The remarkable road to the 2021 Final Four for UCLA Basketball

Back in November when UCLA Basketball began its season with a road defeat to San Diego State, the future did not look as bright as it did a week ago. In that loss, they were defeated by 13 points and were only scored 58 points. However, fast forward to today and you realize that UCLA will not be defined by how they began but how they will finish the season.

The Bruins’ start to their season was not all that bad when you look at the bigger picture. UCLA after falling to the Aztecs won five straight games including victories over well-known programs like California and Marquette. The Bruins only other non-conference loss would occur on a neutral court in which UCLA lost to Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic.  However, the Bruins made it their mission to begin Pac-12 play on a good note with their ability to win games in conference play.

UCLA prior to their non-conference play ending, the Bruins had one victory in conference play with a win over California. If you go back to the time from Dec. 31 through Jan. 21 and had watched UCLA play, you may not be surprised by their success in the NCAA tournament. In Pac-12 play during that time span, the Bruins went 8-0 and played very well especially in the 2nd half of play.

During those eight games, UCLA beat both Arizona and Arizona State on the road, defeat both Washington and Washington State, and their best victory during this eight-game winning streak came against Colorado. Then like any other team not named Gonzaga, the Bruins had some ups and downs.

UCLA’s eight-game winning streak came to an end with an overtime road defeat to Stanford in which they almost defeated the Cardinals but lost the game by only one point. Even though at the time it didn’t look like an impressive win but the Bruins won their next game with a great defensive win over Oregon State who like UCLA, would make it to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament. Then the Bruins would have some struggles but with adversity comes experience and lessons to be learned that would later help them persevere in the NCAA tournament.

UCLA had a brief stretch of defeats when they lost on the road to their rival UCS by 18 points but the Trojans in the NCAA tournament advanced to the Elite Eight and lost to Gonzaga so the loss in retrospect doesn’t seem that bad. The only bad loss of the season was on the road to Washington State who would end up finishing third from the last place in the Pac-12 conference.

However, Houston who is in the Final Four of the NCAA tournament lost to East Carolina who finished in the last place in the AAC so one bad loss does not define a team. However, the Bruin would be victorious in their next four games which placed them in first place in the Pac-12.

The end of the season did not go as planned for UCLA who lost their last four games of Pac-12 play but they were defeated by teams that in the NCAA tournament, one went to the round of 32, another went to the Sweet Sixteen, and the other two teams went to the Elite Eight. There is not much arguing that the Pac-12 prepared the Bruins to be successful in the NCAA tournament this year.

With the exception of UCLA’s former basketball legend and current ESPN commentator Bill Walton’s Final Four prediction of UCLA going to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament, no other college basketball analysts or sports commentators predicted UCLA to advance this far in the tournament, let alone predicting that they would make the Final Four. It is almost certain now that UCLA proved that they were unfairly seeded as a No. 11 seed playing in one of the first four games of the NCAA tournament.

However, what makes the NCAA tournament so special is its unpredictability and the various upsets that occur in the tournament. Let’s now take a look at the path that the Bruins took in the NCAA tournament to advance to the Final Four.