UCLA won't last the weekend in NCAA tournament, but USC will

FROM PHILADELPHIA — I am about to write a sentence that will generate dozens of e-mails, followed by a sentence that will generate none.

UCLA will not make it out of the first weekend of the NCAA basketball tournament.

USC will.

For the third consecutive season, the Bruins and Trojans will be participating in the same Big Dance, on two very different floors.

UCLA will be in the grand ballroom, just off the lobby, with the red carpet and camera flashes and big heat.

USC will be in an auxiliary meeting room, down two hallways in the back, dim lights and scuffed tile and cheap chairs.

The Bruins will lose early -- if Virginia Commonwealth doesn't get them, Villanova will -- and all Howland will break loose.

The players are sick of the coach! The coach is sick of the players! Styles must change! Heads must roll!

The Trojans will win early -- neither Boston College nor Michigan State can match their experience and athleticism -- and it will be like, Fight What?

Dear Mr. Plaschke: If USC makes the Final Four, where would Pete Carroll be sitting?

For UCLA, the tournament is a birthright. For USC, it's a bonus. For both teams, in today's level college basketball landscape, the perceptions are boneheaded.

When UCLA loses early, it will break a mind-boggling streak of three consecutive Final Four appearances, and maybe folks should pause from their howling to be happy with the achievement.

When USC wins early, it could lead it to the school's first Final Four appearance in 54 years, and maybe folks will pause from their indifference enough to be frustrated with the drought.

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For UCLA, nothing about this tournament feels right.

For USC, everything does.

For UCLA, beginning with the long flight that landed the Bruins in Philadelphia this week, the odds are stacked higher than the famous Rocky stairs.

During the 12-game road to their three Final Fours, the Bruins only left California for two of those games, both in Phoenix.

Now they are playing 2,721 miles from home against a team from four hours down the road. If they beat VCU, they would then potentially face a Villanova team that actually lives here.

"They can place us where they want to place us," Bruins guard Darren Collison told reporters in Wednesday's interview session here.

Teammate Josh Shipp sounded the same note of defiance. "It doesn't really matter what people think of us," he said.