The desire to see UCLA move on from head coach Steve Alford is growing stronger by the day. As the results keep worsening, the backlash in Bruins nation keeps growing. In Chicago yesterday, UCLA suffered yet another lop-sided defeat, this time at the hands of #15 Ohio State by the score of 80-66. UCLA were slight underdogs coming into this contest, and if you’re going to be doing some sports betting, via online casino canada you will see the Bruins as heavy underdogs in most games going forward.
When the NCAA Tournament, or “March Madness” gets here, it’s a sports gambler’s paradise, and one that UCLA will almost certainly not be a part of. Anybody who watched their game yesterday will tell you that it was much more one-sided than that final score would indicate. The blowout dropped the Bruins to a record of just 7-5 on the season.
This came fresh off a nearly 30 point loss to unranked Cincinnati on Wednesday. Asked about the growing discontent within the UCLA community, Steve Alford offered this:
Here’s the full Steve Alford quote when asked about UCLA fan unrest. pic.twitter.com/ajqZLQyvKm
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) December 22, 2018
Notice the sentence he included here: “I’m a man of God, so I’ve got an audience of one.”
Well, anyone who is familiar with what Steve Alford has done off the court in his life, especially during his time at Iowa, will laugh at how preposterous that statement it. All around the United Center today, we heard plenty of chatter that Alford’s time could be coming to an end, and potentially soon.
However, no one with real inside knowledge of the situation has reported anything on this front yet. At this point it just seems to be wishful thinking amongst a very disgruntled base. UCLA fans wonder how a once proud program has sunk so low and they naturally have plenty of concern that they won’t be returning to a level of excellence any time soon; certainly not under Steve Alford.
The Alford Farewell Tour Begins as @UCLAMBB Loses to Ohio State, 80-66 #GoBruins #UCLA #8Clap #FireAlford https://t.co/WZiNWWBYBw
— Bruins Nation (@BruinNation) December 22, 2018
Once again UCLA has a very talented squad that is vastly underachieving. Alford has been able to recruit at an elite level, but again he’s doing nothing with all that talent. Alford, who has been a Division I coach for 24 seasons, has never reached an Elite Eight in his career and it looks almost certain that he won’t this year either.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.