As the thousands of us prepare to graduate from UCLA and move onto the next stage of our lives, I can imagine coach John Wooden smiling down from heaven like a proud teacher.

SAN FRANCISCO ““ I love datelines.

And so it ends.

Last March, UCLA guard Michael Roll witnessed his teammates of four seasons ““ Darren Collison, Josh Shipp and Alfred Aboya ““ leave the court at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia for the final time of their college careers.

And so it ends.

The UCLA men’s basketball team enters the Pacific Life Pac-10 Tournament today with the knowledge that only a run to the tournament title will result in the program’s sixth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

During his weekly press conference Tuesday, UCLA men’s basketball coach Ben Howland had a confession to make: He should have played freshman forward Brendan Lane more minutes in Pac-10 play.

Pauley Pavilion was alive.

Entering Thursday night’s game against Oregon State, the UCLA men’s basketball team was noticeably thin in the frontcourt.

The next game on the schedule is a matchup against Oregon State tonight at Pauley Pavilion.