Weekend warmup: What happens Saturday? | What's Bruin

Uclablogpixdimartino_christina300 The Bruins and Trojans will get it on Saturday at the Coliseum to decide bragging rights, possibly the Rose Bowl representative, the Pac-10 Conference champion and maybe the future of both head coaches. And that’s just for starters:

Football:

>> Bruin senior center Chris Joseph repeated as a first-team ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Joseph has a 3.95 cumulative grade-point average with a major in geography.

>> The highlight of Blue and Gold Week is the annual rally and bonfire that will take place tonight at UCLA’s Wilson Plaza from 8 to 10. The parade will start from the UCLA residential zone about 7 p.m. and land at the end of Westwood Boulevard about an hour later.

>> The annual "Blood Bowl" between the UCLA Daily Bruin and the USC Daily Trojan will be held Friday afternoon at McAlister Field on the USC campus, beginning about 4:30 p.m. The Daily Trojan has dominated the football series against the Daily Bruin, winning eight in a row. On the other hand, the Daily Bruin has been recognized as the best college newspaper in the western states for the last four years and was national collegiate newspaper of the year in 2006. Take your pick.

>> The final meeting of the Westwood Bruin Touchdown Club will be held at 7 a.m. Friday at the Olympic Collection at Olympic and Sawtelle boulevards in West Los Angeles. Featured speakers will include defensive line coach Todd Howard, wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator Eric Scott and six players: place-kicker Kai Forbath, defensive end Kenneth Lombard, cornerback Rodney Van, guard P.J. Irvin, receiver Terrence Austin and safety Brett Lockett. Naturally, "every man, woman and child" (Geoff Strand) will be the master of ceremonies, accompanied by the UCLA Spirit Squad. Tickets, which include breakfast, are $24 each; for more information, call Claudia Hart at (310) 348-UCLA or send an e-mail to Claudia4UCLA@yahoo.com.

Men’s basketball:

>> The Bruins (7-0) are ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the nation, depending on which poll you prefer, and got star guard Darren Collison back Wednesday night in an 83-60 win over George Washington. UCLA will take on fifth-ranked Texas at 5 p.m. Sunday in a nationally televised game that is part of the Big 12-Pac-10 Hardwood Series.

Men’s soccer:

>> A disappointing season came to an end Wednesday night as the Bruins lost, 3-1, at Santa Clara in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. UCLA finished 9-9-3 after being ranked No. 1 in the nation in preseason polls.

Women’s basketball:

>> After a difficult loss Sunday at Pauley Pavilion to third-ranked Maryland, 79-75, UCLA suffered a bad loss to unranked Pepperdine on the road Wednesday night, 91-79. Junior guard Tierra Henderson and senior forward Lindsey Pluimer each had 15 points to lead UCLA (3-2) and freshman center Regina Rogers had 12 points and 16 rebounds.

>> UCLA now heads to Reno, where it will play in the Nugget Classic, first against Idaho State on Saturday and then against the winner of Nevada and Southern on Sunday.

Women’s soccer:

>> No. 1-ranked UCLA (19-1-2) will face the No. 2 seed in the West, Portland (18-3-0), for a spot in the College Cup (soccer’s Final Four) at 7 p.m. Friday at Drake Stadium. There’s no Southern California telecast of the game, but live audio of the match can be heard on uclabruins.com.

>> Three Bruins — sophomore forward Lauren Cheney, senior midfielder Danesha Adams and junior midfielder Christina DiMartino (pictured) — have been named as semifinalists for the Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Award, given annually to the top collegiate soccer player. They are on a list of 15 players that will be paired with four finalists Dec. 14. The winner will be announced Jan. 11.

Women’s volleyball:

>> UCLA (20-10) is the national No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament and begins play in Clemson, S.C., against Alabama A&M (15-9) on Friday. If the Bruins win, they will play the winner of the Alabama (15-14)-Clemson (28-3) match on Saturday. Live audio of each game will be available with Darren Preston on the microphone at uclabruins.com.

>> Junior setter Nellie Spicer was named Monday to the Pac-10 Conference first team for the third year in a row. Senior Rachell Johnson and juniors Ali Daley and Kaitlin Sather earned honorable mention and Dicey McGraw and Katie Mills received honorable mention on the All-Freshman squad. Johnson also was invited to the U.S. National Team tryouts in January at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Christina DiMartino photo courtesy of UCLA