June 25, 2003

Three teams from last season's NCAA 'Elite Eight' - Kentucky (at the Wooden Classic in Anaheim on Dec. 6), Michigan State (Dec. 20 in Pauley Pavilion) and defending Pac-10 regular season champion Arizona (Jan. 17 in Pauley Pavilion/Feb. 14 at Tucson); 'Sweet 16' Notre Dame (Feb. 28 in Pauley Pavilion) and five other NCAA participants - Vermont (Nov. 29 in Pauley Pavilion), 2003 Pac-10 Tournament Champion Oregon (Jan. 4 in Pauley Pavilion/March 6 at Eugene), Arizona State (Jan. 15 in Pauley Pavilion/Feb. 12 at Tempe), Stanford (Jan. 22 at Palo Alto/Feb. 21 in Pauley Pavilion) and California (Jan. 24 at Berkeley/Feb. 19 in Pauley Pavilion).

St. John's (Jan. 31 at Madison Square Garden in New York City) won the 2003 NIT title (and beat the Bruins last season at home 80-65 on Jan. 11) and UC Santa Barbara (Dec. 17 in Pauley Pavilion) also played in last year's NIT (new Bruin head coach Ben Howland was an assistant coach at UCSB from 1983-94).

'This is one of the toughest schedules in America,' Howland said. 'We are going to be put to the test right at the start of the year and the overall competitiveness of our schedule, both nonconference and conference, will continue throughout the season.'

Tentative 2003-04 UCLA Men's Basketball Schedule