Thursday, February 17 Time running out on Bruins' NCAA Tournament chances By Ed Graney Special to ESPN.com

This is what it has come to for Steve Lavin:

A package full of potty.

Top Games

Pac-10 UCLA at Arizona (Saturday) The Bruins will look to redeem themselves after an embarassing 104-75 loss to Arizona State on Thursday. A victory here would allow them some needed breathing room, but UCLA must convert late to have any chance at winning. Arizona is playing more of its less-tiring zone to save its seven healthy bodies and keep Loren Woods out of foul trouble. UCLA does have a bit of history on its side -- it's the last conference team to win in Tucson, turning the trick in 1997 by a 66-64 count. Mountain West UNLV at Utah (Monday) Big, as in Big Monday on ESPN. Big, as in perhaps a game that could decide the conference championship. It will not be easy for the Rebels, not at all. Utah owns the nation's longest home winning streak at 50 straight. Three of UNLV's five losses entering the week have come on the road and it gets a very tough test at BYU on Saturday before arriving in Salt Lake City. It appears Utah senior forward Hanno Möttölä (thumb, elbow) could return in time to face UNLV, which beat Utah 72-66 on Feb. 5. WAC SMU at Fresno State (Thursday) Leave it to the Bulldogs to lie down and play dead just when it appears they can bark in the right direction. FSU's 92-78 loss at Texas El-Paso last week didn't help those March Madness plans. Now, an SMU team looking for its 20th victory comes to town with three straight wins and thoughts of securing a No. 2 seed in the conference tournament behind Tulsa. If it's a battle of the boards, give an edge to SMU (the league's best rebounding team) over FSU (its worst).

"When you're the head coach at UCLA," he said, "you're constantly going to be roasted."

And one day, you might even receive a suspicious parcel in the mail, one which causes you to telephone the bomb squad, one with excrement inside and a note attached:

"You're team played like it. Here's some more."

Life stinks sometimes.

So it goes in Westwood right now, where those 11 championship banners hover over Lavin's head like the blade of a blue and gold guillotine. The Bruins are a very average 13-10 overall and 4-7 in Pac-10 play. They were brought a notch lower on Thursday night as they lost to Arizona State 104-75. They had dominated the Sun Devils for 11 years, winning 22 straight in the Pac-10 series. Now they have to come back and face No. 4 Arizona on Saturday on the road.

The ridiculous notion of several weeks ago is now inching its way toward a more realistic state, this suggestion of UCLA missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1988.

Figure this: If the Bruins win five of their final seven, finish with 18 wins and a .500 conference record, recent history says they will dance again come March. Not in four years has a Pac-10 team with such credentials been denied an at-large bid. A perfect 14-for-14.

But can UCLA win five?

"I think some of their problems have to do with how good the league is," said Arizona coach Lute Olson. "But they also have had a tough time closing games out. The difference between our teams is we've been able to make plays and hit free throws down the stretch."

Some have a word for that. It's called coaching.

Facts: UCLA is young, starting three sophomores and a freshman in Jason Kapono, who happens to lead the team in scoring. It is without JaRon Rush, serving a 44-game suspension for accepting money from an agent and receiving benefits from an AAU coach while still in high school.

Rush on the floor means more intensity, energy, toughness and big rebounds at key times. Rush off the floor means little to none of the above. Dan Gadzuric is the center. He has tendinitis in both knees and rarely practices. Jerome Moiso is the power forward who wears really high socks and has been known to airball a dunk. Earl Watson is the point guard who really isn't a point.

And ...

"As I watch UCLA ... they play well individually, but not collectively. They don't work well together. There are very few younger teams in the country than Duke, and they seem to be doing OK."

A Wizard's truth. The words of John Wooden.

No coach at UCLA won more games (70) his first three seasons than Lavin, but the confusion that is his team's offense and the inconsistency in beating North Carolina one week and bottoming out with consecutive losses to Oregon, Stanford and Cal another raises legitimate concern.

The six-year rollover contract with more than a $1 million buyout suggests the 35-year old Lavin isn't going anywhere soon, but extensions are meant to be bought out and coaches are hired to be fired.

This is the place of Shackelford and Alcindor and Walton and Farmer and Wilkes and Bibby and Hazzard and Goodrich. This is college hoops history dripping from Pauley's aged walls, and 13-9 doesn't play well. This is a place of six coaches in 21 years, which offers little more than a three-year lifespan.

UCLA last had a losing conference record in 1948. The coach, Wilber Johns, was fired. Wooden was hired. The bar was raised to an insurmountable height.

"I know I'm going to be analyzed and scrutinized," said Lavin. "It's inherent with this job. You can't personalize things. You can't waste emotion and energy on things like Internet chat rooms and letters to the editor. You're always going to fail in the comparison to (Wooden's) standard. I've developed an alligator-type level in terms of thick skin. I'm not going to worry about things I can't control. I just have to continue teaching the game and fundamentals."

Which leaves us with a few thoughts:

1) He can't control the potty packages.

2) UCLA teaches fundamentals?

Thumbs up
Dan Gadzuric: Dr. Jekyll ...

Nate Althoff: Just another one of those redwoods Rick Majerus seems to cut down and plant in the post every year.

Mike McDonald: If Stanford wins the national championship, a legitimate notion, many will not think first about this nearly invisible point guard who makes all the passes for those Mad Dog dunks. But, oh, how they should.

Pepperdine: Beating those Zags just might have symbolized riding the perfect Wave into the Big Dance.

Thumbs down
Dan Gadzuric: ... and Mr. Hyde.

Weber State: You can catch this Show in the NIT. Maybe.

New Mexico's defense: Where is Brian Urlacher when you really need him?

Long Beach State: How can we rip a team that's 17-4 overall and 9-1 in league? When it loses the season's biggest game to date at home in a conference destined for one NCAA bid.

Quote to note
"Since he scored 61, when he doesn't score 50 people think he's had a bad spell. He hasn't had a bad spell. When he scores 19-20, he's doing other things for us."

-- ASU coach Rob Evans when asked about the recent production of senior guard Eddie House, who still leads the Pac-10 in scoring at 24.4.

Did you know?
Arizona center Loren Woods is 14 blocks away from setting a conference single-season record.

Thought for the day
When Tommie Prince is a captain for weekend pickup games, who does he choose first: Coolidge, Thorpe, Haywood or Salami?

Ed Graney of the San Diego Union-Tribune is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.