-Bumped. GO BRUINS. - BN Eds.

Warning: this post is long overdue and thus contains an amalgam of thoughts that have been gathering for the last few college basketball recruiting cycles, it may be a little scattered.

Earlier this week today, DC an TY posted a nice back-and-forth in which they discussed a few questions/concerns about the forthcoming Bruin basketball season. Amongst their topics of debate was the question "what's different about this top ranked class?" While I think that they made several solid points, I think they missed on one key difference between this class and almost every other recruiting class that college basketball has seen over the last 10-15 years; *we're bringing in two consensus top five talents and that's a very big deal.*

One of my big issues with recruiting rankings and people's perception of those rankings is that people tend to believe that being a top 100 player really means something. Truth is, there are plenty of top 100 players who will never amount to much on the next level, let alone the level after that. Hell, you can say the same about plenty of McDonald's All-Americans. Ray Young anybody. James Keefe anybody. But the more important truth of the matter is that consensus top 4-5 ranked players are close to can't-miss commodities.

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If you can't beat USC, let them beat themselves. That seems to be the plan for UCLA this weekend. The Bruins have struggled to string together hits, to keep Trojans off the bases and even handed them a lifeline late, but with the game tied in the ninth inning, USC handed the Bruins a win. On Saturday, the Trojans issued a bases loaded, four-pitch, walk-off walk as UCLA claimed a 6-5 win on the day, their 18th win in their last 23 against SC and a spot just a half-game behind first place Arizona in the Pac-12.

After a quiet Friday night, the UCLA offense woke up some on Saturday, totaling 11 hits and walking seven times to keep the pressure on USC all afternoon. Cody Keefer led the way with four hits, two runs and a RBI, while Beau Amaral and Trevor Brown each had two hits of their own. Cody Regis was hitless in the contest, but he did walked three times and Jeff Gelalich had a triple and two RBI.

As is his M.O., Nick Vander Tuig was unspectacular, but good enough to keep the Bruins in the ballgame. The sophomore gave up four runs, three earned, on five hits in six innings. Mr. Everyday David Berg tossed an easy 1-2-3 inning and Ryan Deeter got the Bruins through the eighth. Scott Griggs blew the gave by giving up a run in the ninth, but he earned the win when the Bruins came back in the bottom half of the inning to improve to 2-1 on the year.

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Last night went well for UCLA. The offense couldn't quite get going, but the pitching held USC off despite not being at their best, which is what good teams have to do. That said, it's time to get the offense going and get easier innings from the pitchers instead of working out of trouble all game. That's the goal today as the Bruins try to keep their recent dominance of the Trojans going and win another series.

Nick Vander Tuig will start for UCLA and as is always the case when Vander Tuig starts, it's more about keeping the Bruins in the game than dominating. But that's what Vander Tuig does and it's been very effective, as evidenced by his eight wins on the year.

If you won't be out at the ballpark enjoying the sun and hopefully a Bruins win then you can tune in with John Ramey and Tim Wilhelm, who will have the call online. Of course, make sure to check my UCLA baseball twitter for game updates, notes, observations and everything else on the program. This is your open thread as the Bruins try to take the series so fire away.

As Tydides wrote earlier the recent lawsuit filed by Reeves Nelson has generated a lot of passionate and emotional back and forth here on BruinsNation. For those who haven't seen the pleadings yet, here is the complaint with accompanying exhibits (PDF) (HT Classof66). Certainly this is directly tied to something we are all emotionally invested in - the program that was built by Coach John R. Wooden. Remember this program doesn't belong to someone like Ben Howland. As he has said multiple times he is not more than a "caretaker" and he really hasn't done a good job on that in last 4 years.

The more I read about this lawsuit the queasier I get in terms of what it could mean for UCLA basketball. Melvin Avanzado, a good friend of mine, a Bruin blue and gold bleeding alum, who happens to prominent entertainment attorney in LA scribed together his initial impressions on this lawsuit on his Entertainment Litigation Blog. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, head over there now. His entire analysis is a must read. Mel concludes that there is a chance that Nelson may survive the initial motion to dismiss but the outcome of that process could hurtful to UCLA.

Let's get a bit more into it after the jump.

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-Bumped. BN Eds. GO BRUINS.

Yesterday the #8 ranked UCLA Women's Rowing advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Championship in New Jersey. All three boats moved on to the semis, a first for UCLA. The varsity eight placed third in their heat (behind Michigan and $C), the second varsity eight placed second (behind Cal), and the varsity four placed third (behind UVA and UW).

All three boats will race Saturday morning (starting 6:15am PST -- good for you early birds and for East Coast Bruins) in the semis to determine their position for Sunday's finals. The NCAA's live feed for the semis is available here and live scoring is here.

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UCLA has owned USC ever since John Savage took over in Westwood. The Bruins entered Friday with 16 wins in their last 21 against the Trojans and having not lost the season series against their crosstown rivals in the last six years. Make that 17 of their last 22 and seven years. The Bruins beat the Trojans, 3-1, on Friday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium to continue their dominance over USC and, thanks to an Oregon St. win over Oregon, move within a game of first place Oregon and Arizona in the Pac-12.

With the offense taking the night off, it was the pitching that had to come through for the Bruins and it did. Adam Plutko wasn't his sharpest in walking five, but he was still very effective and picked up the win to improve to 9-3. The sophomore allowed just one run on four hits and has now given up one run or fewer in each of his last four outings. Rubber arm David Berg and Ryan Deeter each struck out one in a perfect inning apiece and Scott Griggs withstood some wildness to pick up his 15th save of the season.

The UCLA offense totaled just seven hits on the game and six of those came from three players. Beau Amaral had two hits, two RBI and a run scored to lead the way and Pat Valaika and Cody Regis had two hits and a run each to make up almost all of the Bruin offense. Cody Keefer added the last hit and a RBI, but the offense was quiet and only really seemed to get something going when they got one of their six walks. Still, it was enough as the Bruins moved a step closer to a national seed and possible defense of their conference title.

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UCLA has flat out owned USC of late, but then again, everyone has owned the Trojans in recent years. They've been in seven years of struggle, but no one Westwood feels bad for them. The Bruins still want to go out and beat the Trojans, which they will try to do tonight in game one of the three-game series to end the regular season. USC may be a bad team, but they are a Pac-12 ball club that UCLA has to show up against and put in a good nine innings or they will be beat. USC would love nothing more than to play spoiler and head to the offseason on a high note.

Adam Plutko will start for the Bruins tonight and look to put UCLA out in front early. He's been throwing great of late and wants to keep it going tonight so he can take it into the postseason. The Trojans haven't announced a starter yet, but Ben Mount got the start on Friday last weekend so he could be the guy for them.

If you won't be out at the ballpark tonight then you can tune in with John Ramey and Tim Wilhelm, who will have the call online. Of course, make sure to check my UCLA baseball twitter for game updates, notes, observations and everything else on the program. This is your open thread as the Bruins so fire away.