UCLA has answered a four-game losing streak and a stretch of five losses in six games with a four-game win streak. Following the latest one on Monday in an 82-76 victory over USC, Mick Cronin gave credit to the Bruins for figuring it out.

The UCLA Bruins are in their first season in the Big Ten Conference. With that expansion of the conference, coaches like Mick Cronin are dealing with some new challenges, including handling the travel and a difficult conference schedule.

Tim says Michigan bonding in California for a week ... Tim gives credit to Dusty May for assembling this roster. 27:30 - Mick Cronin lost his mind Tim likes the way Dusty handled coaching better ...

Less than a month after their coach called them soft and delusional, the Bruins have turned things around by drawing a line between cordial relationships off the court and competitive connections

UCLA basketball head coach Mick Cronin explained why his team is having difficulty in the new Big 10 conference.

UCLA basketball coach Mick Cronin has been on one lately. First, he ripped his own players in a postgame rant after a loss to Michigan on Jan. 8. Just a few days later, he got ejected on purpose late in the game during an eventual loss to Maryland.

"Whoever did it, I get it. I mean, it's probably virtually impossible to make the schedule, but I just know it hasn't been good for us," Cronin said. "Michigan was in LA three days before we were."

The Bruins’ winning streak is at four games with reason for additional optimism after a hard-fought 82-76 victory at the Galen Center, while Trojans coach Eric Musselman’s quickly assembled roster

That means it is time to keep closer tabs on the goings-on in men’s Big Ten hoops action. This Bracketology series will serve to give an approximate idea of where the conference’s best teams may be seeded in the big dance, but it will also check in on top teams’ recent form as well as their upcoming schedules.

A busy week in the Big Ten created significant volatility in the conference standings. However, those results did lead to significant movement at the bottom of the rankings. Minnesota (2-0), USC (1-0) and Ohio State (1-0) each made big jumps,

Under the leadership of Dusty May, it looked like Michigan was poised to become the next juggernaut in the Big Ten, and while that still might be the case, the Wolverines definitely hit some stumbling blocks with recent road losses to Minnesota and Purdue.

A lot was revealed about the Bruins on Jan. 7. While it was then-No. 24 Michigan who bulldozed then-No. 22 UCLA by 19 points – handing the Bruins their second consecutive conference defeat – Wolverine center Vladislav Goldin simultaneously positioned a spotlight on the Bruins’ greatest weakness: their height.