Ben Howland’s Bruins are bad. There’s no getting around that. For the first time ever, UCLA went winless in a tournament. But for as bad as the Bruins have been, there’s a BCS stench that smells just a little bit worse, and it comes from Norman.
That’s because the Sooners of Oklahoma, ranked #18 to start the season, are just 3-3 and haven’t played a ranked team yet. In fact, they haven’t even played a BCS conference team yet.
UCLA is constantly being talked about as the most disappointing team in the country. Yes, they have been playing below expectations, but they lost four of their top five scorers from a season ago to the NBA and have just three seniors on the roster. They’ve also lost to two ranked teams. OU hasn’t played one.
The Sooners lost Blake Griffin, but return superb freshman Willy Warren, as well as Tony Crocker and have a good freshman class headlined by Steven Pledger. Still three straight losses have the Sooners desperate for quality wins before Big 12 play. Oklahoma needs to beat Gonzaga in Washington. They need to take care of Arkansas and Arizona at home. And in conference, they will probably have to win 10 or more. Otherwise, losses to Virginia Commonwealth, San Diego and Houston will look bad.
No one is talking about OU’s bad start because they were hidden away in Anchorage playing in the Great Alaska Shootout. UCLA meanwhile, was on ESPN, as was most of the 76 Classic in Anaheim. In a conference that features the nations two best teams, Oklahoma better get it together fast, otherwise, this season may end up as disappointing as the football season.
This is a very good read J. OU is lucky they are getting off the hook due to ESPN’s lack of coverage. UCLA is obviously not so lucky. They may be in more disarray now, though, after losing Drew Gordon (best statistical player) to transfer. One point I have to mention. OU’s recruiting class was led by Keith “Tiny” Gallon and Tommy Mason-Griffin. Both were McDonald’s AA’s and Gallon was consensus top 10 in the country. Mason-Griffin was probably a little overrated.
I should have clarified…when I say “led by” I was referring to the stats so far this season, not what they did in high school.
Oh okay I got ya. I guess it confused me when you said headlined. I almost feel sorry for Willie Warren. Almost. Really wish he had gone to UT. Imagine that lineup!