UA-UCLA Rivalry Best When Bruins Are Playing Well

The best day of the winter in Tucson sports, 1985-2002, no debate, was the UCLA-Arizona basketball game.

Nothing against Stanford and all those Top 10 Cardinal teams, but you couldn't work up a healthy dislike for Mike Montgomery, Adam Keefe or Brevin Knight.

But the Bruins — oh, my Lord. They sent the hate-o-meter needle soaring into the red every time Don McLean and Tracy Murray walked onto the court.

Reggie Miller? Loathing at record levels.

Jim Harrick? No. 1 on Tucson's Most Undesirable List, next to J.R. Henderson's 1-A.

Baron Davis? Unwanted. Trevor Wilson? Unpopular. Toby Bailey? Unlikeable.

That's because the Bruins were so feared. We loved it. Arizona Daily Star