Men's Basketball AP Poll: UCLA Hits Another New Low After USC Loss

The Bruins continued their fall through the rankings by losing three out of four and getting upset by a shorthanded Trojan squad Saturday.

With yet another loss added to the board, the Bruins continue to slip and slide down the polls as the season approaches the final month, even if the latest dip wasn't all too big.

UCLA men's basketball (17-5, 9-4 Pac-12) fell from No. 12 to No. 13 in the latest edition of the AP Poll on Monday. The Bruins did not receive a single first-place vote and totaled 711 points, whereas they earned 881 a week ago.

This is the first poll all season that has placed UCLA outside the top 12. Just two weeks earlier, they were No. 3 in the country.

At that point, the Bruins were riding a six-game winning streak, sitting atop the Pac-12 standings. Ever since, losses to Arizona, Arizona State and now USC have set them back.

Gonzaga took back over at No. 1 with Auburn losing, marking the third separate stint for the Bulldogs atop the polls. A loss to the top team in the nation is about as good a loss can look on a resume, and UCLA has that plus two more ranked defeats.

Around the Pac-12, Arizona moved up from No. 4 to No. 3 after making it through another weekend unscathed. The Trojans, meanwhile, moved from No. 21 to 17, still positioning them behind the same Bruin team they bested two days earlier. Arizona, UCLA and USC remain the only teams in the conference in the top 25, and no others even received votes.

The Bruins and Trojans won't play again until the regular season finale March 5, setting UCLA up to play six unranked opponents between now and then.

The full AP poll is as follows, complete with records and first-place votes:

1. Gonzaga, 21-2 (56 first-place votes)
2. Auburn, 23-2 (4 first-place votes)
3. Arizona, 22-2
4. Kentucky, 21-4
5. Purdue, 22-4
6. Kansas, 20-4
7. Baylor, 21-4
8. Providence, 21-2
9. Duke, 21-4
10. Villanova, 19-6
11. Texas Tech, 19-6
12. Illinois, 18-6
13. UCLA, 17-5
14. Houston, 20-4
15. Wisconsin, 19-5
16. Tennessee, 18-6
17. USC, 21-4
18. Ohio State, 15-6
19. Michigan State, 18-6
20. Texas, 18-7
21. Murray State, 24-2
22. Wyoming, 21-3
23. Arkansas, 19-6
24. UConn, 17-7
25. Alabama, 16-9

Others receiving votes: Marquette 77, Xavier 51, Colorado State 29, Saint Mary's 22, LSU 18, Iowa 17, Notre Dame 17, SMU 14, Rutgers 10, Virginia 4, Miami (FL) 3, Boise State 3, Toledo 3, South Dakota State 3, Belmont 2, San Francisco 2, Vermont 1, Wake Forest 1

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