UCLA May Need USC’s Help to Play On

UCLA’s second-ranked water polo team finds itself in an awkward position this weekend. If the Bruins (16-4) don’t win the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament which begins today at Newport Harbor High, they’ll have to root for USC.

The top-ranked Trojans (21-2) figure to get the one at-large berth to the four-team NCAA championships--Dec. 4 and 6 at Corona del Mar High--if they don’t get the conference’s automatic spot by winning the MPSF tournament.

“We hope it doesn’t get to that,” said UCLA Coach Guy Baker, whose team upset the Trojans, 6-3, Saturday. “But SC already has a bid locked up either way so we have to win it or hope they do.”

In today’s opening round, No. 8 Long Beach State (10-14) plays USC at 9 a.m., No. 3 Stanford (17-6) meets No. 5 California (11-10) at 10:30, fourth-ranked UC Irvine (18-6) faces No. 7 Pacific (8-13) at 1, and the Bruins play No. 6 Pepperdine (11-10) at 2:30.

Semifinals are scheduled for 1 and 2:30 p.m. Saturday with the championship game set for 2:30 Sunday.