Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

After reading N’s post about the home and home series with Kansas in ’09-’10, I remembered a post by M from a while back about football rivalries that aren’t, but should be. This got me wondering, what basketball rivalries are out there that aren’t but should be? I’m going to take it a little farther than that and not only limit it to rivalries, but home and home series as well. Here’s how M set the table for his post.

Nevertheless, just for fun, I wonder what rivalries make the "most sense," if all these factors disappeared and we had it to do it all over again.  What if we just looked at the universities, their students and their recent pasts, and spun a new set of traditions out of whole cloth?  What are the "natural" rivalries?  Or, in other words, what rivalries that aren't, but should be?  

So we’ll change it up a bit and explore what basketball rivalries/games aren’t, but should be. They can be ones you’d like to see UCLA take part in or ones between any two teams in the country. Here are 5 I’d like to see UCLA participate in, in no particular order.

1. UCLA vs. Notre Dame- The two programs have played recently and will play again this year at Pauley (which should be a fun match-up of two top 10 teams), but this needs to be taken a step farther and made an annual game. There’s too much history between these two programs, from record streaks ending in upsets to epic games on the way to titles for it not to be played every year. This would also match two of the country’s top academic institutions where excellence is expected in the classroom and on the court.

2. UCLA vs. North Carolina- In the past three seasons the two programs have been among the nation’s elite. Not only could the two schools battle in the Final Four in the near future, but they’re already battling for recruits (Kevin Love, Alex Stephenson, Larry Drew). The history between the two programs would be tough to match as well with 82 NCAA tournament appearances, 35 Final Fours and 15 national titles between the two. Then just to make it better, the games would be played at the Dean Smith Center and on John and Nell Wooden Court.

3. UCLA vs. Gonzaga- The established national power that rules the west coast versus the little guys who have taken the college basketball world by storm in the past decade. Gonzaga’s ascent in the college basketball world has been nothing short of extraordinary and despite playing in the lowly WCC the Zags have made a name for themselves by finding their way into the top 25 on a regular basis. We saw this match-up only three seasons ago in the NCAA tournament when UCLA’s 17 point comeback sent the Bruins to the Elite 8 and eventually the National Championship game. Ever since that night, I’ve wanted to see the two programs square off again.

4. UCLA vs. Georgetown- The best team in the northeast plays the best team in the southwest. Both teams like to pound and bang, making this one of the more physical and entertaining match-ups you could get. People say that Ben Howland brought a Big East mentality out west so how about we take the Big East mentality to the Big East and show them how toughness and defense is really done. And again, two of the nation’s better academic institutions.

5. UCLA vs. Purdue- I don’t want to see this game just to play Purdue. I want to see this game as a season opener when the newly renovated Pauley Pavilion opens. The beautiful new area opens, John and Nell Wooden Court is rededicated and the team Coach led to 10 national titles plays the team Coach played his collegiate ball for. I can’t think of a better team to reopen Pauley Pavilion against.

Also there are three games I’d like to see that don’t include UCLA. More after the jump ...

Here are three games I’d like to see that don’t include UCLA, again in no particular order.

 1. Duke vs. Stanford- I want to see these two teams square off in a home and home, partly because as M said in his post, they’re great academic institutions and partly because that would mean Duke played a true road game. Duke has played a grand total of three true non-conference road games since January 21, 2006 and in none of those did they strain themselves. Two of those games were against Temple and one was against St. Johns. On top of that, Duke hasn’t played a true road game any farther west than Indiana this millennium. So Blue Devils, pack those bags, head west and take on the Cardinal at Maples Pavilion.  

2. Oklahoma St. vs. Illinois- The bright orange everywhere would be a sight to see, plus its Cowboys vs. Indians all over again.

3. Xavier vs. Memphis- Two programs from lesser conferences that essentially coast from January through mid-March. Memphis has moved to the upper echelon of the college basketball world of late and Xavier is on its way there with talented Sean Miller at the helm. I’d love to see Xavier get a top team to play them at the Cintas Center. When they did last season they knocked off Tennessee so let’s see if the state’s other top team can handle the Musketeers.

So what do you think? Whether rivalries or just home and home series, what teams do you want to see take the same floor?