The UCLA Bruins are in the midst of a three-game losing streak. Is there still time to turn things around?
The season for UCLA 13-7 (4-4) has taken several sharp turns in both a positive and a negative direction. After starting the season 7-1, the Bruins lost back-to-back games to Cincinnati and Michigan and fell out of the spotlight.
But they managed to win four in a row, including a neutral site win over No. 7 Kentucky. Then they started out 2-0 in PAC-12 play by beating both schools from the state of Washington. Things were looking up, and the Bruins were on track to safely make the NCAA tournament.
However, once again the tide turned, with Steve Alford’s team losing the past three games, all to teams not slated to make the Big Dance. The PAC-12 as a conference has been down from top to bottom, so the overall metrics will have an effect on teams when it comes to March.
It’s already had an impact on the Bruins. Busting Brackets has a weekly Bracketology, and last week UCLA was barely in the tournament. However, after a couple of losses, the team is now the eighth team out and is in jeopardy of becoming an afterthought altogether.
The core of the problems could be squared back to outside of the country, where a shoplifting incident caused three likely rotation players to not be a part of this season’s team. It certainly has had an impact, but there’s also enough talent remaining to be a tournament team.
So what exactly is going on and is there anything that can be done to save this season?