The Pac-12 championship is officially a month away, and the UCLA Bruins men’s basketball team finds themselves in the mix.
After a sluggish start to their season, the Bruins have rebounded and are tied for the second-longest winning streak in the conference at five wins in a row. Sitting at the third spot, tied with Oregon, and behind only Washington State and the 5th-ranked Arizona Wildcats, the Bruins have an opportunity to hold steady in the standings and potentially leapfrog Washington State for the No. 2 seed.
At 8-5 in the conference, the record to beat is 10-3, held by Arizona. With seven games remaining, all in the Pac-12, the Bruins, in a way, control their own destiny in the conference tournament and beyond.
And there are winnable games on the horizon for the Bruins. With games against USC, Utah, Arizona State, and Colorado, the Bruins face three teams with a sub-.500 records in the conference.
Finally playing as many assumed they would at the start of the season, the Bruins are gelling at the right time. By avoiding their early-season struggles to take care of business in winnable games, the Bruins have a shot to make some noise leading up to the Pac-12 tournament.
The most daunting games remaining are against Washington State and Arizona. However, the Bruins lost by only six points to the Wildcats before rattling off five straight wins.
With a strong finish to their regular season, the Bruins could extend their season deep into the Pac-12 tournament and potentially punch a ticket to the Big Dance in March.