UCLA Bruins Insider Podcast: Men's Basketball Ranking Next Season

In today's episode, we talk about where ESPN College Basketball Analyst and legendary coach Dick Vitale ranked the UCLA Bruins' men's basketball team ahead of this season along with other news on baseball and softball.

To watch today's episode, view below:

UCLA baseball head coach John Savage spoke to the media after his Bruins advanced to the super regional round of the 2025 Men's College World Series. Below is a partial transcript of his media availability, courtesy of UCLA Athletics:

opening statement
“I’d like to say congratulations to UC Irvine and Ben [Orloff]. Ben’s a dear friend of mine and he’s an unbelievable coach. He’s an even better person than a coach. I have all kinds of admiration for UC Irvine and the job that he’s done. I can’t say enough. They were loaded last year, and they went to Oregon State and lost a tough regional final. They lost a lot of people from last year’s team, and to be this good, it’s all about the coaching. It’s all about development. I have all kinds of admiration and appreciation for the job that they’ve done. Having said that, I’m clearly very proud of our team and our guys, winning 19 games last season and coming back to the mid-40s. It’s just the team, they’re playing together. We jumped out on them with an 8-0 lead and they didn’t go away. It was a good win, and we move on to the next round. I was very proud of our team, proud of our program, proud of my coaches, who did a great job of putting this team in the position to have so much success.”

on August Souza’s performance
“He’s from Reno, so I like him. I’m from Reno. He played for my brother in high school, so that pumps me up. He had a really really good career at Santa Clara, had major surgery, and he’s had a remarkable second half of the season. We knew he would take a little time to get to where he was but talk about a competitive and mature guy that knows his role, has carved out his eighth-inning role. I’m very proud of August and the job that he’s done.”

on Texas’s loss earlier in the day
“I had heard some rumblings, but I really don’t have any joy for anybody losing. I’ve done this for too long to root against people; it’s just not my style. I know that we’re going to be playing a really good team. [UTSA] went through Texas, and they got the job done, so hats off to them. Anybody who’s still playing is really good. I don’t really think that way. It’s more about the team and about us getting better. It’s about us taking a step forward, which we did tonight."

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