Category — UCLA

Plenty of good reasons why quality coaches such as Shaka Smart, Gregg Marshall and Brad Stevens refuse to bolt their humble surroundings for high-profile jobs like UCLA. Besides, would you really want to work for Dan Guerrero?
The SportsFan Journal

You would be too if you were Steve Alford and swindled UCLA.

Opinions vary about UCLA firing Ben Howland yesterday. Us? We believe it was long overdue. The long list of transfers, his inability to adapt his system to his talent (are you listening Mike D’Antoni? Didn’t think so.) and his inability to relate to players are just a few of the reasons. Add to that the empty seats this season at the beautifully renovated Pauley Pavilion and we get why Dan Guerrero (who also should be dismissed) pulled the cord.
SI.com

Bottoms up:
West
Gonzaga over Southern; Wichita St. over Pitt; Wisconsin over Ole Miss; K-State over play-in winner; Arizona over Belmont; New Mexico over Harvard; Iowa St. over Notre Dame; Ohio St. over Iona; Iowa St. over Ohio St.; New Mexico over Arizona; Wisconsin over K-State; Gonzaga over Wichita St.
Gonzaga over Wisconsin; New Mexico over Iowa St.; Gonzaga over New Mexico for Final 4.
Midwest
Louisville over NC A&T; Colorado St. over Missouri; Oregon over Okie St.; St. Louis over New Mexico St.; Memphis over St. Mary’s; Michigan St. over Valparaiso; Cincinnati over Creighton; Duke over Albany; Duke over Cincy; Michigan St. over Memphis; St. Louis over Oregon; Louisville over Colorado St.
Louisville over St. Louis; Duke over Michigan St.; Duke over Louisville for Final 4.
South
Kansas over Western Kentucky; North Carolina over Villanova; VCU over Akron; Michigan over South Dakota St.; UCLA over Minnesota; Florida over Northwestern St.; Oklahoma over San Diego St.; Georgetown over Florida Gulf Coast; Georgetown over Oklahoma; Florida over UCLA; VCU over Michigan; Kansas over North Carolina.
Kansas over VCU; Georgetown over Florida; Georgetown over Kansas for Final 4.
East
Indiana over play-in winner; NC St. over Temple; UNLV over Cal; Syracuse over Montana; Butler over Bucknell; Marquette over Davidson; Colorado over Illinois; Miami over Pacific; Miami over Colorado; Marquette over Butler; UNLV over Syracuse; Indiana over NC State.
Indiana over UNLV; Miami over Marquette; Miami over Indiana for Final 4.
Final 4
Miami over Georgetown; Duke over Gonzaga.
Championship
Miami 78, Duke 74.

Like everyone else and their mammas, President Obama likes Indiana to defeat Louisville for the national championship. He also likes Ohio State and Florida to reach the Final 4.
ESPN.com

We always like the No. 5 and 12 play. Oregon over Okie State keeps calling our name. A few more.
BetVega.com

The Gophers are -2 against the Bruins? Oh doctor. We might take that bet.
Then again, we just remembered Ben Howland is still UCLA’s coach. What to do?

Where’s Arte Moreno? Magic Johnson?
The usual suspects such as Roger Goodell, David Stern and Bud Selig are among a list of the 50 most powerful people (only 3 women) in sports. But Ed O’Bannon? That’s right. The former UCLA star could change the landscape of college sports with his suit against the NCAA.
SI.com

Our good friend and colleague Evan Barnes provides an excellent take on the Lakers and says Mike D’Antoni can take a page out of Ben Howland’s playbook. Howland, if you’ve been asleep at the wheel, has rejuvenated the young and talented Bruins, who knocked Arizona last night in Tucson.

It probably will get little attention from many in the media, but it got my attention when Lakers’ radio play-by-play announcer John Ireland called Milwaukee forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute an “island boy” during tonight’s Lakers-Bucks contest. Fortunately, Mychal Thompson, the former Laker, who performs analyst duties on Lakers’ radio broadcast, immediately corrected Ireland and informed him that Cameroon, where Mbah a Moute was born, is in Africa.
“I know my map of Africa,” Thompson said matter-of-factly.
Unfortunately, Ireland doesn’t. But since he’s a proud Republican, we aren’t surprised.
Though I don’t believe he meant any harm with this comments (though the “boy” part was hard to stomach), I think it was a serious case of him showing his ignorance.
Still, you would think he would have done his homework on Mbah a Moute, a UCLA product. Or at least glanced at a map.