The UCLA Bruins dropped their quarterfinal matchup with the Arizona Wildcats on Thursday afternoon at Staples Center in Los Angeles 66-58, ending their slight hopes at a berth in the NCAA Tournament. For a UCLA squad that began the season ranked in the top 20, this was a thoroughly disappointing season from start to finish.
"Sure, preseason rankings are a bit of a crapshoot, but I wonder how many of those projections were off by 50. Now, the Bruins will wait to see if they get an invite to the NIT," wrote gbruin at Bruins Nation. "We will be discussing this season at length in the days ahead. For now, the fact that we are thinking about the NIT says just how big a failure this season was."
As VeniceBruin noted on Bruins Nation, both head coach Ben Howland must go as well as athletic director Dan Guerrero. "I don’t trust Guerrero to hire a better coach if Howland leaves, so in my ideal world Guerrero is gone before Howland leaves. But after years of fighting Howland’s corner, I am now resigned to the fact that Howland cannot remain the coach at UCLA in the long run," wrote VeniceBruin.
To see the whole tournament schedule, click here, and for more analysis from a UCLA perspective; check out Bruins Nation.