UCLA’s Ingenious Playbook Spells Out an Unstoppable Path to NCAA Crown This Year

The NCAA March Madness logo on the basketball cart on the court before an NCAA basketball game between the UCLA Bruins and Purdue Boilermakers, Wednesday January 21, 2026 in Los Angeles, Calif. LOS ANGELES - The Bruins are going Dancing, and now the stage is set. Of course, the Bruins already knew that they would be the No.

1 regional seed and host team for the first two rounds of the tournament, but the lingering questions were who exactly UCLA would be playing in the bracket and the operative question, where they would be seeded nationally. No. 1 or No.

2. A packed crowd filled the Mo Ostin Center at UCLA to watch what the final verdict would be and as it was revealed, UConn, who had consistently been the ranked as the No. 1 team in the nation, though their hold on that spot began to slip as the season came to a close, was named the No.

1 overall seed in the tournament while UCLA was named No. 2. Full house at the Mo Ostin Center @SportingTrib pic.