March is here. But before any team goes dancing, it must face familiar foes. No. 6 seed UCLA men’s basketball (21-10, 13-7 Big Ten) will begin its Big Ten tournament slate with a third-round matchup against No. 14 seed Rutgers (14-18, 6-14) on Thursday night at the United Center in Chicago. UCLA’s last Big Ten tournament game saw it fall by 16 to Wisconsin in the quarterfinals of 2025’s tournament. Before the Bruins take their second swing at the Big Ten tournament, the Daily Bruin Sports men’s basketball beat predicts how the squad will perform.

Connor Dullinger
Sports editor
Prediction: Final loss to Michigan

Call me delusional.

Call me preposterous.

Call me every name in the book.

But stay with me here – the Bruins can make it happen.

UCLA trounced Rutgers by 32 on Feb. 3, and this time the Scarlet Knights are coming off Sunday and Wednesday games, while the Bruins have not played since Saturday.

If UCLA wins, it will face Michigan State – a script that feels prewritten at this point.

Coach Mick Cronin will get revenge.

And redshirt senior forward/center Steven Jamerson II will get the opportunity to prove he belongs on the same stage as the team that once denied him walk-on and manager spots.

If UCLA wins both upcoming games, the squad will most likely face Purdue or Nebraska – two teams the Bruins have already bested.

While beating the same team twice, particularly over a short time period, is difficult, both the Boilermakers and the Cornhuskers are in a slump, with the former losing three of its last four, including two at Mackey Arena, while the latter has lost five of its last 11.

Meanwhile, the Bruins are 4-1 across their last five contests, beating two then-top-10 teams and sweeping their crosstown rivals.

Despite holding the No. 6 seed, it seems like the bracket shake-up will help facilitate Bruin success.

But good bracket draws are temporary.

The game will be over as soon as UCLA takes on Michigan.

The Wolverines outmatch the Bruins in almost every aspect of the game, and I’m finding it difficult to see UCLA winning three consecutive games outside of Pauley Pavilion.

UCLA will not fly home with a trophy, but the Bruins will be watching Selection Sunday from the locker room in the United Center.

Kai Dizon
Daily Bruin senior staff
Prediction: Loss to Rutgers

My elementary school was a 23-minute walk from the United Center.

My middle school was a 20-minute walk.

And my high school was a mere 16-minute walk from the home of the Chicago Blackhawks and Bulls.

The Blackhawks had the city glued to its TVs in the early 2010s – blasting The Fratellis’ “Chelsea Dagger” after every home goal.

Hometown hero Derrick Rose felt like the city’s most popular athlete by a wide margin, dominating the hardwood the Bruins will take Thursday.

The United Center was Chicago’s biggest party when I was a kid – yet I have never seen a game at the venue.

And I just cannot stand the idea of the Bruins playing there before I have seen a single standoff at the Madhouse on Madison.

Maybe I would feel differently if Sebastian Mack, who grew up in Chicago, was still donning the blue and gold.

Maybe I would feel differently if it were instead UCLA women’s basketball – featuring graduate student forward Angela Dugalić, who grew up just outside Chicago in Des Plaines, Illinois – playing in the United Center.

But it is not.

You know what stadium I have been to?

SHI Stadium, home of Rutgers football, in Piscataway, New Jersey – where I saw pigs fly.

And by pigs fly, I mean former Bruin quarterback Ethan Garbers throwing for 383 yards, rushing for 48 and finishing with five total touchdowns.

You do not get days like that for free.

The Knights are in Chicago for retribution.

Grant Walters
Assistant Sports editor
Prediction: Quarterfinals loss to Michigan State

UCLA is a losing team outside of Pauley Pavilion.

The Bruins recorded a 17-1 regular-season home record and defeated then-No. 4 Purdue, then-No. 10 Illinois and then-No. 9 Nebraska all in front of the Bruin faithful.

But the Westwood bunch also recorded a 4-6 away record, which included a loss to Minnesota – a squad that holds a sub-.500 record – in Minneapolis and 20-plus point defeats at the hands of Michigan and Michigan State in the Mitten State.

And the Spartans block the Bruins’ path to the Big Ten tournament’s semifinals round.

Michigan State notched a wire-to-wire performance against UCLA in their first bout, with the former mounting a lead as high as 24 points in the first half.

The interior will be the deciding factor.

Spartan head coach Tom Izzo and his squad record 40 rebounds per contest, which ranks third in the Big Ten, while the Bruins grab just 32.5 per contest, the sixth-least in the conference.

The East Lansing crew outrebounded UCLA 37-27 on Feb. 17, with forward Jaxon Kohler posting 10 despite playing just 26 minutes.

When the Bruins faced teams that guarded the glass well in the regular season, they quite frankly wilted.

And the Bruins have proven they can only beat competent rebounding teams at Pauley Pavilion, having bested the conference’s top rebounding team – Illinois – in overtime.

That will not happen again at the United Center in Chicago.

Although UCLA will defeat Rutgers, particularly after earning a 32-point victory against the Scarlet Knights on Feb. 3, the team will not defeat Michigan State.

And the Bruins’ conference tournament campaign, which ended with a 16-point loss to the Wisconsin Badgers last year, will stall in the quarterfinals yet again.

Aidan Sun
Assistant Photo editor
Prediction: Semifinals loss to Nebraska or Purdue

Late games and a chance at redemption.

The stars could not have aligned better for UCLA.

While critics often call out coach Mick Cronin’s squad for its inability to shake jet lag and win outside the Pacific time zone, the schedule favors the Bruins with late tipoffs slated, giving UCLA the perfect opportunity to flip the narrative.

As its Midwest opponents get sleepy, UCLA will be wide awake.

Operating in prime time Pacific time, the Bruins will unleash the same offensive prowess that fueled a slurry of late-season thrillers – games that often concluded well after the rest of the country went to bed.

If UCLA can handle business against Rutgers on Thursday, its path through the quarterfinals looks as favorable as can be.

The squad avoids Michigan, arguably the best team in the nation, and Illinois, Nebraska and Purdue – three teams the Bruins managed to beat once but would likely struggle to beat again.

Instead, UCLA will take on Michigan State – a team I thought UCLA could upset in its February trip to East Lansing.

Although the Bruins ultimately walked away from the Great Lakes State with two of their most embarrassing losses of the season, vengeance will be in the air Friday night, and the streaky squad will have the last word against a Spartan team that is fresh off a rivalry loss in Ann Arbor.

After beating Michigan State, UCLA will fall in the semifinals to one of Nebraska or Purdue.

Both teams are sliding in bracketology and will be desperate for a statement win heading into Selection Sunday.