UCLA received the seventh seed in the East Region and will face 10th-seeded Central Florida on Friday in a first-round game of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in Philadelphia.
The Bruins (23-11) are the 28th overall seed in the 68-team field unveiled Sunday. The Knights (21-11) are the 38th overall seed.
UCLA enters the tournament with six victories in its last eight games, with the most recent loss coming Saturday to Purdue, 73-66, in a Big Ten Conference Tournament semifinal. Central Florida has lost four of its last five games, including an 81-59 loss to Arizona in a Big 12 Conference tournament quarterfinal Thursday.
Oddsmakers have made the Bruins a 5 1/2-point favorite. ESPN’s Matchup Predictor gives the Bruins a 72.2% chance of winning, the Knights a 27.8% chance.
Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, seventh seeds have an 97-62 record against 10th seeds in the first round, with the 2021 West Region match-up between seventh-seed Oregon and 10th-seed Virginia Commonwealth considered a no contest due to COVID-19 protocols with Virginia Commonwealth.
This is the second consecutive season and fifth in the last six UCLA will be playing in the tournament. They reached the second round in 2025.
Central Florida will be making its sixth tournament appearance since joining Division I in the 1984-85 season and first since 2019, when as the ninth seed in the East Region, defeated eighth-seeded Virginia Commonwealth, 73-58, for its lone tournament victory, then lost to top-seeded Duke, 77-76.
Friday’s game will be the first meeting between the two teams.
The 4:25 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time game will be televised by TBS.
The UCLA-Central Florida winner will face the winner of Friday’s game between second-seeded Connecticut (29-5) and 15th-seed Furman (22-12) in a second-round game on Sunday.