March Madness: UCLA’s 5 Most Disappointing Tournament Losses
By Evan Lovett
Final Thoughts
It really is a long drought for UCLA fans to suffer through. The program that literally built the foundation of greatness for college basketball is not only a slightly-above-average performer since its last championship, but is saddled with losses that are memorable for all of the wrong reasons.
Though three consecutive Final Fours would be a sense of pride for nearly any other university, at UCLA it is only a reminder of ‘what could have been.’ The coach that led them close to the promise land was cast aside ignominiously only to be retroactively lauded.
The coach that actually won their last championship is coaching anonymously in the D-League. And the coach that still runs the program is the main symptom of Battered Bruin Syndrome.
These difficult, confidence-deflating, hair-diminishing losses are the reason that the UCLA program, while considered good, is no longer considered great.
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In the shadow of their own history, it will most definitely take a title to overcome the ghosts of recent past and for the Bruins basketball program to stand up and reaffirm itself as the premier program in the nation.