NCAA Tournament: Ranking the unlikeliest Final Four runs since 2000
By Joey Loose
6. 2021 UCLA (11-seed)
Let’s paint the full picture at UCLA back before this Tournament run. Steve Alford had been fired two seasons earlier and the nationwide search to replace him was a disaster, eventually settling on Cincinnati head coach Mick Cronin. Living in the shadow of John Wooden, it wasn’t enough to win games or conference titles with the Bruins, you had to have significant postseason success, and UCLA certainly found their way to that in Cronin’s second campaign.
The Bruins started their season with a 15-point loss at San Diego State and needed triple overtime to beat Pepperdine, but things got going after that. The Bruins won their first 8 games in conference play and looked like a certain contender in the Pac-12. Unfortunately, UCLA lost their final four games of the regular season, including against Oregon State in the Pac-12 Tournament. A trio of sophomores in Tyger Campbell, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Johnny Juzang had led the Bruins to this point, but they had to settle for a trip to the First Four.
Considered by many the underdog in Dayton, the Bruins took care of fellow 11-seed Michigan State in overtime and then got into the real work. They dispatched of 6-seed BYU in the first round and took out 14-seed Abilene Christian in round two, avoiding a Texas squad that had just gotten upset. What makes this run impressive is what UCLA did next: they ended the seasons of 2-seed Alabama, holding on for an overtime win, and won their Elite Eight matchup with 1-seed Michigan in a tight defensive affair. It took five wins, but the Bruins got to the Final Four, becoming the second team to go from the First Four to the Final Four.
The Bruins showed earlier in the season that they were a strong team, but the Big Dance is where they really shined and showed that capability. Their overtime loss to Gonzaga in the Final Four remains one of the sport’s greatest games of all time and remains a painful ending to a remarkable season and impressive run. Cronin got UCLA back to the Final Four in his second season. Despite this program having the most national championships in the sport, it’s hard not to consider this run Cinderella-esque in nature; it was certainly wildly unexpected with how this team finished the regular season.