Bruin Bites: Wilner Picks UCLA First in South, Shabazz Update, Another Year of No Titles in Westwood?

It's Monday morning, and the UCLA baseball team is on its way to a Super Regional date with Cal State Fullerton, with just the Titans between the Bruins and a trip back to Omaha. Otherwise, post-season action for the Bruins has been pretty bleak across the board this season (more on that in a bit). But before turning to the non-revenue part of this, let's take a look at the various bits and pieces of news from around the UCLA-iverse:

• Beginning with football (as usual), in case you missed it, Jon Wilner at the San Jose Mercury News has picked the Bruins to win the Pac-12 South and return to the Pac-12 championship game for the third year in a row. And, if Wilner is right, the Bruins will face off with the Stanford Cardinal again. There won't be any excuses for UCLA in Jim Mora's second season, as per Wilner, UCLA "ha[s] the most complete roster - the best combination of talent, experience, depth and QB play - in the South."
• Turning to basketball, Shabazz Muhammad recently told the Detroit Pistons' official website that he'd be a "great fit" in Detroit, but Perry Farrell at the Detroit Free Press is not as convinced, slamming Shabazz's inability to pass, noting that "his year at UCLA showed that he didn't learn how to pass to his teammates, a key in the NBA for a potential small forward." Or, as Farrell concluded, Shabazz "might face a harsh reality on draft night." Ouch.
• Speaking of Shabazz, it looks like he'll have a bit of a distraction on his hands as he prepares for the NBA Draft: his father's recently unsealed federal indictment for bank fraud, conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and bank fraud. At this time, Holmes is presumed innocent and has pled not guilty to all the charges. As the Los Angeles Times noted regarding the indictment, the scheme allegedly involved "Holmes and several unnamed associates us[ing] fraudulent information and straw buyers to obtain home mortgages and buy and sell houses, keeping the proceeds for themselves."
• Jumping back to football real quick, in case you missed it, you can check out photographs from Coach Jim Mora's 7th Annual Celebrity Golf Classic, available at SportsPageMagazine.com.
• Finally, this Monday's edition is awfully light on the non-revenue notes. Why is that? Because, once again, it looks like UCLA will wrap up the 2012-13 academic year without bringing a single national championship home to Westwood. With men's golf finishing a lowly 26th in the NCAA championships, women's rowing finishing in 9th, the #1-ranked men's tennis team choking in the national title game, women's golf finishing 4th, and women's tennis coming up short in the NCAA semi-final, UCLA's only chance for a national title this year is the baseball team (which will have a tough road though Fullerton and Omaha), and the men's and women's track-and-field team (which hasn't looked like a title contender this year). In other words, barring a miracle run against the odds, it will be yet another year of no NCAA titles for Chianti Dan's failed regime at Morgan Center. Pathetic.

Alright folks, those are your various bits and pieces of news from around the UCLA-iverse. Fire away in the comment thread with your thoughts, additions, and various takes on all things UCLA.

GO BRUINS