A tale of two basketball programs

In the past, UCLA and UC Irvine lived in different universes. UCLA, in the past, was almost always a lock to get to the NCAA tournament being in the top tier of teams of the Pac10. UC Irvine toiled in obscurity in the Big West, a one-bid conference where that one team was a speed bump to some highly ranked team on its way to the regionals. UCI has yet to ever appear in the NCAAs.

Last year, UCLA hit hard times and it was UC Irvine that had the better shot at the NCAA if it could win its post-season tournament. Alas, UCI's dream once again ended in the semi-finals of the tournament.

As this season began, UCLA was picked to finish 6th in the Pac10 and UCI to finish 3rd in the Big West. In short, neither team is likely to appear in the post-season.

However, today, UCLA stunned Oregon which maybe raising the bar of expectations in Westwood and making Howland look like a miracle worker.

UCI took care of business on Saturday beating Cal Poly SLO. On Monday, they take on Big West powerhouse UCSB (went to NCAA on the auto bid from the Big West)which beat UCLA by one point a couple of weeks ago. If UCI can pull off the upset (it is a home game) that would be a terrific start for the Anteaters.