The UCLA men’s basketball team was announced as a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament on Mar. 15, with the full bracket revealed on CBS.
The Bruins, holding a 23-11 record, are set to play No. 10-seed UCF (21-11) in the first round at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia on Friday, March 20. The winner of this matchup will move on to face either No. 2-seed UConn or No. 15-seed Furman in the second round.
This is the second time UCLA has been seeded seventh in the tournament and marks their fifth appearance under head coach Mick Cronin, who is now in his seventh year leading the program. Cronin has guided teams to a total of sixteen NCAA Tournaments throughout his career, including previous tenures at Murray State and Cincinnati.
UCLA’s recent performance includes winning six of its last eight games and advancing to the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament after victories over Rutgers and Michigan State before falling to Purdue. The Bruins have returned to Philadelphia for tournament play for the first time since facing Villanova during the 2023-24 season and North Carolina in the Sweet 16 of the 2022 tournament.
Historically, UCLA is making its fifty-fourth appearance at the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and holds eleven national championships—the most recent won in 1995—as well as nineteen Final Four appearances and thirty-eight trips to the Sweet Sixteen. Since expanding to sixty-four teams in 1985, UCLA has posted a record of forty-one wins and eleven losses during opening weekend games.
