UCLA Basketball: Bruins Rise in Pac-12 Power Rankings With Win Against Oregon

The Bruins are soaring up the Pac-12 rankings.

UCLA men's basketball is shooting up the Pac-12 rankings after their latest 71-63 win over Oregon. On the Eugene Register Guard's rankings, the Bruins have skyrocketed from No. 10 in the conference to No. 4, since they are now tied for the fourth-best conference record after wins this past week over Oregon and Oregon State.

The Bruins are now on their first three-game winning streak since the beginning of the 2023-2024 season. In total, they have won five out of their last six games, and are 11-11 overall, including 6-5 versus Pac-12 teams.

Even after UCLA was counted out when they fell to 6-11 because the team did not look like it could live up to the standard of the previous three years, the young Bruins did not give up. Now, it's starting to pay off as the Bruins rise higher in their conference standings. 

In a competitive Pac-12, UCLA is now beating their conference rivals, which is ultimately most important for the conference standings, and trying to make March Madness. It also helps that top teams of the conference like Oregon and Arizona have proven to be far from invincible. 

Even the top three teams in the Pac-12 are within two games of UCLA in terms of their conference records. Arizona is still No. 1 in the Pac-12 with an 8-3 conference record and 17-5 overall record, while Washington State is 16-6 overall and 7-4 in the Pac-12, and Oregon is 15-7 overall with a 7-4 conference record.

UCLA will face two tests again this week as they head back on the road to take on Cal and Stanford. Though Stanford and Cal previously beat the Bruins this season, this team looks like they're in a much better position to get a couple of wins over these rivals now than earlier in the year.