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Sean La Fond, a business student of the College of Mount Saint Vincent in New York (left), and Ke

The UCLA men’s basketball team has begun its preparations for Thursday’s game in Tucson, Ariz.

Question is, have you?

After a few disappointing seasons that saw them miss the NCAA Tournament, the Bruins are back on the bracket. However, the short absence from the big dance has left many Bruins inexperienced and forgetful of what to do when it comes to postseason collegiate basketball.

But look no further than Westwood.

Nothing creates a sense of community like having your college team become part of March Madness, and there is no better way to harness that sense of camaraderie than to gather with fellow UCLA students, head for the bars, take to the sauce and yell really loudly at a TV screen.

Here are some of your options:

MALONEY’S

Bars are supposed to be dark, windowless and cut off from the exterior world.

Maloney’s is all three.

From the moment you walk into the place, your eyes adjusting to the darkness and the intense flicker of sports highlights jumping off of over 10 TV screens, it’s easy to understand why it has been a student favorite for so many years. It’s impossible to sit out of TV range and all of the wood trim makes the place look really smart.

Maloney’s is steeped in Bruin tradition and you can even find some UCLA old-timers come around to catch a game from time to time. Looking for a little St. Patty’s Day spirit? Maloney’s will be serving Irish breakfast, corned beef sandwiches and green beer throughout the day.

SEPI’S

Sepi’s has been around forever, and is thus the traditional favorite.

The place is considerably smaller than Maloney’s and less stocked, with only three TVs, but owner Alex Cho came across as such a nice guy that I’d be willing to stop by and take in a game at this place, drink his brew, and eat one of his giant submarine sandwiches any day of the week.

Representatives from Budweiser will be around to pass out $1 off coupons to spread St. Patrick’s Day joy, which will make getting well plastered that much more affordable.

Cho himself assured me that his place would be the tops on Thursday night.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” he said. “This is UCLA’s place, and we’ve got a history of Bruin basketball here.”

Red-and-white checkered tablecloths are a plus, as well.

WESTWOOD BREWING

COMPANY

Didn’t find time to return my phone call, so I don’t think I’ll be finding time to spend my money here.

It has more of a restaurant feel to it than, say, that of a place to let loose and watch the game, anyway. The tourney will be on and if they run out of booze they can just make more, so come here if you must.

BJ’S

Don’t go here. There is nothing UCLA about this place.

They don’t care about the team or the tournament because its just another one of those chain stores. There’s barely any UCLA paraphernalia in the restaurant, and the place just isn’t sports friendly with the poorly positioned TV sets.

And if you get too rowdy, they’ll probably kick you out. Pizookies should be enough to lure some Bruins, however.

YOUR APARTMENT

Are you seriously that lazy ...?

AND THE #1 PICK IS:

Maloney’s. The place reeks of charm and is the only true sports bar in Westwood. Go ahead and say what’s up to Cho at Sepi’s on your way there, though.

E-mail Johnson where you are watching the tourney at ejohnson@media.ucla.edu.