Off 405, Just Head North . . . : College basketball: UCLA and UC Irvine open seasons by meeting in the Great Alaska Shootout.

UCLA’s sequel to its trip to the NCAA tournament’s Final 16 opens tonight, not far from the waters of Cook Inlet and about 2,400 miles and 60 degrees Fahrenheit from Westwood.

The 11th-ranked Bruins gave up Thanksgiving at home to fly 5 1/2 hours for the Great Alaska Shootout, where tonight at 7 they play UC Irvine, whose campus lies little more than 75 minutes south of UCLA’s by the San Diego Freeway.

Neither team is accustomed to the idea that stepping outside in a sweaty basketball uniform is risking hypothermia. Tonight’s predicted low is 5 degrees.

“We could have played Irvine at Darby Park over in Inglewood,” UCLA Coach Jim Harrick said. “We didn’t have to travel 6,000 miles to play them.”

UCLA, whose only challenge in this eight-team tournament is expected to be a final matchup against 18th-ranked Virginia, might take no particular pleasure in opening against UC Irvine. The Anteaters had a 5-23 record last season, the worst in school history.

But for Irvine, drawing UCLA in this tournament was invigorating, even if the thought of being blown out is daunting.

The Anteaters, 10 national championships and 26 NCAA tournament appearances behind UCLA, have beaten the Bruins twice in three meetings, including a 91-90 victory two seasons ago on Kevin Floyd’s driving layup as the game ended at Irvine’s Bren Center.

“I’d hitchhike to Alaska to go play UCLA,” Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan said. “It didn’t appear they were going to play us anymore after we beat ‘em that year. I’m glad we’re playing them. I’m glad it worked out that way.”

Irvine’s other upset of UCLA was in 1986, an 80-74 victory in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament at Pauley Pavilion.

The Bruins’ only victory over Irvine was in Pauley Pavilion three seasons ago, 116-100.

A score in triple digits is likely in this game as well--for the winning team, at least.

Irvine’s Mulligan says he is committed to an all-out running game. But in UCLA, the Anteaters will run into a team far more equipped to run.

When Mitchell Butler, a 6-foot-5 swing man, claimed the only open starter’s position after a knee injury ended freshman Ed O’Bannon’s season before it began, it gave UCLA a lineup with three outside players and only one true big man, forward Don MacLean.

With Darrick Martin at the point, Gerald Madkins and Butler on the wings and the other forward spot filled by Tracy Murray, a 6-8 sophomore who is an excellent shooter, Harrick has a lineup made for running.

“We want to run and not be crazy with it and continue to play defense,” Harrick said. “I don’t want to get into that mode where you score and just run down there. We’re not into that at all.”

Irvine is.

“People say, ‘You don’t really defend anybody,’ ” Mulligan said. “I say, ‘How many different things can you do?’ ”

The shortcomings of UCLA’s lineup could become apparent in rebounding, with the loss of Trevor Wilson exaggerated by a two-man front line of Murray and MacLean, 6-10.

However, rebounding probably will not be a problem against Irvine, whose center, Ricky Butler, is listed at 6-7 but might be smaller. The forwards are Jeff Herdman, 6-7, and Jeff Von Lutzow, 6-9.

Should UCLA beat Irvine, it will play Saturday at 9 p.m. against the winner of tonight’s game between Texas Tech, 5-22 last season, and Alaska Anchorage, the Division II team that hosts the tournament.

The losers of the two games tonight will meet Saturday at 4 p.m.

The Great Alaska Shootout has long been one of the more prestigious holiday tournaments, with such alumni as Georgetown, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina, Seton Hall and Syracuse.

But this year’s field--which includes three teams that did not have winning records last season--is considered so weak that ESPN chose to broadcast only the title game, and organizers are increasingly concerned about the future of the tournament. Proposed NCAA changes involving the start of the season and exemptions from the 28-game limit could end the tournament, organizers say.

In this field, UCLA conceiveably could have two exhibition-caliber games before an anticipated final against Virginia, which has Bryant Stith and four other starters back from a team that was 20-12, losing to Syracuse by two points in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

“If we get a chance to be in the finals of the Alaska Shootout, I think that would be a good test for us,” Harrick said.

“I really like the thought of opening like this, on the road with three games in four days. It gives you a chance to look at your players and maybe try some things too.”

It gives Irvine a chance to try to do something too: Try to stop UCLA.

Notes

Today’s other first-round pairings, with last season’s record in parentheses: Siena (16-13) vs. Virginia (20-12) at 2 p.m., Nevada Reno (15-12) vs. South Carolina (14-14) at 4 p.m., and Texas Tech (5-22) vs. Alaska Anchorage (22-8) at 9 p.m. All times PST. . . . UCLA freshman Rodney Zimmerman, who practiced lightly this week after undergoing arthroscopic surgery about three weeks ago, made the trip but probably will not play. . . . UC Irvine starting point guard Gerald McDonald injured his right ring finger in practice this week but will play with it taped. X-rays were inconclusive.

* PREVIEWS: A look at the UCLA and USC women’s basketball teams. C13.