After UCLA rated below Arizona in NCAA early reveal, Mick Cronin calls ratings 'comical'

When UCLA slipped below Arizona and almost off the No. 2 seed line during an early bracket reveal last weekend, the NCAA Tournament committee might have been saying quality wins matter more than bad losses. And, possibly, that head-to-head competition carries significant weight.

But Bruins coach Mick Cronin pointed toward an off-the-court factor, too.

UCLA and USC announced last June 30 that they were leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten in 2024, prompting the NCAA tournament committee to replace UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond with Arizona’s Dave Heeke. (Heeke is not allowed to take part in committee discussions involving Arizona and also has limitations on what he can impart about other Pac-12 scenarios).

On Saturday, during its annual early reveal of the top 16 teams, the NCAA tournament committee said Arizona ranked sixth overall and UCLA eighth, giving UA the No. 2 seed in the West and UCLA the No. 2 spot in the East.

Based on their NET and AP ranking of No. 4, and their No. 3 ranking in Kenpom, the Bruins might have had arguments to rank ahead of UA and maybe even onto the No. 1 seed line.

“I’m going to try not to laugh and I would refer you to our administration,” Cronin said of the early reveal on Saturday, after UCLA beat California. “The reason I would refer you to Martin Jarmond …or to anybody else, (is that) when we left the Pac-12, it cost a lot of people millions of dollars and there’s going to be fallout.”

Cronin said he even talked about it with USC AD Mike Bohn, who worked with Cronin as Cincinnati’s AD when Cronin coached the Bearcats, and came to a firm conclusion.

“I think it’s a direct result of that,” Cronin said. “I’m not going to put the pieces together for you on how that affects that, but comical. If you ask me my one-word answer on that? Comical.”

Of course, Cronin’s words also could be partly or mostly intended to keep the Bruins motivated for a potentially tough week ahead. While Arizona only has to play one home game this week, against ASU on Saturday, the Bruins have to travel to play Utah on Thursday and Colorado on Sunday.

If UCLA loses one of those games, and Arizona beats ASU, the teams would head into the final week of the regular season only one game apart in the standings. Then, if UA beat USC and UCLA beat ASU on March 2, the Wildcats would have a chance to grab the Pac-12 Tournament’s No. 1 seed by beating UCLA on March 4 at Pauley Pavilion.

But while Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said the early reveal and UA’s ranking ahead of UCLA was “pretty meaningless,” the committee’s announcement is significant in one sense: It means the Wildcats probably will keep an edge over the Bruins if their games play out comparably the rest of the way.

So even a UCLA win over Arizona on March 4 might not be enough to leap the Bruins into a better seed placement if the Wildcats beat UCLA again in the Pac-12 Tournament.

Arizona already owns a 58-52 home victory over UCLA and four non-conference wins over ranked teams: Tennessee (which was ranked No. 11 on Monday), Indiana (17), Creighton (18) and San Diego State (21).

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While the Wildcats have resume-staining losses to Utah and Washington State, UCLA, however, doesn’t have any wins over teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25.

In terms of the Quad formula used by the selection committee, Arizona is ranked No. 11 in the NET, with a 7-2 record in Quad 1 (top tier) opportunities and a 6-2 mark in Quad 2 games (UA’s loss to Washington State barely dropped from a Quad 3 to a Quad 2 loss when the Cougars moved from 78 to 75 in the NET).

UCLA, ranked No. 3 in the NET, has a Quad 1 record of 5-4 but doesn’t have any losses in Quads 2-4. The Bruins have only lost in Las Vegas to Illinois and Baylor, and at Arizona and at USC.

But even if UCLA does fall behind Arizona or even lower than the second seed line, there is always this: In 2020-21, UCLA was handed a No. 11 seed and shoved into a First Four game but then ripped off five straight wins to make the Final Four that season.

“A couple of years ago, we proved your seed doesn’t matter,” Cronin said. “You’ve got to be playing well at the right time. You’ve got to be healthy. It bears out every year in the tournament, too.”

Rim shots

Arizona moved up one spot to No. 7 in the AP Top 25 rankings while UCLA stayed at No. 4, behind Houston, Alabama and Purdue.

Among other teams the Wildcats have faced this season, UCLA stayed at No. 4, Tennessee dropped from 10 to 11, Indiana dropped from 14 to 17 after two losses, Creighton dropped from 18 to 19 and San Diego State dropped from No. 21 to 22 despite beating Fresno State on the road in its only game of the week.

USC’s Boogie Ellis was named Pac-12 Player of the Week after averaging 27.5 points and 4.5 assists while shooting 56% from 3-point range in the Trojans’ home sweep of Cal and Stanford.

Washington’s Keyon Menifield was named Freshman of the Week after averaging 19.5 points on 58% shooting in the Huskies’ wins over Oregon and Oregon State.

Arizona had nominated Oumar Ballo for POY and Kylan Boswell for FOY.