Men's Basketball AP Poll: Winning Streak Vaults UCLA Into Top 5

Thanks to their 12th and 13th victories in a row, the Bruins continued their climb up the national rankings on Monday.

The Bruins winning streak has reached new heights, which is continuing to pay dividends in the rankings.

UCLA men's basketball (16-2, 7-0 Pac-12) went from No. 7 up to No. 5 in the latest edition of the AP Poll on Monday. The Bruins earned 1,237 points – up from 1,108 points from a week ago – ascending to their highest ranking since Jan. 31, 2022.

The week began with a 68-49 drubbing of Utah on Thursday, followed by a 68-54 comeback win over Colorado on Saturday. Those two wins made it 13 in a row for UCLA, which is the longest winning streak in major men's college basketball.

UCLA currently ranks No. 6 in the NET Rankings, No. 3 in the KenPom and No. 3 in the BARTHAG.

Houston, Kansas, Purdue and Alabama held strong in the top four, while Tennessee's loss to unranked Kentucky opened up the No. 5 spot for UCLA to slide in. No. 6 Gonzaga, No. 7 Texas, No. 8 Xavier and No. 10 Virginia all moved up multiple spots, while UConn dropped from No. 6 down to No. 15 after an 0-2 showing this week.

Arizona also dropped from No. 9 to No. 11 after losing to Oregon in Eugene.

The only other Pac-12 team to receive votes was Arizona State, which improved to 15-3 with a perfect road trip against the Oregon schools. The Sun Devils picked up 79 points, putting them three spots and 36 points out of the top 25.

UCLA will face Arizona State in Tempe on Thursday before taking on Arizona in Tucson on Saturday.

The full AP Poll is listed below:

1. Houston (17-1), 1460 points (34 first-place votes)
2. Kansas (16-1), 1446 (23)
3. Purdue (16-1), 1382 (3)
4. Alabama (15-2), 1347
5. UCLA (16-2), 1237
6. Gonzaga (16-3), 1178
7. Texas (15-2), 1122
8. Xavier (15-3), 1047
9. Tennessee (14-3), 1019
10. Virginia (13-3), 926
11. Arizona (15-3), 838
12. Iowa State (13-3), 795
13. Kansas State (15-2), 771
14. TCU (14-3), 753
15. UConn (15-4), 668
16. Auburn (14-3), 553
17. Miami (FL) (14-3), 487
18. Charleston (18-1), 351
19. Clemson (15-3), 339
20. Marquette (14-5), 306
21. Baylor (12-5), 267
22. Providence (14-4), 262
23. Rutgers (13-5), 131
24. Florida Atlantic (16-1), 126
25. Arkansas (12-5), 115

Others Receiving Votes: North Carolina State 111, Saint Mary's 106, Arizona State 79, New Mexico 67, Illinois 61, San Diego State 44, Michigan State 29, Duke 24, Wisconsin 14, Creighton 9, Kent State 8, Boise State 6, Texas A&M 5, Ohio State 3, Missouri 3, VCU 2, Iowa 2, North Carolina 1

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