UCLA basketball: The view from around the Pac-10

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This is an unusual fall in Westwood, with UCLA not counted among the top teams in the nation, picked to finish third in the Pacific 10 Conference. But rival coaches aren’t overlooking the Bruins.

‘They’ve got some good personnel sitting in their program,’ Oregon Coach Ernie Kent said. ‘I don’t think there’s going to be too much slippage.’

Kent referred specifically to sophomores such as Malcolm Lee, Drew Gordon and Jerime Anderson who spent last season on the bench and are expected to shift into starting roles.

California Coach Mike Montgomery looks beyond the roster, pointing to Ben Howland as one of the few coaches who have shown that their teams can vie for the conference title year after year.

‘For most of us in this league,’ he said, ‘it’s somewhat cyclical.’

-- David Wharton