The week that was for the Bruins was filled with quite the excitement. I don't know if anybody else noticed, but it appears that Ben Howland is human after all. He was photographed playing beer pong with some of the UCLA students prior to the game against Arizona.
I don't know and don't really care what everybody else thought about this, but to me it was great to see Ben Howland let loose a little. He has always seemed like the uptight and somewhat angry type of person who wouldn't know fun if it hit him in the face. This picture changes my whole perspective on him.
The Bruins played well on the court this past week too. They beat Arizona State last Wednesday to avenge an early season loss. After that, they finished off the season sweep of Arizona with a solid performance on national television and College GameDay. Those wins put them in a tie with Oregon atop the Pac-12 standings and all but guaranteed there place in the NCAA tournament. All in all a great week for the Bruins.
Aside from one major issue that shouldn't even be an issue. After the UCLA game Ben Howland said that the Arizona game was Shabazz Muhammad's last game at Pauley Pavilion. We all know that he is leaving for the NBA after this season. It isn't some kind of crazy assumption to claim that he has played his last game at the home of the Bruins. Yet, everybody wanted to bash Howland for making that claim. Why? I don't understand why that was such a big deal. The press needs to find other stories to write about if that is there biggest issue.
Starting tonight UCLA is on the road for the last two regular season games. They go up the coast to take on the two Washington schools. Tonight they take on Washington State which shouldn't be too big of an issue if the Bruins show up and play decent. The big game will be on Saturday when they face Washington. The last time UCLA won at Washington, I am pretty sure I wasn't born yet. Maybe that is a little exaggeration, but they win there very rarely. I think that UCLA can get away with losing that game and still claim a share of the league title, but a win and it is theres outright.
Oregon has to go on the road and play Colorado and Utah. Utah played them well at Oregon earlier in the season and it is never easy to win on the road. Colorado beat the Ducks on the road by one in their last meeting. That game at Colorado is going to be a grind it out, low scoring affair. If any teams gets to the 50 point mark that team will most likely win. The Ducks definitely have the tougher road games and let's not forget that Cal is looming just a game back of both UCLA and Oregon.
This last weekend in the Pac-12 is going to be entertaining. Coaches and player alike are going to be scoreboard watching and finding out everything they can about their chances of winning a league title. This is exactly what you want in a league title race. Three teams could still take it and nothing is going to be decided until the last game is played out. Anything could happen, let's enjoy the ride. Go Bruins!
