunardi. “But I lost logical arguments before doing this job.”
The possible absence of UCLA guard Jaylen Clark this week due to an unspecified injury she sustained against Arizona could affect the Bruins’ seeding…or not.
“If they win the Pac-12 tournament without him, it won’t hurt them at all,” Lunardi said of the Bruins, who trailed by two points after Clark left early in the second half last weekend. The committee “will consider whether UCLA is still like UCLA.”
Source: LA Times