What’s Bruin: UCLA Teams Start the Quest For NC #117

Well, to quote Meat Loaf, two out of three ain’t bad. That’s where UCLA stands so far this spring when it comes to national championships after this past weekend.

For those of you keeping score at home, the Bruins have won the NCAA Gymnastics and Beach Volleyball titles, but lost the NCAA Men’s Volleyball title.

There is the potential for more very soon. That may be because, at least until Chip Kelly gets the football team on track, there appear to be three seasons at UCLA: football season, basketball season and championship season!

Of course, we would welcome a consolidation down to two seasons, or even just one but that’s a pipe dream while Alford is still in charge.

Sunday’s beach volleyball title has tied UCLA back up with Stanford for the most NCAA titles, but the Bruins appear to be poised to break that tie soon. So, let’s check in to see where Bruin teams stand in the Quest for 117 (and beyond).

UCLA Women’s Golf

The UCLA Women’s Golf team opened play in the NCAA Regionals yesterday and got right down to business. After the 1st Round of regional action, UCLA is the top team at the San Francisco Regional. The Bruins shot a 280 which puts them four strokes ahead of second place teams Kent State and Colorado, seven strokes ahead of fourth place teams Louisville, Stanford and Oregon and nine strokes ahead of seventh place teams San Diego State and North Carolina.

The Bruins tee off for Round Two this morning at 9:50 am. The final round is tomorrow. The top six teams advance to the NCAA Championships.

UCLA Softball

With just three games left in the regular season, the Bruins remain the #1 team in the country this week. UCLA faces Arizona State at home on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Barring a complete breakdown against the Sun Devils, UCLA should capture a top seed for the NCAA Tournament when the NCAA Selection Show airs on Sunday evening.

UCLA Women’s Water Polo

The women’s water polo team is the next team that has a chance to capture a national championship. The Bruins are seeded fourth for this weekend’s NCAA Tournament and will face Pacific on Friday at 1:45 pm PT. UCLA defeated Pacific in both of their regular season games this season.

This year’s tournament is being held across town at Southern Cal’s Uytengsu Aquatics Center. If the Bruins beat the Tigers on Friday, they will advance to a game against top-seed Southern Cal on Saturday. The Championship Game will be played on Sunday.

UCLA Men’s Tennis

The Bruins men’s tennis team has earned the #2 seed for the NCAA Men’s Tennis Tournament. UCLA will host the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament as the Bruins open play this weekend with a match against Idaho.

The Bruins haven’t lost since they faced top-seed Wake Forest in mid-February.

UCLA Women’s Tennis

The UCLA Women’s Tennis team will also host first and second round NCAA play this weekend. The Bruins are seeded 12th in the NCAA Women’s Tennis Tournament. UCLA will face Fresno State on Friday.

UCLA Baseball

The baseball regular season doesn’t wrap up for about three weeks yet, which is good after a weekend where the Bruins were swept in Arizona. Those losses resulted in UCLA dropping out of the Top Ten in the D1Baseball, Baseball America and ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls.

UCLA hosts Long Beach State tonight at 6 pm PT at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

And, that’s What’s Bruin this Tuesday morning....


Go Bruins!!!