Nerlens Noels “shocked the world” by going to Kentucky. However, the UCLA Bruins are the big winner with their 2012 recruiting class having landed the top recruit in the nation, Shabazz Muhammad.
Shabazz Muhammad told ESPNU:
It was down to Kentucky, Duke and UCLA and I chose to be a Bruin…I'll be at UCLA next year…Knowing how bad they were these last two years, it's a challenge to really get them back up to the top knowing they are the leaders in all-time championships with 11.
UCLA not only has 11 NCAA tournament championships, they also have the third longest NCAA Division I men’s basketball home-court win streak, 98 games between 1970-1976.
Additionally, the Bruins hold one of the most impressive all-time sport's records with an incredible 88-consecutive totals wins, which ended after a 1974 loss at Notre Dame.
In the 2010-2011 season the UCLA Bruins made their 44th NCAA appearance. In that tournament UCLA beat Michigan State, 78-76, in the first round. The Bruins then lost to Florida, 73-65, in the second round. UCLA’s last NCAA tournament championship was in 1995. The Bruins were in the 2006 National Championship Game and the 2007 and 2008 National semifinals.
This season the Bruins (19-14, 11-7) finished tied for fifth in the Pac-12 along with the Pac-12 Conference tournament championship team, Colorado. Colorado went on to the 2012 NCAA tournament where they defeated UNLV in the second round before losing to Baylor in the round of 32. UCLA did not go to the post season.
With no wins over AP top 25 teams, a fifth place finish in the Pac-12, an unflattering article in Sports Illustrated and an absence from the postseason, this was one of the Bruins’ worst seasons. However, all of that is about to change next season with Muhammad coming to UCLA.
Here are three reasons why UCLA can win the Pac-12 next year.
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