Roundup: UCLA is the team America needs to win the NCAA title

Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer believes that America needs UCLA to win the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship because the team plays an exciting brand of basketball and features one of the most transformative players in basketball in Lonzo Ball.

USC men’s basketball is first up in the Pac-12 for March Madness, and Joey Kaufman of the Los Angeles Daily News writes about Elijah Stewart’s role on the team as the Trojans get ready for a First Four game against Providence, the team that knocked them out of the Big Dance last season.

A promising season-turned-late-season-disaster capped off by a loss to CSU Bakersfield in the first round of the NIT in the books, Jon Wilner takes a look at what’s next for Cal men’s basketball.

Here’s the #GoonerGamer from Utah men’s basketball’s first-round NIT loss to Boise State. The Utes blew a late lead to the Broncos, dropping the decision 73-68.

Bruce Pascoe whips up this feature on Arizona basketball forward Allonzo Trier, documenting his frustration surrounding the PED suspension earlier in the year and how he has contributed since returning to the team.

Bobby Hurley believes the future is bright for Arizona State men’s basketball, notes Jeff Metcalfe. The Sun Devils didn’t improve the win total from Year 1, but they moved up in the Pac-12 standings and are bringing in a top-15 recruiting class according to 247 Sports.

Sweet- Oregon State baseball has the best ERA in the country (a microscopic 1.20) as it begins Pac-12 play at Arizona State on Thursday. Danny Moran has more.

Ian Boyd of SB Nation tells us how new defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt can fix Oregon’s defense, just like what he did on that side of the ball with the Buffs.

Chantel Jennings looks at how running backs James Williams, Gerard Wicks and Jamal Morrow changed Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense, as those three added a ground threat to the prolific passing attack.

David Lombardi writes that Stanford could have one of the best secondary units in the country next season, led by safety Justin Reid.

Listen to the latest BuffZone.com podcast with your co-hosts Brian Howell and Pat Rooney, as the two cover the men’s and women’s hoops teams playing in the NIT and WNIT, respectively.

Here’s a Washington spring football preview courtesy of The Seattle Times.