NCAA Final Four's Legendary Program: UCLA

The most storied program in college basketball is back in the NCAA Final Four.

Arron Afflalo, coach Ben Howland and the rest of the Bruins have returned UCLA to the lofty level of its glory years. Afflalo scored 15 points and shut down Memphis leading scorer Rodney Carney, helping No. 2 seed UCLA defeat the top-seeded Tigers 50-45 Saturday and earn a trip to Indianapolis for its first Final Four appearance since the school's 1995 NCAA championship.

Ryan Hollins added 14 points, nine rebounds and drew two charges on defense as the cold-shooting Bruins won their 11th straight game to capture the Oakland Regional in the lowest-scoring regional final since the shot-clock era began in 1986.

UCLA (31-6) will play in next Saturday's semifinals against LSU, a 70-60 overtime winner over Texas in the Atlanta Regional final earlier in the day. Defense has become the Bruins' trademark, a stark contrast from the last time UCLA won the title. The '95 Bruins beat Connecticut 102-96 in the regional final in an up-and-down game.

These Bruins aren't even close to the offensive juggernaut of the title team with Ed O'Bannon and Tyus Edney. Memphis' only field goal in the first 8:24 of the second half Saturday didn't even go in the basket. Washington got credit for the points on a goaltending call.

UCLA got this far by surviving close games, and this time by surviving serious free-throw woes. The Bruins, 20-of-39 at the line, pulled off an improbable 73-71 comeback win over Gonzaga in the third round after beating Alabama 62-59 in their second NCAA game. UCLA rallied from nine points down in the final 3:27 to beat the Zags.

UCLA's tussle with LSU could very well be a tough defensive basketball game. LSU have twin towers, Tyrus Thomas and Glen Davis, to clog up the lanes. Both UCLA and LSU will be physically and mentally tested in the defensive end as both programs will try to come out victorious in the NCAA Final Four.

The LSU Tigers have 12/5 odds of winning the NCAA Championship while the Florida Gators are 7/4 picks and are heavy favorites to become NCAA Hardwood Kings. NCAA's Cinderella team, George Mason is coming strong with 15/4 odds but UCLA still is one of the favorites with 13/4 odds. Who will come out of the NCAA Final Four as champions? Log on and check out Bodog now.