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After winning one title since John Wooden, how much blue is left in UCLA's blood?
Grainy game footage and yellowed newspaper clippings confer UCLA’s standing as college basketball royalty, the team’s status as a blue blood rooted in the success of a coach who retired nearly 50 years ago.
John Wooden’s 10 national championships in a 12-year span are more than any other program has won in its history. On the flip side, the Bruins have won just one championship since Wooden’s departure, Jim Harrick’s 1995 team preventing the school from going 0 for the last half century.
UCLA’s Ed O’Bannon celebrates after the Bruins won the 1995 national championship game.
(Associated Press)
North Carolina, the fellow blue blood that the Bruins will face Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden in the CBS Sports Classic, has won five of its six titles since 1982. By comparison, the bulk of UCLA’s success can feel like something accomplished on peach baskets.
As the years pass, those banners hanging inside Pauley Pavilion fade like the memories of those championships. UCLA has gone 30 years without a title while 10 teams have added multiple banners to their collection over that same span. Has the fundamental power structure of the sport changed? Might the Bruins be on the verge of ceding their hallowed status, their blood no longer the deepest shade of blue?
“Hell no,” Marques Johnson, a member of Wooden’s final national championship team in 1975, said this week. “I just don’t think you give up that spot in terms of the prestige and elite-level claim that you deserve based on historically what you’ve done as a program.”
A blue blood, in Johnson’s view, is more of a historic honor than a contemporaneous one, belonging to teams that dominated the sport when it was gaining a foothold in the nation’s consciousness more than 50 years ago. Once you’re in, Johnson said, you never give up membership.
Historical references go back many decades, a 1951 story in the Cincinnati Enquirer describing Xavier’s early season losses as having come against teams listed in “college basketball’s blue blood directory.” The term has long become a favorite of broadcasters even if it was never one that Wooden used, according to Gary Cunningham, who played for the legendary coach before becoming one of his early successors.
Johnson’s bonafide blue bloods — UCLA, Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke and Kansas — largely jibe with the list of the most decorated programs. Kentucky’s eight national championships rank second behind UCLA, followed by North Carolina and Connecticut (six each), Duke and Indiana (five each) and Kansas (four).
While Indiana won titles in 1940 and 1953, the Hoosiers are more widely associated with their success under coach Bobby Knight, who won three more championships in the 1970s and ‘80s. Johnson puts Indiana in his second tier of elite teams.
“We’ve got to slide them in there,” Johnson said, “because they were a little bit late to the party, not exactly nouveau riche but around and dominant long enough where they definitely need to be talked about in the same breath.”
Connecticut guard Tristen Newton celebrates after their win against San Diego State to clinch a national championship on April 3, 2023.
(Brynn Anderson / Associated Press)
Who does Johnson consider nouveau riche? He listed UConn and Gonzaga, teams that have enjoyed wild success the last few decades but haven’t won enough historically to be considered classic blue bloods. Gonzaga continues to seek its first title, having lost in the championship game in 2017 and 2021.
UCLA’s run of 10 titles from 1964 to 1975 puts the Bruins in a standalone category, according to Johnson.
“That’s something,” Johnson said, “that will never ever be duplicated by any school in history for a number of reasons, as we know — NIL and one-and-dones and all that.”
Even though Duke has won all of its titles since 1991, Johnson said the Blue Devils qualify as a blue blood based on their having been a top team long before that, reaching Final Fours in 1963, 1964 and 1978.
Jay Bilas, a center for the Blue Devils as the team was establishing itself as a national power under coach Mike Krzyzewski in the mid-1980s, said his definition of blue blood mirrors that of the Supreme Court when it comes to obscenity.
“I can’t define it,” BIlas said, “but I know it when I see it.”
A blue blood, as far as Bilas is concerned, combines sustained high-level success with a tradition of championships. Bilas agreed with Johnson’s characterization of UCLA, Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas and Duke as no-brainers but added UConn as a top-five school based on the Huskies’ recent run that has six championships since 1999 and back-to-back titles the last two seasons under coach Danny Hurley.
“Nobody’s been better than UConn the last 25 years,” said Bilas, now a veteran analyst for ESPN.
Part of the fun in discussions of who qualifies as a blue blood is that there’s rarely consensus.
Bilas said he considered Michigan State, which won titles in 1979 and 2000 and has made eight additional Final Four appearances, a blue blood but understood not everyone agreed — including Spartans coach Tom Izzo.
“Oddly enough,” Bilas said, “Izzo would say no and I used to argue with him and say, ‘No, you’re a blue blood’ and he’d be like, ‘Nah, I’m not sure we’ve achieved that.’ ”
UCLA remains firmly entrenched as a blue blood despite its recent lack of titles, Bilas said, because of its three consecutive Final Fours under coach Ben Howland from 2006-08 and another appearance under coach Mick Cronin in 2021.
“It’s kind of hard to go against UCLA winning 10 out of 12 and they’re not a blue blood,” Bilas said. “Now, even though UCLA hasn’t really sustained the same sort of dominance, they haven’t fallen off a cliff, either. It’s just when your standard is to win 10 out of 12, nothing looks quite as good. So UCLA is in there and they’re probably top five.”
One of the biggest questions in parsing blue bloods is where is the cutoff line? Do schools like Louisville and Villanova, with multiple championships, belong? What about Syracuse, which won just one title but enjoyed a decades-long run of success under coach Jim Boeheim?
UCLA coach John Wooden and his players celebrate with their trophy after defeating Duke to win the 1964 national title in Kansas City, Mo.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
“To me,” Bilas said, “blue blood is more of a feeling than a recognized moniker that we hand out like, ‘OK, here are our blue bloods’ and ‘Hey, you’re almost a blue blood, another few years and you’ll get in.’ There’s no arbiter for that, but it’s an interesting barroom question.”
Cronin said he considered a blue blood to be defined by the public’s perception of who’s supposed to be good, listing the New York Yankees, Dallas Cowboys and Dodgers based on their success when most adults were growing up.
“These teams are historically good teams and have won titles and competed at a high level, so there’s a connotation with a certain program whether it’s college football or basketball, whether it’s the NBA or whatever,” Cronin said. “Who are the blue bloods in the NBA? You would say [Boston] Celtics, Lakers. And then really, that stems from the ‘80s, but we would say that because that’s what we all [knew as children.]”
But perception can differ from reality, Cronin said, given downturns by those same teams. UCLA and North Carolina are trying to rebound from recent struggles — the Bruins posted a losing record last season and the Tar Heels failed to make the NCAA tournament two years ago. Both have learned that being considered a blue blood doesn’t put extra points on the scoreboard.
Along those lines, Cronin said, he’d rather be a big boy — a team with the most money — than a blue blood.
“All you’ve got to do is look at who’s getting what recruits,” Cronin said. “Look, you’re talking about certain kids, they’re going to the highest bidder now — 90% of these kids in basketball and football. I’d rather be a big boy than a blue blood in this era because the big boy’s got the advantage.”
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Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Dominiq Ponder died this weekend, the team’s head coach Deion Sanders confirmed on Sunday with a social media post.
“God please comfort the Ponder family, friends and loved ones,” Sanders wrote on social media. “Dom was one of my favorites! He was Loved, Respected & a Born Leader. Let’s pray for all that knew him & had the opportunity to be in his presence. Lord you’re receiving a good 1. Comfort us Lord Comfort us.”
Ponder was 23 years old.
Details of Ponder’s death are not yet known.
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders watches his team warm up before an NCAA college football game against TCU Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in Fort Worth, Texas. (Tony Gutierrez/AP Photo)
Ponder, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound signal caller, joined the Buffaloes and “Coach Prime’s” program in 2024 after spending time at Bethune-Cookman before making his way to Boulder.
Last season, Ponder played just two games for the Buffaloes while serving in his backup role. He recorded two rush attempts and one pass attempt.
The Opa Locka, Fla., native also received tribute from a fellow quarterback with the Buffaloes, Colton Allen.
Bethune-Cookman QB Dominiq Ponder takes a snap during the Wildcats’ spring game Saturday, April 22, 2023, at Daytona Stadium. (IMAGN)
“Dom, you were a blessing to so many people,” Allen wrote on Instagram. “You had a presence about you that just made everything better. You brought so much joy to me and everyone around you. I’m grateful for every lift, every practice, every rep, every conversation we got to share. I’ll carry those with me for the rest of my life.”
Ponder was going to be a part of Colorado’s spring practices, which are set to begin on Monday. It’s unknown if Sanders will postpone the start due to Ponder’s passing.
Ponder also received a tribute from the University of Central Florida.
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders watches his players warm up before an NCAA college football game against Utah, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (Tyler Tate/AP Photo)
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“Our prayers are with Dominiq and the Ponder family along with all in the Colorado football program,” the university’s football account on X wrote.
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Sunday was “Senior Night” for the USC women’s basketball team at Galen Center, but it was the other team’s seniors who stole the show.
Gabriela Jaquez scored 14 points, Kiki Rice had 11 points and four assists and Lauren Betts had 15 rebounds and five assists as UCLA wrapped up the regular season with a 73-50 victory over its rival and finished undefeated in conference play for the first time since going 18-0 in the Pac-10 in 1998-99 under Kathy Olivier.
Having already clinched the regular-season title, UCLA became the first team to navigate the Big Ten schedule without a loss since Maryland in 2014-15.
“These are two elite programs, we knew it would be different tonight, we knew they’d come with fire,” said UCLA coach Cori Close, who improved to 9-4 against the Trojans since counterpart Lindsay Gottlieb started at USC in 2021. “We knew we’d have to do it with our defense, our rebounding and by taking care of the ball.”
It was the Bruins’ 22nd consecutive win, one shy of the record they set last season. Since their lone loss to then-No. 4 Texas on Nov. 26 in Las Vegas, they have won by 20 or more points 17 times.
Ranked second in the nation in both the Associated Press and coaches’ polls behind defending national champion Connecticut (30-0), the Bruins earned the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament in Indianapolis and got a bye into Friday’s quarterfinals.
Charlisse Leger-Walker, nicknamed “X-ray vision” by teammates, equaled her season high with 20 points for the Bruins (28-1, 18-0) while Gianna Kneepkens added 14 points and five assists.
“Anytime we play together we know we can win,” Leger-Walker said. “We did a good job looking into the scout. Every game we just think about going 1-0. People scouting us know that all five players on the court can score the ball.”
UCLA center Lauren Betts, left, controls the ball in front of USC forward Vivian Iwuchukwu during the first half Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
UCLA held USC to 27% shooting in the teams’ first meeting — a 34-point Bruins victory at Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 3 behind Betts’ 18 points. It was USC’s most lopsided loss under coach Lindsay Gottlieb. On Sunday, USC shot 39% and was only three for 19 from three-point range.
“Going undefeated [in conference] is a great step in the right direction towards what we want to accomplish,” said Jaquez, who appreciated the flowers she received before the game from USC. “I love this rivalry. It’s super fun to play against them and it was nice that they honored us too.”
UCLA jumped out to a 14-4 lead in the first five minutes and carried a 19-11 advantage into the second quarter. The Bruins widened the gap to 18 points by halftime, holding the Trojans scoreless for the last 3:08.
USC (17-12, 9-9) opened the second half on an 11-2 run but gave up 14 second-chance points and allowed 22 offensive rebounds.
UCLA guard Kiki Rice, front, and forward Angela Dugalic celebrate as USC guard Kennedy Smith walks away during the first half Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
“If we get more possessions than our opponent we’re most likely going to win,” Close said. “We didn’t allow one basket on an out-of-bounds play and they lead the conference in that.”
Freshman guard Jazzy Davidson, USC’s leading scorer, got into early foul trouble but still finished with 12 points. She was held to 10 points on four-for-15 shooting in the first meeting.
“It was a great crowd, we were in the fight but we didn’t rebound or shoot well enough,” Gottlieb said. “We wanted to keep them out of our paint. We swarmed Betts, double-teamed her and got it out of her hands but other people scored.”
Londynn Jones, who spent three seasons in Westwood (playing in 108 straight games) before transferring to USC for her senior year, was held to six points in the team’s first meeting and nine points (on four-of-10 shooting) in the rematch. The Trojans’ other senior, Kara Dunn, was held scoreless in the first half and finished with eight points.
“I love Londynn,” Close said. “We think she looks better in blue, but we love her and I told her that. I appreciate all she gave to our programs.”
Asked if this is the best team she has ever coached, Close had a one-word answer.
“Yes.”
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Israel’s national gymnastics team has suspended all training and team activities amid the recent Iranian counter-attack on the country following the U.S.-assisted strikes on Iran.
The Israel Gymnastics Federation (IGF) provided a statement to Fox News Digital announcing the violence has caused “unavoidable disruptions.”
“The current security situation in our region has resulted in unavoidable disruptions to our regular training schedule and has created significant uncertainty regarding the national teams’ professional plans, particularly as we are at the outset of the international season,” the statement read.
“At this time, all training activities have been temporarily suspended, pending approval from the relevant authorities to safely resume operations. Naturally, the suspension of training and the closure of airspace are causing considerable stress and concern. However, the safety and well-being of our gymnasts and professional staff remain our highest priority. We sincerely hope for safer and calmer days ahead, when we can focus solely on sport.”
A source within the team told Fox News Digital on Saturday that the gymnasts have been moving between bomb shelters since Iran’s counterstrikes began.
Israel’s gymnastics team is considered one of nation’s strongest Olympic programs alongside its Judo and sailing teams. The team is only a week removed from a successful trip at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Germany, where the country’s star Artem Dolgopyat won the gold medal in floor gymnastics.
Now, the team will have to seek safety until the attacks are over.
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has directed all U.S. government employees and their family members to continue to shelter in place either in or near their residences as Iran continues to fire missiles at Israel.
Additionally, the embassy announced that due to the security situation, it would be closed on March 2, and did not give an estimate on when it would be reopening. The closure includes consular sections in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
The embassy also said it is “not in a position at this time to evacuate or directly assist Americans in departing Israel.” It noted that Ben Gurion Airport remains closed and there there are neither commercial nor charter flights operating from the airport.
On Friday, ahead of the launch of Operation Epic Fury, the embassy gave all non-essential workers permission to leave Israel, with reports that U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee urged those looking to leave to do so as soon as possible.
Iranian airstrikes killed at least eight Israelis on Sunday as Tehran’s latest missile barrage landed just miles from Jerusalem.
The strikes landed in the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh. Initial reports said four people were killed when missiles landed in a residential area on Sunday, but that death toll rose to eight, according to Israel’s national emergency service.
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Iran’s military has carried out counterattacks against Israel and U.S. bases in the Middle East after a joint U.S.-Israeli strike killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.
The strikes also killed several other top Iranian leaders, including the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
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