UCLA is the GOAT CBB program but where are the fans?
- Thread starter bignish
- Start date
UNC is all time #1 program to me. UCLA isn’t the goat
Recency matters. Look at Nebraska football. They’re about to leave that recognized 8 all time list soon. Will just be Bama, OU, Bucks, ND, Texas, Michigan and USC at that point.
I’d go all time for the 5 recognized all time blue bloods:
1 unc
2 kentucky
3 Duke
4 UCLA or ku
5 KU or UCLA
Recency matters. Look at Nebraska football. They’re about to leave that recognized 8 all time list soon. Will just be Bama, OU, Bucks, ND, Texas, Michigan and USC at that point.
I’d go all time for the 5 recognized all time blue bloods:
1 unc
2 kentucky
3 Duke
4 UCLA or ku
5 KU or UCLA
Recency matters? Did they not just make a Final 4? Indiana basketball is a better comparison.
hadnt since 2008. No natties since 1995. Tournament no shows for most of the 2010’s.
yes Indiana is your Nebraska clone in their sport. Not UCLA. UCLA is still top 5 BB and no way around it. But UCLA was starting to fall that direction too. I always kept UCLA as a top 5 BB even before this year but many were discarding them as irrelevant.
They have 4 F4s this century, yes they had a dry period there, but they haven't completely fallen off the radar.
Just for S&G, FInal 4s this century from the "Blue Bloods"
UNC-6
Kansas-5
Duke-4
UCLA-4
Kentucky-4
Indiana-1 (LOL)
Yeah they are still a blueblood, but not number 1. Titles are the most important thing, but they aren't the most important thing in determining who is the greatest program.
Long time UCLA fan. Went to FSU and pull for them now, yet always want UCLA to win as well.
Have no issue with their program being questioned as a Top 3-5 Blue-blood. However if a coach like Cronin comes in, has success for say 8-10 years, gets into multiple final 4’s, win a Championship or 2, the the Bruins are right back at 1-2.
What Wooden did will not be repeated. Now free-agency has come to CBB. That plus 1AD’s have changed it forever.
Have no issue with their program being questioned as a Top 3-5 Blue-blood. However if a coach like Cronin comes in, has success for say 8-10 years, gets into multiple final 4’s, win a Championship or 2, the the Bruins are right back at 1-2.
What Wooden did will not be repeated. Now free-agency has come to CBB. That plus 1AD’s have changed it forever.
The original question was where are the fans. Idk where I heard this idea from if it was this board, KSR, other sports stuff or what, but LA/Cali is a pro sports paradise.
Why go to their games or be a "fanatic" of UCLA when you can be a fan of the Lakers, Warriors, Clippers, or Kings? They have 18 Major pro sports teams. Basketball, football, baseball and soccer Plus half a million other schools in California. Plus the best weather you could ask for and HD television just keeps getting better.
With them having limited success recently it makes sense to have a small presence on a small website like these.
Why go to their games or be a "fanatic" of UCLA when you can be a fan of the Lakers, Warriors, Clippers, or Kings? They have 18 Major pro sports teams. Basketball, football, baseball and soccer Plus half a million other schools in California. Plus the best weather you could ask for and HD television just keeps getting better.
With them having limited success recently it makes sense to have a small presence on a small website like these.
They say this about Miami as well and why nobody shows up for canes football games. Unless they’re a NC contender or FSU or UF come to town. Then most of the fans in the stands are the visitors.
Can’t even put into words how great it was knowing your team was the absolute best for 7 straight years. And that nobody could beat them for nearly 3 years!
The Marlins have horrible attendance, and with the huge Cuban community you would think it would be the opposite. The Dolphins do ok, but there are a ton of opposing fans at all the games. Everyone wants to go to Miami for a road game.
I ended up my USMC career in Southern California. My last duty station was MCAS El Toro.
After I left the USMC I ended up working out there for a little over 10 years.
When I came from Okinawa I missed sports and enjoyed being back in the states. Watched a lot of the teams out there.
Actually used to go to a lot of Clippers games when they played in the Sports Arena.
I liked those Larry Brown teams. Think I told people on here before. I could get good seats to Clippers games for every home Sunday game and still have money left in my pocket.
Nothing beats good seats to NBA games. Saw a lot of the great players in the era come through there
Doesn't mean I didn't pay attention to UCLA.
I also started getting back into the game when I came back not just as a fan. I was familiar with some of the players there and around the PAC 10 in the 1990s... Instructed a lot of people in the correct way to play at the youth level at camps.
There are UCLA fans. They just aren't the type of come here and post on a message board
After I left the USMC I ended up working out there for a little over 10 years.
When I came from Okinawa I missed sports and enjoyed being back in the states. Watched a lot of the teams out there.
Actually used to go to a lot of Clippers games when they played in the Sports Arena.
I liked those Larry Brown teams. Think I told people on here before. I could get good seats to Clippers games for every home Sunday game and still have money left in my pocket.
Nothing beats good seats to NBA games. Saw a lot of the great players in the era come through there
Doesn't mean I didn't pay attention to UCLA.
I also started getting back into the game when I came back not just as a fan. I was familiar with some of the players there and around the PAC 10 in the 1990s... Instructed a lot of people in the correct way to play at the youth level at camps.
There are UCLA fans. They just aren't the type of come here and post on a message board
They also aren't the type that go to games. Can't even come close to filling up a 13K seat arena with a metro population of 13 million. 😆
The fanbase is hit or miss. Their student body doesn't help.
I liked UCLA because not that long ago they still allowed open gym at Pauley Pavilion. You wouldn't know who showed up.
I guess now they only allow that at their tennis facilities.
Totally agree. Half our titles weren’t all white teams that only had to win 3 games to get the ‘ship.
^checks out for most part
You’re old but so am I. I was stationed in San Diego during your time out there and I remember Jared Dudley committing to Boston College. HS basketball in SD was lagging behind the LA and Bay Area schools but overall the state had outstanding talent.
Wasn't Dudley on the team USC beat in the NCAA Tournament.
I remember that USC team because of Jeff Trepagnier. Familiar with a lot of the players who came out of Long Beach/Compton. Trepangier was from Compton. One of the best athletes I have ever seen on the basketball court.
Nevermind Dudley came a little later...
I don't remember too many basketball players from San Diego. More football.
The correct top 5
1. Kentucky
2. UCLA
3. North Carolina
4. Duke
5. Kansas
You could make an argument for UNC being better than UCLA, if you weighted the past 45 years more heavily. Which I suppose makes some sense because Pre-1975 there were no at-large bids, no three-pointer, no shot clock, no freshmen playing, and very few players were defecting early to the NBA. But, there's no way you could possibly rank North Carolina ahead of Kentucky. Here's a comparison of the two schools (1939-Present). Kentucky wins on every single metric, minus Final Four appearances.
Kentucky
NCAAT Appearances: 59 (+ 8)
Sweet Sixteen: 45 (+ 11)
Elite Eight: 38 (+ 10)
Final Four: 17 (- 3)
Title Game: 12 (+ 1)
Championships: 8 (+ 2)
Conference Titles: 47 (+ 12)
Top 10 Finishes: 45 (+ 7)
North Carolina
NCAAT Apperances: 51
Sweet Sixteen: 34
Elite Eight: 28
Final Four: 20
Title Game: 11
Championships: 6
Conference Titles: 35
Top 10 Finishes: 38
1. Kentucky
2. UCLA
3. North Carolina
4. Duke
5. Kansas
You could make an argument for UNC being better than UCLA, if you weighted the past 45 years more heavily. Which I suppose makes some sense because Pre-1975 there were no at-large bids, no three-pointer, no shot clock, no freshmen playing, and very few players were defecting early to the NBA. But, there's no way you could possibly rank North Carolina ahead of Kentucky. Here's a comparison of the two schools (1939-Present). Kentucky wins on every single metric, minus Final Four appearances.
Kentucky
NCAAT Appearances: 59 (+ 8)
Sweet Sixteen: 45 (+ 11)
Elite Eight: 38 (+ 10)
Final Four: 17 (- 3)
Title Game: 12 (+ 1)
Championships: 8 (+ 2)
Conference Titles: 47 (+ 12)
Top 10 Finishes: 45 (+ 7)
North Carolina
NCAAT Apperances: 51
Sweet Sixteen: 34
Elite Eight: 28
Final Four: 20
Title Game: 11
Championships: 6
Conference Titles: 35
Top 10 Finishes: 38
Dudley went to BC and he played at Horizon in San Diego. As you mentioned San Diego is more known for producing good football players than basketball.
For some reason Dudley stuck out when he was in college. Trying to place him on what Boston College team he was on.
Wasn't on the one Texas played either in 2002.
The talent in the state is all over. Not just LA and the Bay Area. You will find pockets in Frenso/Stockton/Sacramento or in Riverside/San Bernardino better known as the Inland Empire
From about 1990-2008 I paid attention to a lot of Pac 10 basketball.
For the most part UCLA has always had talent.
The conference itself has often times been looked over.
I actually missed it this year. Don't watch as much since I moved back to Texas.
I saw UCLA play a few games and they looked like they had potential.
When they started losing I made the mistake and thought it was because of losing Chris Smith.
Not because of how well the conference was..
But Arizona State and Stanford both had players as well. Neither ended up playing in the NCAA Tournament.
Became pretty clear after the first day of the tournament.
Yup. There is no actual argument for any school other than UCLA due to titles being #1. Clearly a few better teams in the 21st century (Duke, UNC, UConn and Nova off the top of my head) but that doesn't mean much overall.
Are you claiming UCLA had all white teams? If so you’re way off base. Off the Top of my head, Walt Hazzard, Luscious Allen, Kareem, Kenny Washington, Mike Warren, Henry Bibby, Larry Farmer, Jamal Wilkes, Tommy Curtis. I don’t recall 1 NC team under Wooden that didn’t have at least 1 starter, usually 2 or more African American starters.
Pretty sure he was trolling Kentucky
My bad if so. Thought this was a UCLA thread but they can devolve.
Plus there's no way you could buy players like Wooden did back in the day. He took it to the next level and built the model on having an outside booster take care of everything while you turned the blind eye. Wooden was an average coach until he basically had John Calipari type recruits circa 2008-2015 staying 4 years.
UCLA's dong hits the water when they sit down to shit
Wooden bought everybody? Prove it. Evidently UCLA still has the trophies so the NCAA ain’t buying it. GOAT
Sam Gilbert bought them. Wooden turned a blind eye. He was an average coach pre-Gilbert.
Yeah, I don't think anyone believes it to be a coincidence that UCLA didn't even come close to winning anything in Wooden's first 15 years there, then suddenly winning 10 titles in his last 12 years. Just listen to Bill Walton, he's not shy about telling people all about his college lifestyle made possible by "Papa Sam".
We pack Dodger Stadium 56k per game. MLB's single game attendance record was set in 2008 Red Sox vs Angels at Memorial Coliseum 115k
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