Men's Basketball AP Poll: UCLA Jumps After Opening Pac-12 Play
A four-game winning streak has the Bruins back on the rise in the national polls.
UCLA men's basketball (7-2) went from No. 21 back to No. 19 in the latest edition of the AP Poll on Monday. The Bruins earned 479 points – up from 346 points from a week ago – and ultimately reclaimed the spot they held two weeks ago.
The beginning of Pac-12 play allowed UCLA to climb back up a bit, with the blue and gold besting Stanford on Thursday and Oregon on Sunday. Although neither opponent has a winning record, they still stand as the first power conference teams the Bruins have slain this season.
UCLA debuted at No. 14 in the first NET Rankings on Monday, and they currently stand at No. 8 in the KenPom and No. 4 in the BARTHAG.
The top three remained unchanged, with Houston, Texas and Virginia each holding onto their spots. Purdue climbed one spot to No. 4, while UConn bumped Arizona out of the top five by extending their undefeated season another week.
The Wildcats are still the Pac-12's highest-ranked team at No. 10, although the Bruins closed the gap some thanks to their rivals' loss to Utah in their conference opener. No other Pac-12 teams made it into the top 25, but Arizona State and Utah picked up 20 and 16 points in the receiving votes section, respectively.
UCLA has two ranked opponents on its remaining nonconference schedule, starting with a road game at Maryland on Dec. 14. The Terrapins improved to 8-0 with wins over Louisville and No. 17 Illinois, which bumped them up from No. 22 to No. 13 – the largest week-to-week leap in the top 25.
Kentucky is the other ranked team coming up for the Bruins, with that game set to take place on Dec. 17 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Wildcats moved up from No. 19 to No. 16, reversing their slide through the polls from the past few weeks.
In the meantime, though, UCLA has one game this week against unranked Denver.
The full AP Poll is listed below:
1. Houston (8-0), 1502 points (37 first-place votes)
2. Texas (6-0), 1473 (14)
3. Virginia (7-0), 1416 (3)
4. Purdue (8-0), 1411 (8)
5. UConn (9-0), 1295
6. Kansas (8-1), 1131
7. Tennessee (7-1), 1046
8. Alabama (7-1), 1029
9. Arkansas (7-1), 1021
10. Arizona (7-1), 1013
11. Auburn (8-1), 853
12. Baylor (6-2), 841
13. Maryland (8-0), 811
14. Indiana (7-1), 759
15. Duke (8-2), 745
16. Kentucky (6-2), 596
17. Illinois (6-2), 554
18. Gonzaga (5-3), 517
19. UCLA (7-2), 479
20. Iowa State (7-1), 376
21. Creighton (6-3), 346
22. San Diego State (6-2), 265
23. Mississippi State (8-0), 187
24. TCU (6-1), 113
25. Ohio State (6-2), 81
Others Receiving Votes: TCU 45, Iowa 31, Charleston 20, West Virginia 14, Mississippi State 12, Texas Tech 11, Michigan 8, Wisconsin 6, Arizona State 6, UNLV 6, Miami (FL) 5, Missouri 2, Oklahoma 2, St. John's 1, Virginia Tech 1, New Mexico 1, Kansas State 1
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