It's all academic

UCLA interim head coach Mike Johnson said after practice on Monday that "one or two" guys are in question for the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl because of academics, and that he expects to find out tomorrow. Johnson could not reveal the names, but this is not foreign territory for the Bruins.

Redshirt senior center Kai Maiava was academically ineligible for the EagleBank Bowl in 2009, UCLA's last bowl appearance, and he still has not gotten over it.

"I felt really bad about not making that bowl game," Maiava said. "I let myself down, I let my teammates down, I let my family down. I let down all the people who support me."

Maiava, who was ineligble along with former Bruin Morrell Presley, was disconsolate. Come game-time, he was a hermit.

"When I went home and had to watch the bowl game from home, it was really tough on me," Maiava said. "I watched it alone. I could not watch that with anybody. I didn't call anybody all day. I'm just excited I get my senior year to go out and play one last game with my homies, and it's going to be a fun time."