Men’s Basketball AP Poll: UCLA Leaps Forward Following Undefeated Week

The Bruins clawed their way back up the rankings after taking care of business against Arizona, Cal and Stanford while Kansas and Baylor fell.

The Bruins’ three wins in one week helped them regain their footing in the rankings, flipping spots with their rival Wildcats in the process.

UCLA men's basketball (15-2, 8-1 Pac-12) climbed from No. 7 to No. 3 in the latest edition of the AP Poll on Monday. The Bruins did not receive a single first-place vote and totaled 1,338 points.

It took a bit for UCLA to settle in after its 26-day COVID-19 hiatus last month, looking shaky in a shootout win over Long Beach State before falling to Oregon in overtime a week later. Since then, the Bruins have rattled off six wins in a row, three in the past week alone, beating then-No. 3 Arizona, Cal and a Stanford team that had just beat a ranked USC team for the second time in three weeks.

UCLA took advantage of the three teams ahead of them that lost – Arizona, Kansas and Baylor – and therefore jumped back into the top-five for the first time in three weeks.

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 back-to-back weeks, quite the accomplishment considering how much turnover there has been in that position since the end of November.

Around the Pac-12, Arizona went from No. 3 to No. 7 after losing to UCLA and narrowly defeating rival Arizona State. USC, meanwhile, tumbled from No. 15 all the way to 19 thanks to their loss to Stanford. The Bruins, Wildcats and Trojans remain the only teams in the conference in the top 25, and even Oregon fell out of the receiving votes section after falling to Colorado at home.

UCLA and Arizona will have a rematch Thursday night in Tucson and could very well swap spots again in next week’s poll depending on the result.

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

1. Auburn, 20-1 (49 first-place votes)
2. Gonzaga, 17-2 (12 first-place votes)
3. UCLA, 16-2
4. Purdue, 18-4
5. Kentucky, 17-4
6. Houston 18-3
7. Arizona, 17-2
8. Baylor, 18-3
9. Duke, 17-3
10. Kansas, 17-3
11. Wisconsin, 17-3
12. Villanova, 16-5
13. Michigan State, 16-4
14. Texas Tech, 16-5
15. Providence, 18-2
16. Ohio State, 13-5
17. UConn, 15-4
18. Illinois, 15-5
19. USC, 18-3
20. Iowa State, 16-5
21. Xavier, 15-5
22. Tennessee, 14-6
23. Texas, 16-5
24. Marquette, 15-7
25. LSU, 16-6

Others receiving votes: Alabama 97, Murray State 42, Saint Mary's 32, Boise State 32, Miami (FL) 29, Indiana 22, Davidson 10, Arkansas 7, Iowa 6, Iona 6, TCU 4, Notre Dame 4, Loyola Chicago 4, Colorado State 3, Toledo 1

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