Ideal Matchups for UCLA men's basketball in 'The Alliance' era
By nature of the sport's popularity and the format of its schedule, the football angle to "The Alliance" has been dominating the headlines.
The Pac-12, ACC and Big Ten announced a partnership Tuesday, one that will include the 41 combined member institutions joining forces to handle scheduling, administrative votings blocs and the future of the collegiate sports landscape. Regardless of the sport, the potential impact on scheduling for football, men's basketball and women's basketball has been left very vague to this point.
Scheduling football nonconference games can happen 10 years in advance, with each game holding more weight thanks to only three or four being available per team per year. Still, it will be interesting to see how the three conferences decide to address crossover games on the court.
There will likely be more regular and standardized invitationals and early season tournaments that boast teams from two or all three conferences, but it's safe to assume there will be one-off matchups and home-and-home series thrown in on some kind of rotating basis as well.
These are the five ACC and Big Ten teams who could create the most interesting storylines and matchups with the Bruins on the hardwood.
Read our picks for best potential "The Alliance" matchups in football HERE
5. Louisville
All-Time Series: 14-7
Notable Games: 1972 Final Four (W, 96-77) 1975 Final Four (W, 75-74 OT), 1980 National Championship (L, 59-54)
The Cardinals haven't been their usual powerhouse selves since Rick Pitino left in 2017, but the program has some momentum under Chris Mack. UCLA and Louisville played several key games towards the tail end of the John Wooden era and shortly thereafter, so there is certainly a history between these two teams, but the more recent and immediate rivalry between Mack and Mick Cronin stands out as another reason for these teams to go head-to-head. Mack was at Xavier from 2009 to 2018, while Cronin was across town at Cincinnati from 2006 to 2019. During that stretch, the two teams sparred yearly and Cronin even got in a yelling match with a Xavier player that earned him a technical foul and led to a press conference battle between the two coaches in 2017.
4. Indiana
All-Time Series: 6-3
Notable Games: 1973 Final Four (W, 70-59), 1976 Final Four (L, 65-51), 1985 NIT Championship (W, 65-62), 1992 Elite Eight (L, 106-79)
Another historical power without a lot of recent success – not advancing past the Sweet 16 since 2002 and never nearing the heights of the 30-year Bob Knight era – the Hoosiers would pose a fun matchup of classic blue bloods. The uniforms alone would make a UCLA-Indiana game worth watching, and seeing the two teams tip off at either Pauley Pavilion or Assembly Hall might even be a tearjerker for the old soul basketball junkies out there. Indiana wrestled the torch away from UCLA once Wooden retired, starting with a one-sided victory in the 1965 Final Four, and letting the two teams reset the rivalry in the 21st century seems like a no-brainer.
3. Michigan
All-Time Series: 13-6
Notable Games: 1965 National Championship (W, 91-80), 1993 Round of 32 (L, 86-84 OT), 2016-17 Regular Season (W, 102-84), 2021 Elite Eight (W, 51-49)
The Bruins and Wolverines most recently had a home-and-home in 2016 and 2017, with the two teams splitting the series and each winning the home game. As was mentioned in "The Alliance" football matchup article, pitting two massive top-tier public institutions against each other would almost surely spark a rivalry. The recent matchup in the 2021 Elite Eight would definitely play a part in developing that rivalry too, after UCLA bested Michigan in a grind-it-out game that ended in a Franz Wagner airball in the final seconds. The maize and gold taking on the blue and gold on a regular basis is a layup for the two schools, the Pac-12 and the Big Ten.
2. North Carolina
All-Time Series: 3-10
Notable Games: 1968 National Championship (W, 78-55), 1989 Round of 32 (L, 88-81), 2019-20 Regular Season (L, 74-64)
A matchup of two of the true blue bloods in college basketball is also an automatic when devising whatever schedule lies ahead for "The Alliance." Even if it's been pretty one-sided since Wooden called it quits – the Tar Heels having taken 10 of the last 12 and each of the five meetings since the start of the 2000-2001 season – the powder blue of the Tar Heels going against the iconic blue and gold of the Bruins is a classic sight to see regardless. The 1968 National Championship Game certainly plays the biggest role in this rivalry, followed closely behind by Michael Jordan's initial preference to come to Westwood over Chapel Hill, but one extra wrinkle to throw into the mix is the last two games. UCLA held a lead for over half of its game against UNC at the 2018 Las Vegas Invitational before losing by double digits, and Cronin spiking his clipboard and picking up a late technical foul in response to a surprise flagrant review led to a loss at the 2019 CBS Sports Classic. The Bruins and Tar Heels are playing in the 2021 CBS Sports Classic this December as well, so there already seems to be a budding rivalry between the two.
1. Duke
All-Time Series: 6-10
Notable Games: 1964 National Championship (W, 98-83), 1990 Sweet 16 (L, 90-81), 2001 Sweet 16 (L, 76-63), 2013-14 Regular Season (L, 80-63)
No team or coach has ever matched what UCLA and Wooden did throughout the 1960s and 70s, but Duke and Mike Krzyzewski can probably argue they've come the closest. Krzyzewski has been the Blue Devils' coach since 1980 and he led the team to 12 Final Fours and five national championships in that time. With scrappy college stars like Christian Laettner, Grant Hill, JJ Redick, Bobby Hurley, Shane Battier and Grayson Allen at his disposal, Krzyzewski dominated the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He may be retiring at the end of this upcoming season, but the programs' parallels and top-level success make them the most obvious men's basketball pairing in the entire "Alliance." The only three times they've played in March Madness, the winner has gone on to win it all. The battle for all-time men's basketball supremacy is just waiting for a spark to set it off.
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