As 68 men’s basketball programs prepare for the start of this week’s NCAA tournament, UCLA head coach Mick Cronin will be busy figuring out how to get the Bruins back to the Big Dance.

UCLA’s rocky season culminated with a regular season that included five consecutive losses before salvaging the finale and quarterfinal exit after winning just one game in the Pac-12 tournament. The 16-17 finish was just the program’s fifth losing season in the past 22 campaigns and the first since 2016.

Cronin missed the NCAA tournament after leading his past 12 teams to the postseason.

The early offseason no longer means more time on the golf course in today’s transfer portal age, though.

“Everybody’s a free agent,” Cronin said after the Bruins’ season ended last Thursday in Las Vegas.

Just hours after Selection Sunday, the news cycle gave way to Defection Monday. Nearly 300 players reportedly entered the portal on the first day it opened. As of this post Tuesday afternoon, no Bruins had entered the portal.

Here’s a look at where UCLA should go from here: