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NCAA Basketball: UCLA’s rise, overrated Texas Tech, and more takeaways

By Brian Rauf

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 27: Tyger Campbell #10, David Singleton #34, Jake Kyman #13 and Jaime Jaquez Jr. #4 of the UCLA Bruins while playing the Arizona State Sun Devilsof the UCLA Bruins NS at Pauley Pavilion on February 27, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 27: Tyger Campbell #10, David Singleton #34, Jake Kyman #13 and Jaime Jaquez Jr. #4 of the UCLA Bruins while playing the Arizona State Sun Devilsof the UCLA Bruins NS at Pauley Pavilion on February 27, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 29: Jaime Jaquez Jr. #4 of the UCLA Bruins (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

Here are the biggest takeaways from the past week in NCAA basketball including UCLA’s rise, Texas Tech’s struggles, and much more.

It’s officially March now but, given the way things have gone this week in the NCAA basketball world, March may have gotten a head start on us.

Upsets were all the rage once again, particularly on Saturday where Baylor fell to TCU, Florida State lost to Clemson, and Villanova lost to Providence. It was another bad week for Duke, too, who lost to Wake Forest on Wednesday and Virginia on Saturday.

All the surprising results are causing major shakeups in NCAA Tournament projections, but perhaps nothing is as relevant right now as the turnaround UCLA has made. This week’s Rauf Report, highlighting my top takeaways from the past week in NCAA basketball, starts with the Bruins and the job Mick Cronin has done.

1) UCLA’s surprising rise

2019 was a rough year for UCLA.

They entered the calendar year without a permanent head coach (Steve Alford was fired after a loss to Liberty right before the new year), had a long coaching search in which nearly all their top targets rejected them before landing on Mick Cronin, and were 7-6 at the end of non-conference play this season with losses to Hofstra and Cal St. Fullerton.

2020 didn’t get off to a much better start as the Bruins went 1-3 in Pac-12 play to drop to 8-9 overall, causing many to write this off as a long rebuilding process for Cronin.

Since then, however, the Bruins have won 11 of their last 13 games including seven in a row to claim first place in the Pac-12. They swept Arizona and Colorado with their only losses coming on the road against Oregon and Arizona State. UCLA got revenge on the Sun Devils, too, by taking first place away from them thanks to this shot Thursday night.

Now, instead of a rebuild, UCLA looks to be headed to the NCAA Tournament as one of the hottest teams in the country. A win at USC next weekend could solidify their place and, right now, I wouldn’t bet against this group.

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