It's doubtful that HBO has given UCLA a special advantage in the Bruins' drive to the Final Four.

But if coach Ben Howland had arranged for his team to see a special showing of The UCLA Dynasty (premiering at 8 tonight), UCLA might have beaten Kansas by 50 points instead of 13 on Saturday.

The UCLA Dynasty is a robust documentary tracing the incredible success of the university's basketball program, which captured an astounding 10 national titles during a 12-year run, beginning in 1964.

Along the way, the Bruins established a sports record that probably never will never be broken: 88 consecutive wins by a college basketball team.

The hour can be considered as a modern electronic equivalent of Knute Rockne's famous Notre Dame pep talk: "Let's win one for the Gipper!"

Famed coach John Wooden is still alive, so its doubtful any Bruins player would have run out on the floor before the Kansas game, yelling: "Let's win one for the Wizard of Westwood."

Still, the hour, basically a soaring tribute to the genius of Wooden and the winning spirit he instilled in his players, could have inspired this team on its road to Atlanta.

And UCLA players could have received two timely tips that Howland probably hasn't thought about.

First, Wooden made sure his players knew their gym socks shouldn't be wrinkled on the balls of their feet.

And, secondly, he always instructed his players how to properly lace their basketball shoes.

Happy feet were important. No wonder Wooden won 88 consecutive games.

Like most HBO sports documentaries, The UCLA Dynasty features superb archival films and commentary by the 96-year-old Wooden, his players, assistant coaches, school officials, newspaper columnists and broadcasters, including CBS' Dick Enberg, who covered much of the Wooden reign for a Los Angeles TV station.

Told mostly in chronological style, the hour documents how the painfully shy Wooden arrived from Purdue in the early '60s to revive the stagnant UCLA basketball program.

How stagnant?

The basketball team shared the gym with the college's gymnasts.

The dynasty is really the story of two eras, led by overpowering centers Lew Alcindor (now Kareem-Abdul Jabbar) and Bill Walton.

You'll be reminded that Wooden's teams dominated college basketball while the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement and the political scandal during the Nixon administration often turned the Westwood campus into a cauldron of social unrest and violent confrontations.

Through it all, Wooden's steady hand prevailed on the basketball court.

A major highlight shows Walton and Wooden talking about their fascinating relationship.

"I was always arguing with him about politics, religion, dress codes, hair lengths," Walton says. "It crossed the line the day I got arrested at a peace rally and coach Wooden had to come down and bail me out of jail."

But when it came to practices and games, Walton knew who was boss.

For the most part, the documentary canonizes Wooden as a collegiate saint.

One major blemish is covered.

Wooden and his coaches were accused in the '70s of ignoring the fact that Sam Gilbert, a major UCLA booster, was furnishing some players with gifts that violated NCAA regulations.

One curious note about participation. Walton and a host of other star players from the two eras are featured in interviews. Missing, for whatever reason, is any lengthy on-camera conversation with Abdul-Jabbar.

Still, The UCLA Dynasty, which will be aired regularly for the next two weeks and is available "On Demand," is another worthy production from HBO's impressive sports documentary library.

SUNDAY DRIBBLES: Until Georgetown took over in overtime to demolish North Carolina, the game looked as if it might fall into "a game of the ages" category because of the players and coaching connections from 25 years ago, when the Tar Heels edged the Hoyas for the NCAA championship. Michael Jordan hit the winning basket.

But for North Carolina fans, Sunday's game will be the "ache of the ages," since their team scored only one basket in overtime, that coming in the final 7 seconds.

• CBS didn't endear itself to NCAA fans by leaving coverage immediately after the game was over.

Where was the final commentary and interviews with the winners and losers?

I'm aware of network scheduling, pressure by affiliates and commercial commitments.

Still, it was a tacky thing to do.

saundersd@RockyMountainNews.com

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