UCLA to play at Las Vegas Main Event with Baylor, Illinois, and Virginia next season
UCLA will have quite the non-conference slate next season.
The Bruins will play at the Las Vegas Main Event in November, joining Baylor, Virginia, and Illinois, according to The Los Angeles Times’ Ben Bolch.
UCLA basketball will join Baylor, Virginia and Illinois—two of the last three national champions—in the Las Vegas Main Event on Nov. 18 and 20 at T-Mobile Arena.
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) April 5, 2022
Matchups for the event are yet to be determined. UCLA has only played Baylor three times in program history, and it hasn’t done so since 1975. The Bruins have won all three meetings. They’ve played Virginia once, a win in 1990. They’ve met the Illini the most, with a 6-3 record in nine meetings all-time. The last time they played Illinois was in 1997.
The Bruins posted a 27-8 record this season, a high-water mark for wins over the last five years. They could return any number of contributors from the squad, though Johnny Juzang, Jules Bernard, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. are notable difference-makers weighing whether to return or test their luck at the next level.
It should be a headliner kind of event given the star power.
UCLA also announced it will head to Hawaii in 2023 for the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, where it’ll be joined by a cast of college basketball heavyweights—Gonzaga, Kansas, Marquette, Purdue, Syracuse, Tennessee, and Chaminade.