They are dancing.

Back-to-back seasons.

The same seed.

With the same goal in mind.

“Next week is what it’s about for us,” said coach Mick Cronin after UCLA fell to No. 7 seed Purdue 73-66 in the Big Ten tournament semifinals Saturday.

No. 7 seed UCLA men’s basketball (23-11, 13-7 Big Ten) will face No. 10 seed UCF (21-11, 9-9 Big 12) on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. If UCLA wins the Round of 64 matchup, the squad will face the winner of No. 2 seed UConn and No. 15 seed Furman – mirroring the same draw the Bruins had last season when they fell in the Round of 32 to then-No. 2 seed Tennessee.

The Bruins’ Round of 64 matchup coming on Friday as opposed to Thursday is important for the team after they left the Big Ten tournament in Chicago with a banged-up roster. 

Senior forward Tyler Bilodeau – the Bruins’ leading scorer, rebounder and most efficient 3-point shooter – went down late in the first half against the Spartans in the quarterfinals with a knee sprain, which left him out of the semifinal bout.

And senior guard Donovan Dent – an All-Big Ten honorable mention who has registered 77 assists to just six turnovers over the past seven games – left the Purdue affair because of a calf strain after playing just 10 minutes.

“If you play on the weekend and you have to fly back to the West Coast, like we have to, and we can’t get out till the morning, so we won’t get home until Sunday. You would hope that we don’t play till Friday,” Cronin said.

Dent and Bilodeau could have competed against the Boilermakers in the conference tournament semifinal, but would have been playing hurt and would have been held out even if it were a regular-season game, Cronin added.

Both players should be ready to play Friday for the Bruins’ NCAA Tournament opener, but every day of rest is crucial, considering the squad returned from Chicago on Sunday and will have to fly back across the country to Philadelphia. 

The Bruins will face the Knights in the first round of the tournament – a team that has lost seven of its last 11 games, including a 22-point loss to Arizona in the Big 12 tournament on Thursday. 

However, the Knights’ end-of-season resume is not indicative of their 2025-26 season. UCF finished seventh in the conference and rolled by then-No. 19 BYU in Provo, Utah, by 13 on Feb. 24, beat then-No. 11 Texas Tech by eight on Jan. 31 and defeated then-No. 17 Kansas by six on Jan. 3. 

The Knights rank No. 54 in the KenPom net with No. 40 and No. 101 offensive and defensive efficiency rankings, respectively. 

If UCLA beats UCF, the squad is likely to face UConn – which was a  No. 1 seed contender until the squad lost to St. John’s by 20 points in the Big East tournament championship. 

The Huskies finished the season 29-5, having beaten then-No. 7 BYU, then-No. 13 Illinois, then-No. 21 Kansas, then-No. 18 Florida and then-No. 25 Seton Hall. UConn ranks No. 11 in the KenPom net rankings, with No. 30 and No. 11 offensive and defensive efficiency rankings, respectively.

UConn’s proximity to Philadelphia also gives the squad a significant advantage throughout the beginning of the tournament. 

But all will be decided starting Friday, when UCLA embarks on its second consecutive March Madness run, attempting to get past the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since its 2020-21 First Four to Final Four run.