The collegiate basketball world outside of UCLA breathed a collective sigh of relief after the UCLA Bruins won the 1969 National Championship. Lew Alcindor (who later changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabar in the NBA) was lastly graduating. UCLA Bruins also lost three other major contributors from the '69 Championship team, two of which were starters. Many wondered if the new look UCLA Bruins would be able to return to championship glory?

Prior to the season, many media and coaches' polls chose other schools as the number 1 preseason favorite. The agreement was that returning starters, senior guard John Vallely and junior forward Curtis Rowe, would need important help if the UCLA Bruins were to win the 1970 National Championship. They found just what they were looking for with the play of junior forward Sidney Wicks, junior center Steve Patterson, and sophomore guard Henry Bibby. After more than a few non-conference games to start the Basketball season during which the UCLA Bruins destroyed their opponents, the people who had doubted the UCLA Bruins before the season now realized that UCLA had one of its most balanced teams in history.

During the years with Alcindor, the UCLA Bruins used a low-post offense to take advantage of Alcindor's dominance in the low-post. While the starting center for the 1969-1970 Bruins, Steve Patterson, didn't dominate the low-post like Alcindor was able to, he was very capable at hitting a jumper from the free-throw line. Led by their floor general, guard John Vallely, and the excellent shooting of guard Henry Bibby, the UCLA Bruins used a high-post offense to create open shots for Patterson and kept forwards Sidney Wicks and Curtis Rowe near the basket for rebounds and put-backs. The potential of the UCLA Bruins offense was seen early on in a non-conference game against LSU when the UCLA Bruins scored a school record 133 points in a 133-84 victory after coming off a 127-69 win over Miami.