Nov. 28, 2006
Greetings and Happy Holidays to all of you. It's a great time to be a Bruin. Here's why . . .
Going Bowling . . . A Bruin victory over USC this Saturday at the Rose Bowl has major implications for both teams. A UCLA win ruins USC's chances of making a repeat appearance in the national title game. It also puts UCLA 4th in the Pac-10 which would mean a trip to either the Las Vegas Bowl (December 21) or the Emerald Bowl (December 27). The Las Vegas Bowl has the choice of either the 4th or 5th place team in the Pac-10. Choosing UCLA would make it the 3rd trip in the last 5 years to Vegas, so one could guess they might want to go another direction. A loss to USC likely means a trip to the Hawaii Bowl to face the University of Hawaii on Christmas Eve.
Still Rolling . . . Both the UCLA men's and women's soccer teams will play in their respective national championship tournaments this weekend. The women beat Portland 2-1 to qualify for the four-team tournament in Cary, N.C. The Bruins face North Carolina on Friday for the right to play the winner of the Florida State vs. Notre Dame match.
The UCLA men's team came from behind to beat top-seeded Duke 3-2 on their home field to earn a berth in the College Cup in St. Louis. The Bruins face Virginia on Friday for the right to play the winner of the Wake Forest vs. UCSB match on Sunday.
If either UCLA's men's or women's teams wins the national title, it would be the 100th national championship in school history.
High Polling . . . The UCLA men's basketball team beat 19th-ranked Georgia Tech 88-73 to win the EA Sports Maui Invitational. The tournament victory, with wins over Chiminade, Kentucky and Georgia Tech, coupled with losses by Florida and North Carolina vaulted UCLA to #2 in the most recent ESPN/USA Today poll. The Bruins face Long Beach State on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.) and UC Riverside on Sunday (2:30 p.m.) at Pauley Pavilion.
One More Thing . . . UCLA women's volleyball is the 4th seed heading into the NCAA Tournament. UCLA hosts UAB at Pauley Pavilion this Friday at 8 p.m. in first and second-round action (you didn't think I could keep that rhyming thing up forever, did you?)
Have a great week!