updated 10:35 p.m. ET March 11, 2008

LOS ANGELES - UCLA won its third consecutive Pac-10 regular-season title by three games over Stanford. That virtually assured the third-ranked Bruins a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and a berth near home in the West Region.

But no one has handed them those things just yet.

First they have to play the conference tournament, and the Bruins don’t want a repeat of last year’s 76-69 overtime upset by California in their first game.

That loss, combined with dropping the regular-season finale at Washington, helped cost them a No. 1 seed.

“That was embarrassing,” guard Darren Collison recalled Tuesday. “I remember guys coming back from that game, it was painful. We can’t lose that first game. We’re going to be up for this game.”

The top-seeded Bruins (28-3) await the winner of Wednesday night’s opening game between eighth-seeded Washington (16-15) and No. 9 California (15-14).

The Huskies could be without star center Jon Brockman, who was on crutches Tuesday after injuring his ankle in the second overtime of their loss to Washington State on Saturday.

No. 7 Arizona (18-13) begins a last-ditch effort to make its 24th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance when the Wildcats take on No. 10 Oregon State (6-24), which lost all 18 regular-season league games. That winner will play No. 2 Stanford (24-6) on Thursday at Staples Center.

Other games Thursday pair No. 4 Southern California (20-10) against fifth-seeded Arizona State (19-11), and No. 3 Washington State (23-7) against No. 6 Oregon (18-12).

Collison said he “would love” a rematch with the Huskies, one of two Pac-10 teams to defeat the Bruins this season.

Cal probably wouldn’t mind another shot at UCLA, which beat the Golden Bears by one point Saturday on a controversial shot over the backboard by Josh Shipp. That extended the Bruins’ winning streak to seven games.

“I watched it a lot and I’m still watching it,” a smiling Shipp said. “They counted it, so in my book, it’s a great shot.”

Kevin Love, the Pac-10 player and freshman of the year, said he’s heard a lot of talk about how the Bruins didn’t deserve to win their final two games.

They clinched the regular-season title in overtime against Stanford last Thursday that involved a questionable foul call against the Cardinal’s Lawrence Hill and then won Saturday on Shipp’s shot that tested the NCAA rule book by going over the corner of the backboard.

Video   Hoop It Up: Pac-10 preview March 11: John Walters and Ted Robinson preview the Pac-10 Conference Tournament. NBC Sports

“I had the best view of the whole thing,” Love said. “I was right under the basket, it nearly hit me on the head. From my angle, it could’ve gone either way. It wasn’t over the back of the backboard and it was barely over the corner.”

Cal coach Ben Braun was more ticked off about a non-call involving Ryan Anderson, who he believed was fouled in the waning seconds. Instead, the ball went out of bounds and was awarded to UCLA.

But Braun defended the Bruins against charges that they’re getting undue breaks for being the league’s top program.

“They shouldn’t feel the brunt of any of this,” he said Tuesday. “If those calls happen anywhere other than at the end of the game, you don’t remember them.

“They’re a fine team. They can win without the benefit of a call or without the benefit of any help. Take those calls away, they’ve earned it.”

Several of the league’s coaches believe the Pac-10 merits getting seven teams in the NCAA tournament.

That would involve taking Arizona State and Oregon, both of which finished 9-9, and Arizona, which went 8-10, its worst record 1983-84, the last time the Wildcats didn’t make the NCAA tourney.

“It’s been an incredible year for the Pac-10,” Arizona State coach Herb Sendek said. “If our ninth seed (Cal) can be a shot from behind the backboard from beating our No. 1 (UCLA), that speaks volumes. If our eighth seed (Washington) can beat our No. 1, that speaks volumes.”

Stanford’s Trent Johnson, the league’s coach of the year, agreed.

“There should be seven teams without question,” he said. “It’s pretty obvious when you look at this league, from top to bottom and start to finish, it’s been high-caliber basketball. I’d be surprised if we don’t have seven.”

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