Men’s Basketball AP Poll: UCLA Takes Tumble in Final Rankings

The media took the Bruins’ loss in the Pac-12 title game far more seriously than the NCAA selection committee and oddsmakers.

All it took was one loss to send the Bruins spiraling down the rankings.

UCLA men's basketball (29-5, 18-2 Pac-12) fell from No. 2 to No. 7 in the final AP Poll of the season on Monday. The Bruins earned 1,209 points – down from 1,452 points from a week ago – moving backwards for the first time since Jan. 30, despite still holding onto one first-place vote.

Last week, all 62 voters had the UCLA ranked inside the top four, with the vast majority putting them at No. 2. There was far less agreement this time around, as the Bruins found themselves everywhere from No. 1 to No. 9 on the individual ballots, but mostly between No. 5 and No. 8.

The loss in votes came after UCLA went 2-1 in Las Vegas, defeating Colorado and Oregon in the Pac-12 tournament before losing 61-59 to Arizona in the conference title game without two starters in Jaylen Clark and Adem Bona. The Bruins are tied for the best record by any power conference team, won the Pac-12 regular season title by four games, went undefeated at home, are fresh off a 12-game winning streak and have only lost to Quad 1 opponents.

UCLA currently ranks No. 3 in the NET, No. 2 in the KenPom, No. 3 in the T-Rank, No. 4 in the BPI and No. 6 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

The NCAA tournament selection committee was higher on the Bruins than the media, awarding them the No. 2 seed in the West Region on Selection Sunday. UCLA was named the No. 5 seed overall when the full seed list was revealed later in the day.

Even oddsmakers – who are inherently more predictive in their rankings and thus weight Clark’s absence and Bona’s uncertain status more heavily – are giving the Bruins better odds to win the NCAA tournament this year. FanDuel has UCLA tied for the second-best odds, DraftKings is giving them the fifth-best odds and BetMGM has them tied for the fifth-best odds.

Alabama took over as No. 1 in the final AP Poll after winning the SEC tournament, while Houston dropped to No. 2 following its loss to Memphis in the AAC tournament final without All-American guard Marcus Sasser. Purdue also climbed back up to No. 3 after winning the Big Ten tournament, and Kansas only fell to No. 4 despite getting blown out by Texas – which rose to No. 5 – in the Big 12 championship game.

Marquette stayed put at No. 6 following its Big East tournament title, and Arizona remained at No. 8 even after going 3-0 to win the Pac-12 tournament.

That kept UCLA as the highest-ranked team in the conference, and again, no others got votes outside those top two.

Monday’s results also mark the Bruins’ highest finish in the final AP Poll since 2008, when they went into the NCAA tournament ranked No. 3.

The full final AP Poll is listed below:

1. Alabama (29-5), 1508 points (48 first-place votes)
2. Houston (29-3), 1404 (9)
3. Purdue (29-5), 1367 (3)
4. Kansas (27-7), 1303
5. Texas (26-8), 1276
6. Marquette (28-6), 1244
7. UCLA (29-5), 1209 (1)
8. Arizona (28-6), 1155
9. Gonzaga (28-5), 1046
10. UConn (25-8), 854
11. Baylor (22-10), 779
12. Duke (26-8), 763
13. Xavier (25-9), 738
14. Virginia (25-7), 711
15. Kansas State (23-9), 709
16. Miami (FL) (25-7), 581
17. Texas A&M (25-9), 562
18. San Diego State (27-6), 550
19. Saint Mary’s (25-7), 426
20. Tennessee (23-10), 381
21. Indiana (22-11), 332
22. TCU (21-12), 254
23. Missouri (24-9), 171
24. Memphis (26-8), 110
25. Florida Atlantic (31-3), 99

Others Receiving Votes: Creighton 94, Oral Roberts 58, Kentucky 39, Iowa State 32, VCU 26, Utah State 15, Penn State 11, Charleston 10, West Virginia 2, Drake 2, Kent State 2, Northwestern 2

Follow Connon on Twitter at @SamConnon
Follow All Bruins on Twitter at @FN_AllBruins
Like All Bruins on Facebook at @FN.AllBruins
Subscribe to All Bruins on YouTube

Read more UCLA stories: UCLA Bruins on Sports Illustrated
Read more UCLA men's basketball stories: UCLA Men's Basketball on Sports Illustrated