REPORT: UCLA Projected to Face Battle-Tested SEC Team in NCAA Tournament

In a recent bracketology, UCLA men's basketball has been projected to take on a tough, under-rated squad from the SEC.

Mar 8, 2025; Athens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Mike White reacts with guard Markel Jennings (12) and guard Blue Cain (0) after Georgia defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores at Stegeman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The NCAA Tournament is just around the corner, but before then, UCLA men's basketball still has a conference tournament title to compete for.

The Bruins closed out their regular season with back-to-back wins, two that were very much needed.

Conference tournaments haven't proven to have drastic implications on tournament seeding -- at least for Power Four schools -- but for some, they can be very crucial.

This week's Big Ten Tournament could be vital for UCLA, as it could still add some padding to its resume. The conference tournament will, of course, be a great opportunity to do so, as this Big Ten is quite stacked this season.

CBS Sports' Jerry Palm has UCLA as an 8th-seed playing No. 9 seed Georgia in Wichita, Kansas in the Midwest region in his latest bracketology.

Georgia has a solid resume for a projected 9 seed. The Bulldogs have been ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 just once this season. They were ranked No. 23 during the week of Jan. 23.

Georgia earned its first ranked win of the season back in November when it defeated then-No. 23 St. John's.

The Bulldogs would later run into a brutal stretch where they faced five-straight ranked teams. They fell to then No. 24 Mississippi before turning around to upset then-No. 6 Kentucky in a 13-point victory.

Georgia then bested then-No. 17 Oklahoma before losing to then-No. 6 Tennessee and narrowly falling to then-No. 1 Auburn, 70-68.

The Bulldogs later faced top-five opponents just a week apart. They dropped both games to then-No. 5 Florida and then-No. 4 Alabama.

Four meetings with top-6 teams in six games.

February served as a major gauntlet for Georgia, which faced just one unranked team the whole month. Its only win in said matchups came in its final game of the month when it redeemed itself against then-No. 3.

That victory was the first of four straight, a streak it will be riding into the SEC Tournament.

UCLA probably shouldn't be hoping for this matchup, or one with just about any SEC team, for that matter.

The Bruins will kick off their play in the Big Ten Tournament in the quarterfinals on Friday, as their win over USC on Saturday clinched a double bye.

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @UCLAInsideronSI and @tcav30 and never miss another breaking news story again.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.