Steve Alford Top Quotations

Everything that UCLA stands for, it's top of the food chain. So you either look at those things as burdens or you look at them as blessings. From day one, I've told my staff we're going to look at it as a blessing and do everything we can to build champions.

Since those things broke we are 7-2, and five of those wins have come against top 25 opponents. There's a Big Ten title in there, and I think that tells everyone where our energy and focus has been.

I thought we were going to be pretty good. And I always thought Michigan, with everybody healthy and coming back would be tough. I don't think it's a surprise at all that the two of us are at the top of the league.

That's why we're the No. 1 league in the country. It's obvious. We respect everyone, and we have to play well. ... We're down to five games, but a lot can change. Teams near the top could be in the middle. Two weeks from now we might be talking about teams at the bottom no longer being at the bottom.

They've been on the top of our league for the last five years. They've been the team to beat for a long time and not a lot of people have been able to do it.

I knew when we met in Chicago (for media day). I thought we were going to be pretty good because we're healthy, and I thought Michigan, with everybody coming back, they'd be one of the top teams in the league. Both of us have done a nice job at the midpoint. I'm not surprised at all.

It's very difficult to win road games, but it's hard to win homes games (too). If, all of a sudden, you don't play well -- a game where you don't make shots or where you're not on top of your game defensively -- you really run the risk of losing regardless of where the game is being played ... This league is very demanding, very difficult.

This was a big game in a lot of ways. If we can get five wins against Top 25 teams, that's pretty special. You can't take that away, and it bodes well when we look at the postseason.

There's a lot that can change in five games, including the standings. Two weeks from now we might be talking about teams at the bottom of our league no longer at the bottom and teams at the top of the league no longer at the top.