Men's Basketball AP Poll: Winning Streak Bumps UCLA Closer to Top 10

An eighth-straight win to close out nonconference play has the Bruins on the rise yet again.

Once again, the Bruins are on the rise.

UCLA men's basketball (11-2) went from No. 13 up to No. 11 in the latest edition of the AP Poll on Monday. The Bruins earned 906 points – up from 871 points from a week ago – taking a step forward for the fourth week in a row.

It was a relatively quiet week for UCLA following their pair of ranked matchups on the East Coast, as the team played just one game against a smaller opponent back at Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins beat UC Davis 81-54 on Wednesday, and have now won by nine points or more in each game of their eight-game winning streak.

UCLA currently ranks No. 6 in the NET Rankings, No. 4 in the KenPom and No. 3 in the BARTHAG.

There wasn’t much change towards the top of the AP Poll during Christmas week, with Virginia standing out as the lone team to drop out of the top 10. The Cavaliers’ loss to Miami (FL) made the Hurricanes the biggest riser of the week, but Virginia is still one spot ahead of their ACC foes in the mid-teens.

Arizona is still the Pac-12's highest-ranked team at No. 5. Arizona State, meanwhile, fell out of the top 25 following a 27-point loss to San Francisco. USC is the only team in the conference in the receiving votes section, coming in with four points.

UCLA is now done with nonconference play and won’t face a ranked opponent until playing Arizona on the road Jan. 21.

The full AP Poll is listed below:

1. Purdue (12-0), 1478 points (40 first-place votes)
2. UConn (13-0), 1459 (20)
3. Houston (12-1), 1351
4. Kansas (11-1), 1299
5. Arizona (12-1), 1274
6. Texas (10-1), 1144
7. Tennessee (10-2), 1068
8. Alabama (10-2), 1067
9. Arkansas (11-1), 1017
10. Gonzaga (10-3), 940
11. UCLA (11-2), 906
12. Baylor (9-2), 868
13. Virginia (8-2), 861
14. Miami (FL) (12-1), 658
15. Wisconsin (9-2), 570
16. Indiana (10-3), 513
17. Duke (10-3), 500
18. TCU (10-1), 480
19. Kentucky (8-3), 439
20. Auburn (10-2), 237
21. Mississippi State (11-1), 215
22. New Mexico (12-0), 147
22. Xavier (10-3), 147
24. West Virginia (10-2), 126
25. North Carolina (9-4), 112

Others Receiving Votes: Charleston 102, Maryland 87, Memphis 74, Illinois 65, Ohio State 59, Virginia Tech 57, Missouri 57, San Diego State 39, Iowa State 19, Marquette 12, Texas Tech 10, Michigan State 7, Providence 6, Kansas State 5, USC 4, San Francisco 1

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