Men's Basketball AP Poll: UCLA Plummets to New Low After Winless Weekend
The national media has hopped off the Bruins' bandwagon.
UCLA men's basketball (16-4, 8-3 Pac-12) fell all the way from No. 3 to No. 12 in the latest edition of the AP Poll on Monday. The Bruins did not receive a single first-place vote and totaled 881 points.
This is the first poll all season that has placed UCLA outside the top 10.
After entering the week on a six-game winning streak, sitting atop the Pac-12 standings, UCLA lost to Arizona on Thursday after beating them at home 10 days earlier. The struggles continued on the second leg of the road trip, as the Bruins managed to stay alive for three overtimes before falling to Arizona State, which had just one win in its previous seven contests.
Auburn held onto No. 1 while Gonzaga still stole away a few first-place votes as the No. 2 team. The Tigers have now been the top team in the nation for three-straight weeks, quite the accomplishment considering how much turnover there has been in that position since the end of November.
Around the Pac-12, Arizona moved up from No. 7 to No. 4 after beating UCLA and narrowly defeating USC. The Trojans, meanwhile, moved from No. 19 to 21. The Bruins, Wildcats and Trojans remain the only teams in the conference in the top 25, while Oregon returned to the receiving votes section as it pushes for a bubble spot in the NCAA tournament.
UCLA won't get another crack at Arizona until the Pac-12 tournament should the bracket set the two up for a rubber match, but USC is on the slate for Saturday and the Bruins play unranked Stanford on Tuesday.
The full AP poll is as follows, complete with records and first-place votes:
1. Auburn, 22-1 (48 first-place votes)
2. Gonzaga, 19-2 (13 first-place votes)
3. Purdue, 19-3
4. Arizona, 19-2
5. Kentucky, 19-4
6. Houston, 20-2
7. Duke, 19-3
8. Kansas, 19-3
9. Texas Tech, 18-5
10. Baylor, 19-4
11. Providence, 20-2
12. UCLA, 16-4
13. Illinois, 17-5
14. Wisconsin, 18-4
15. Villanova, 17-6
16. Ohio State, 14-5
17. Michigan State, 17-5
18. Marquette, 16-7
19. Tennessee, 16-6
20. Texas, 17-6
21. USC, 19-4
22. St. Mary’s, 19-4
23. Murray State, 22-2
24. UConn, 15-6
25. Xavier, 16-6
Others receiving votes: Wyoming 82, Arkansas 74, Iowa State 48, Davidson 35, Boise State 22, Wake Forest 21, Alabama 18, Loyola Chicago 13, LSU 11, Indiana 11, Iowa 7, Oregon 5, San Francisco 3, Notre Dame 3, Ohio 2
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