Sunday Syllabus: The week that was and the week ahead

At one point during the week, UCLA had 10 teams ranked in the top 10 in the nation. For any program anywhere, that’s pretty remarkable.

Another area where UCLA is No. 1: applications for admission. UCLA was once again the most popular university in America by number of applications, with a staggering 55,369 received, an increase of 9% over the nation-leading 2007 figure. Even more unbelievable: the percentage of freshman applicants with a grade-point average of 4.0 of better: 44.6%.

Oh, yes, the Pac-10 men’s basketball title will be decided this week.

Baseball:

>> Last week: The third-ranked Bruins are now 4-1 after defeating Southern, 11-2 on Friday and Bethune Cookman, 2-0, before a national television audience on ESPN2 last night in the Urban Invitational. Left-hander Tim Murphy scattered seven hits for UCLA’s first complete-game shutout since 2005. Earlier in the week, UCLA was crushing Cal State Northridge on Tuesday, 22-2, when the game was halted due to darknesss; it will be completed on April 15. The Bruins also outlasted UC Santa Barbara, 5-4, in 13 innings at Jackie Robinson Stadium on Wednesday.

>> This week: UCLA finishes up the round-robin Urban Invitational today at USC at 2 p.m. The Bruins have a home-and-home with powerful Cal State Fullerton at Fullerton on Tuesday (6 p.m.) and at Jackie Robinson Stadium on Wednesday (6 p.m.). The Bruins will host St. Mary’s at Jackie Robinson Stadium for a three-game series from Friday-Sunday.

Rowing:

>> This week: The spring season starts on Saturday with the Bruins hosting Loyola Marymount on March 8.

Softball:

>> Last week: The Bruins are up to No. 4 in the national rankings and continue hot at the San Diego Classic. UCLA defeated James Madison, 8-0, in their opener on Friday (Anjelica Selden, 14 strikeouts) and then hammered San Diego, 10-0, behind Donna Kerr’s 11 strikeouts (she’s 7-1), in the nightcap. Soph Megan Langenfeld tossed a one-hitter on Saturday morning as UCLA stomped Eastern Michigan, 8-0, and Selden (9-1) pitched all nine innings (with 13 strikeouts) of a tight 2-1 win over No. 20 San Diego State in the afternoon. Selden, a senior, became only the 21st pitcher in NCAA history to record 1,200 or more strikeouts. Earlier in the week, UCLA shut out Cal State Bakersfield on Wednesday, 3-0, with Kerr pitching four innings and Langenfeld finishing the final three frames.

>> This week: The Bruins (18-2) have won 12 straight games and finish in San Diego with a game against St. Peter’s today, then have UNLV at home on Wednesday (1 p.m.) before heading south for the Long Beach Invitational against Virginia Tech and Notre Dame on Friday, Rutgers on Saturday and highly-ranked Northwestern and Long Beach State on Sunday.

Men’s Basketball:

>> Last week: UCLA (25-3 overall, 13-2 in the Pac-10) defeated Arizona State on the road on Thursday, 70-49, breaking open a close game late in the first half to post its biggest-ever margin of victory in Tempe. The previous high was 20 from a 99-79 win way back in 1956.

>> This week: Fourth-ranked UCLA could move up in the polls again this week if the Bruins can post a victory against Arizona (17-11, 7-8) in Tucson. The game will be nationally televised on CBS and begin at 1 p.m. On Thursday comes the Pac-10 regular-season title decider with Stanford (24-4, 13-3) at Pauley Pavilion at 8 p.m. and the regular-season finale at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday against California. The 1968 NCAA championship team, arguably the greatest college basketball team of all time that started Lew Alcindor, Lynn Shackelford, Mike Lynn, Lucius Allen and Mike Warren, will be honored at halftime of the Cal game.

>> Of note: If Alcindor had not suffered an eye injury that led to UCLA’s 71-69 loss at the Astrodome to Houston, the Bruins would have finished the 1967-68 season with a then-record of 64 wins in a row. UCLA won its first 25 games of Alcindor’s senior season, so UCLA would have had a streak of 89 straight wins before USC won the first game ever by an opponent in Pauley Pavilion, 46-44, on March 8, 1969. The current record is 88, set by the 1971-1974 teams.

Men’s Golf:

>> Last week: The Bruin "Blue Team" (second squad) finished second this week at the Cal State Bakersfield Spring Invitational, one shot behind Cal State Stanislaus. Junior Erik Flores was the tournament champion, carding a 10-under 206 for the three rounds, one shot ahead of fellow Bruin Craig Leslie.

>> This week: The Blue Team is in action against at the USC Invitational at North Hills Country Club on Monday and Tuesday. The whole squad will be back in action on Friday through Sunday in Las Vegas for the Southern Highlands Invitational.

Men’s Tennis:

>> Last week: Sixth-ranked UCLA (8-1) stomped UC Santa Barbara at home on Wednesday and two doubles teams reached the quarterfinals of the Pacific Coast Doubles Championships. Mathieu Dehaine and Holden Seguso were seeded seventh and fourth-seeded Nick Meister and Harel Srugo both reached the round of eight before being defeated.

>> This week: The Bruins are in action again on Wednesday, hosting No. 24 Rice on Wednesday and seventh-ranked USC on Thursday, both at the Los Angeles Tennis Center beginning at 1:30 p.m.

Men’s Track & Field:

>> Last week: UCLA finished sixth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Indoor Championships in Seattle. The Bruins’ only individual champion was junior Boldizsar Kocsor, who won the weight throw at 69-9 1/2.

>> This week: The Bruins will open their 2008 outdoor season at the UCLA Invitational at Drake Stadium. Field events will start at 10 a.m.

Men’s Volleyball:

>> Last week: Seventh-ranked UCLA is happy to be coming home after dropping both matches this weekend to Ball State in Muncie, Indiana. The Bruins (10-9) lost in four sets on Friday night and were swept on Saturday, losing their fourth straight match and five of six on their lengthy road trip.

>> This week: UCLA plays in Pauley Pavilion for the first time since Feb. 9 on Tuesday night with a match against Lewis at 7 p.m. and follows up with UC Santa Cruz on Wednesday evening. UCLA heads south to play at UC Irvine on Friday evening; all three matches begin at 7 p.m.

Women’s Basketball:

>> Last week: UCLA closed out the regular season with a split at home, losing to Arizona State, 73-67, and then defeating Arizona, 80-70. Lindsay Pluimer, the lone Bruin senior, led the team once again with 18 points and 11 rebounds. UCLA ended the regular season with a 15-14 record and was 10-8 (tied for fourth) in the Pac-10, sliding to a 4-5 mark in the second half of the league schedule after a 6-3 first round.

>> This week: The Pac-10 Tournament is on in San Jose and the fifth-seeded Bruins will play fourth-seed USC in its first-round game on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. UCLA lost both games to USC this season, by eight points at the Galen Center and by 13 at home.

Women’s Golf:

>> Last week: The No. 1-ranked Bruins fell victim to high winds that negated strong efforts in rounds one and three at the Arizona Wildcat Invitational and finished sixth overall. Their best individual performance by All-American Tiffany Joh. She overcame an 80 in the second round to shoot a two-under 70 in the final round and finish fifth overall.

>> This week: UCLA is off to Orlando, Florida to play in the UCF Challenge on Sunday, March 9 through Tuesday, March 11.

Women’s Gymnastics:

>> Last week: UCLA (12-1) lost to No. 2 Utah last Sunday and suffered injuries to all-around stars Anna Li and Brittani McCullough, both of whom had concussions.

>> This week: The Bruins are ranked ninth in the country and will take on No. 10 Oregon State (8-1) today at Pauley Pavilion, beginning at 2 p.m. UCLA will webcast the meet on uclabruins.com, with Darren Preston and former U.S. Olympian and NCAA champion Steve McCain on the call. Sunday's meet is UCLA's Second Annual Breast Cancer Awareness meet and the Bruins will wear leotards with pink accents and pink ribbons. All fans are encouraged to wear pink, and pink wristbands will be given away to all attendees. Pink Crocs will also be given away to 30 lucky fans.

>> Of note: UCLA will have its last home meet of the season in a quadrangular on Sunday, March 9, with Alabama, Arkansas and Cal State Fullerton.

Women’s Swimming:

>> Last week: The Bruins are ranked 15th in the nation and finished fourth in the Pac-10 Swimming & Diving Championships, held in Long Beach (swimming) and Federal Way, Washington (diving). Competing with a young team, the Bruins set more than a dozen lifetime bests and set a school record 7:14.73 in the 4 x 200 m Freestyle Relay on Wednesday with freshmen Lauren Hall, Alex Sullivan and Emily Bibb plus junior Anna Poteete.

>> This week: UCLA is off until the NCAA Zone E meet in Oklahoma City on March 13-15.

Women’s Tennis:

>> Last week: The Bruins came into the week ranked 11th in the nation, but dropped Wednesday’s match to No. 4 Baylor, 5-2, at the Los Angeles Tennis Center, and then upset No. 6 Stanford on Friday, 4-3. Senior Tracy Lin upset ninth-ranked Jessica Nguyen of Stanford to clinch the win. UCLA didn’t fare as well on Saturday, losing to No. 8 California, 4-3, despite an upset win by 10th-ranked Riza Zalameda over seventh-ranked Susie Babos in three sets.

>> This week: UCLA is 9-4 and hosts Washington State on Friday (1:30 p.m.) and Washington on Saturday (11 a.m.) at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.

Women’s Track & Field:

>> Last week: UCLA took only its vaulters and middle-distance runners to the MPSF Indoor meet in Seattle and placed ninth with 14 1/2 points. Vaulters Ingrid Kantola, Tori Anthony, Kathy Viuf and Megan Jamerson all cleared 13-1 to tie for third place. It was a lifetime best for Jamerson.

>> This week: The Bruins will make one of three appearances in Drake Stadium this season with the UCLA Invitational on Saturday, beginning with field events at 10 a.m.

Women’s Water Polo:

>> Last week: No. 1-ranked UCLA (18-0) shut out UC Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara on Saturday, 12-0, behind three goals from Brittany Rowe.

>> This week: The competition will be tougher this week as the Bruins host No. 2 Stanford on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Sunset Canyon Recreation Center and then play San Jose State at Sunset Canyon on Sunday at 1 p.m.