LOS ANGELES — The UCLA men’s basketball team earned a seven-seed in the NCAA Tournament, as announced on Sunday’s selection show on CBS. The Bruins (22-10 overall, 13-7 Big Ten) will face 10th-seeded Utah State on Thursday in Lexington, Kentucky.
The Bruins finished in fourth place in their first season in the Big Ten and had a chance to improve their NCAA Tournament seeding had they fared well in the Big Ten Tournament. After an 86-70 loss to Wisconsin on Friday, the Bruins find themselves up against one of the best mid-major teams in the nation.
The Aggies (26-7 overall, 15-5 Mountain West) finished third in the Mountain West conference. They lost 83-72 in the Mountain West Tournament semifinals to the eventual champion, Colorado State.
Utah State has the 17th ranked offense, per KenPom, but its defense ranks 149th. Its biggest win of the season came on the road at St. Mary’s, who also earned a seven seed.
Head coach Jerrod Calhoun is in his first season at Utah State, who has had three different coaches in the last three seasons, yet have made the NCAA Tournament three consecutive times. Ian Martinez leads the Aggies with 16.8 points per game and Mason Falslev averages 14.9, while leading the team with 6.2 rebounds per game. Both players were key contributors to the Aggies team that made the Round of 32 last season.
The Bruins, on the other hand, missed the NCAA Tournament last season after going 16-17 but bounced back to qualify this season.
Since coming to UCLA in 2019, head coach Mick Cronin has led the Bruins to the NCAA Tournament every season except for last year (and in 2020, when it was canceled because of COVID-19). He has a 9-3 record with UCLA in the Big Dance, including taking an 11-seeded team to the Final Four in 2021 and going to the Sweet 16 in 2022 and 2023.