Poll Watch: UCLA Men's Basketball Stuck on Zero

It was a busy and generally successful week in the polls for UCLA Athletics. Except for UCLA Men's Basketball, unfortunately. For the second straight week, UCLA didn't garner a single vote in either the AP Poll or the USA Today Coaches Poll.

I've seen plenty of excuses for Steve Alford's failure to field a basketball team that is regarded as a top-25 team. In year 1, the primary excuse was that he was saddled with Howland's players, and that those players just weren't good enough. In year 2, the primary excuse was that the Bruins were "young and inexperienced."  In year 3, the favorite excuses are that the polls are biased and that the Pac-12 conference is just so good that it's unreasonable to expect the Bruins to win more than a few conference road games.

Let's check the facts. In Ben Howland's final season, UCLA appeared in the AP top-25 six times in 19 weeks, or 31.6% of the time. Coach Howland was fired after that season. Since then, Steve Alford's Bruins have appeared in the AP top-25 ten times in 51 weeks, or 19.6% of the time. It's been even worse since the majority of Howland's players departed at the end of the 2013-14 season. From 2014-15 onward, the Bruins have appeared in the top-25 just three times in 31 weeks, or 9.7% of the time.

That dismal record isn't about to improve any time soon. A loss at home to Washington on Thursday moves Steve Alford's Bruins even further away from consideration for a top-25 spot, and a win today against the cellar-dwelling Washington State Cougars won't do much to improve UCLA's standing in the eyes of the voters. Undoubtedly some will argue that the Huskies are a good team so this week's loss isn't a big deal. Ironically, those are likely to be the same people who talk about how difficult it is to win on the road in the Pac-12.

Sadly, expectations for our men's basketball program continue to decline. We once aspired to conference championships and recognition as an elite basketball program. Judging by the comments of Steve Alford's defenders, the new definition of a successful season seems to be qualification for the NCAA Tournament. And, of course, there's always next year--in the minds of Alford defenders, failures this season are more than offset by the possibility of future success. Clearly, expectations have been managed.

Thankfully, for those with interests that extend beyond UCLA Football and Men's Basketball, the polls provide much better news. UCLA Women's Basketball jumped five spots to #15 in the AP Poll after a 20-point victory over Stanford. UCLA Men's Volleyball remains the top-ranked team in the nation after picking up a pair of wins last week, and UCLA Women's Water Polo is ranked #2 nationally after four good wins against ranked opponents to open the season.

The news was mixed for UCLA's tennis programs. UCLA Men's Tennis held steady at #12 after picking up three sweeps last week, while UCLA Women's Tennis tumbled 12 places in the ITA rankings after splitting a pair of matches. Considering how much talent our women's tennis team lost at the end of last season, it shouldn't be completely surprising if the Bruins struggle a bit in the early going in 2016.

UCLA Women's Gymnastics is fourth after last week's win against Arizona.

Preseason polls for baseball and softball are starting to appear now, and the Bruins are once again in or near the top-10. UCLA Softball is ranked seventh in both the ESPN/USA Softball Preseason Poll and the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Preseason Poll. Meanwhile UCLA Baseball debuts at #10 in the Baseball America Preseason Poll and at #11 in the D1 Baseball Preseason Poll.

Most of our Olympic sports programs are on course to receive national recognition throughout the spring. Except for Steve Alford's basketball program, unfortunately.

Men's Basketball

Last Week: UCLA defeated Oregon State 82-73, and lost to Oregon 86-72.

Associated Press Poll (January 25, 2016)

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	POINTS	PREVIOUS
1	Oklahoma (36)	16-2	1,592	1
2	North Carolina (29)	18-2	1,586	2
3	Iowa	16-3	1,473	9
4	Kansas	16-3	1,369	3
5	Texas A&M	17-2	1,332	10
6	Villanova	17-3	1,261	4
7	Xavier	17-2	1,186	5
8	Maryland	17-3	1,111	7
9	West Virginia	16-3	1,105	6
10	Providence	17-3	1,005	16
11	Virginia	15-4	903	13
12	Michigan State	17-4	869	11
13	SMU	18-1	838	8
14	Iowa State	15-4	792	19
15	Miami (FL)	15-3	753	15
16	Louisville	16-3	719	17
17	Baylor	15-4	594	13
18	Arizona	16-4	502	12
19	Indiana	17-3	466	25
20	Kentucky	15-4	403	23
21	Purdue	17-4	328	22
22	Wichita St	14-5	151	NR
23	Oregon	16-4	149	NR
24	Duke	15-5	145	20
25	Notre Dame	14-5	136	NR

UCLA (12-8, 3-4) received 0 points.

USA Today Coaches Poll (January 25, 2016)

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	POINTS	PREVIOUS
1	North Carolina (23)	18-2	791	2
2	Oklahoma (9)	16-2	766	1
3	Kansas	16-3	680	3
4	Iowa	16-3	677	9
5	Texas A&M	17-2	650	8
6	Villanova	17-3	591	4
7	Maryland	17-3	581	5
8	Xavier	17-2	580	6
9	West Virginia	16-3	503	7
10	Providence	17-3	452	17
11	Michigan State	17-4	445	10
12	Virginia	15-4	430	13
13	Miami (FL)	15-3	412	14
14	Louisville	16-3	384	16
15	Arizona	16-4	341	11
16	Iowa State	15-4	312	21
17	Indiana	17-3	290	23
18	Baylor	15-4	281	15
19	Kentucky	15-4	242	19
20	Duke	15-5	183	12
21	Purdue	17-4	150	22
22	South Carolina	17-2	137	18
23	Pittsburgh	16-3	118	20
24	Oregon	16-4	90	NR
25	Wichita St	14-5	60	NR

UCLA (12-8, 3-4) received 0 points.

Women's Basketball

Last Week: UCLA defeated California 75-56, and defeated #12 Stanford 56-36.

Associated Press Poll (January 25, 2016)

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	POINTS	PREVIOUS
1	Connecticut (32)	18-0	800	1
2	South Carolina	19-0	765	2
3	Notre Dame	19-1	739	3
4	Baylor	19-1	700	4
5	Maryland	17-2	659	5
6	Texas	18-1	651	6
7	Ohio State	15-4	592	7
8	Arizona State	17-3	582	8
9	Oregon State	16-3	539	11
10	Texas A&M	14-5	473	13
11	Florida State	16-4	467	14
12	Kentucky	14-3	434	9
13	Mississippi State	17-4	408	10
14	Louisville	14-5	352	17
15	UCLA	14-5	317	20
16	Stanford	15-5	290	12
17	Miami (FL)	17-3	240	16
18	Michigan State	14-4	219	21
19	Tennessee	12-6	209	18
20	South Florida	13-5	193	15
21	Oklahoma	13-5	143	19
22	Missouri	16-4	140	23
23	DePaul	16-6	123	24
24	West Virginia	16-4	108	25
25	Washington	15-4	80	NR

USA Today Coaches Poll (January 25, 2016)

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	POINTS	PREVIOUS
1	Connecticut (31)	18-0	799	1
2	South Carolina (1)	19-0	769	2
3	Notre Dame	19-1	735	3
4	Baylor	19-1	702	4
5	Maryland	17-2	664	5
6	Texas	18-1	649	6
7	Ohio State	15-4	597	7
8	Oregon State	16-3	577	8
9	Arizona State	17-3	537	11
10	Texas A&M	14-5	475	12
11	Florida State	16-4	471	13
12	Kentucky	15-3	450	9
13	Mississippi State	17-4	374	10
14	Louisville	15-5	358	17
15	Michigan State	14-4	319	18
16	Stanford	15-5	284	14
17	Miami (FL)	17-3	255	16
18	South Florida	13-5	226	15
19	UCLA	14-5	213	25
20	Oklahoma	13-5	185	19
21	DePaul	16-6	182	21
22	Green Bay	17-2	71	NR
23	Tennessee	12-7	69	22
24	Missouri	16-4	62	NR
25	Seton Hall	16-4	39	NR

Men's Volleyball

Last Week: UCLA defeated Cal Baptist 3-0, and defeated #15 Southern Cal 3-1.

AVCA Coaches Poll (January 25, 2016)

RANK	TEAM	POINTS	RECORD	PREVIOUS
1	UCLA (20)	300	7-0	1
2	Long Beach State	279	6-1	2
3	BYU	254	4-2	3
4	Loyola-Chicago	224	5-1	5
5	Hawai'i	205	6-1	6
6	Stanford	202	5-1	8
7	Ohio State	175	5-2	7
8	Pepperdine	169	4-1	11
9	Penn State	131	4-2	10
9	UC Irvine	131	2-4	4
11	UC Santa Barbara	119	7-2	9
12	CSUN	83	8-0	12
13	Lewis	62	6-3	13
14	Saint Francis	21	3-3	NR
15	Ball State	15	3-3	14

Women's Water Polo

Last Week: UCLA defeated #7 Hawai'i 13-8, defeated #13 UCSB 8-5, defeated #17 Long Beach State 11-4, and defeated #12 Michigan 11-7.

CWPA Poll (January 27, 2016)

RANK	TEAM	POINTS	PREVIOUS
1	Stanford	97	1
2	UCLA	96	2
3	Southern Cal	94	3
4	Hawai'i	86	7
5	Arizona State	84	6
6	California	81	4
7	Michigan	74	12
8	San Jose State	67	8
9	UC Davis	66	9
10	UC Irvine	63	5
11	UC Santa Barbara	60	13
12	Pacific	57	10
T13	Indiana	46	14
T13	Princeton	46	11
15	San Diego State	43	16
16	Loyola Marymount	41	15
17	Hartwick	35	18
T18	Wagner	34	20
T18	UC San Diego	34	21
20	Long Beach State	22	17

Baseball

Last Week: UCLA was not in action.

Baseball America Preseason Poll (January 25, 2016)

RANK	TEAM	2015 RECORD	FINAL 2015 RANK
1	Florida	52-18	3
2	Louisville	47-18	10
3	Texas A&M	50-14	13
4	Virginia	44-24	1
5	Oregon State	39-19	NR
6	Miami	50-17	6
7	Vanderbilt	51-21	2
8	California	36-21	22
9	Oklahoma State	38-20	19
10	UCLA	45-16	7
11	Louisiana State	54-12	5
12	Houston	43-20	18
13	Louisiana-Lafayette	42-23	16
14	Oregon	38-25	NR
15	Michigan	39-25	NR
16	Southern California	39-21	20
17	Florida State	44-21	15
18	Texas Christian	51-15	4
19	North Carolina State	36-23	NR
20	Mississippi State	24-30	NR
21	Oklahoma	34-27	NR
22	Cal State Fullerton	39-25	9
23	Coastal Carolina	39-21	NR
24	Mississippi	30-28	NR
25	Kentucky	30-25	NR

D1 Baseball Preseason Poll (January 12, 2016)

RANK	TEAM	2015 RECORD	FINAL 2015 RANK
1	Florida	52-18	3
2	Louisville	47-18	8
3	Vanderbilt	51-21	2
4	Texas A&M	50-14	10
5	Oregon State	39-18	23
6	Miami	50-17	6
7	LSU	54-12	5
8	Oklahoma State	38-20	17
9	California	36-21	NR
10	N.C. State	36-23	24
11	UCLA	45-16	12
12	Southern California	39-21	21
13	Virginia	44-24	1
14	Oregon	38-25	NR
15	Mississippi State	24-30	NR
16	North Carolina	34-24	NR
17	South Carolina	32-25	NR
18	Louisiana-Lafayette	42-23	16
19	TCU	51-15	4
20	Florida State	44-21	14
21	Cal State Fullerton	39-25	7
22	Houston	43-20	22
23	Texas	30-27	NR
24	Coastal Carolina	39-21	NR
25	Arkansas	40-25	9

Softball

Last Week: UCLA was not in action.

USA Today/NFCA Coaches Preseason Poll (January 26, 2016)

RANK	TEAM	POINTS	2015 RECORD	FINAL 2015 RANK
1	Florida (26)	782	60-7	1
2	Michigan (2)	755	60-8	2
3	LSU (2)	711	52-14	4
4	Auburn (1)	698	56-11	3
5	Alabama (1)	672	48-15	6
6	Oregon	666	51-8	7
7	UCLA	625	51-12	5
8	Tennessee	548	47-17	8
9	Oklahoma	514	49-9	9
10	Florida State	493	49-14	10
11	Louisiana Lafayette	449	42-12	11
12	Georgia	416	44-17	12
13	Arizona	385	41-20	13
14	Minnesota	376	49-11	15
15	Missouri	369	42-16	14
16	Baylor	290	41-17	18
17	UCF	270	50-9	16
18	Kentucky	260	32-26	17
19	James Madison	198	48-10	22
20	Washington	197	42-17	21
21	California	142	39-18	23
22	Arizona State	136	36-22	20
23	North Carolina State	114	38-22	19
24	Notre Dame	77	42-15	T25
25	South Alabama	73	40-13	23

ESPN/USA Softball Preseason Poll (January 26, 2016)

RANK	TEAM	2015 RECORD	POINTS	FINAL 2015 RANK
1	Florida (17)	60-7	495	1
2	Michigan (1)	60-8	473	2
3	LSU (2)	52-14	446	4
4	Oregon	51-8	428	7
5	Alabama	48-15	412	6
6	Auburn	56-11	409	3
7	UCLA	51-12	368	5
8	Oklahoma	49-9	352	9
9	Tennessee	47-17	341	8
10	Florida State	49-14	311	10
11	Louisiana-Lafayette	42-12	285	11
12	Missouri	42-16	258	12
13	Minnesota	49-11	257	15
14	Georgia	44-17	223	13
15	Arizona	41-20	217	14
16	Baylor	41-17	183	18
17	UCF	50-9	159	16
18	Kentucky	32-26	148	17
19	Washington	42-7	144	21
20	Arizona State	36-22	106	20
21	James Madison	48-10	95	22
22	California	39-18	80	23
23	Utah	36-19	58	25
24	Texas A&M	40-20	53	RV
25	NC State	38-22	47	19

Men's Tennis

Last Week: UCLA defeated San Francisco 7-0, defeated SMU 4-0, and defeated Georgia Tech 4-0.

ITA Division I Men's Team Rankings (January 27, 2016)

RANK	TEAM	PREVIOUS
1	Virginia	1
2	Oklahoma	2
3	TCU	3
4	Texas A&M	5
5	Baylor	4
6	Georgia	6
7	Illinois	7
T8	USC	8
T8	Ohio State	9
10	North Carolina	10
11	Wake Forest	11
12	UCLA	12
13	South Florida	13
14	Texas Tech	15
15	Columbia	16
16	San Diego	19
17	Stanford	18
18	Virginia Tech	14
19	Mississippi	17
20	Florida	21
21	Northwestern	25
22	Minnesota	22
23	Tulsa	24
24	Duke	23
25	Oklahoma State	28

Women's Tennis

Last Week: UCLA defeated UC Irvine 4-0, and lost to Fresno State 4-3.

ITA Division I Women's Team Rankings (January 27, 2016)

RANK	TEAM	PREVIOUS
1	Vanderbilt	1
2	Georgia	4
3	Florida	3
4	USC	2
5	North Carolina	5
6	California	6
7	Virginia	8
8	Stanford	7
9	Texas A&M	10
10	Oklahoma State	11
11	Miami	12
12	Michigan	13
13	Alabama	15
14	Duke	16
15	Baylor	14
16	Ohio State	18
17	Texas Tech	17
T18	Pepperdine	19
T18	LSU	21
20	Clemson	20
21	UCLA	9
T22	TCU	22
T22	Kentucky	23
24	Georgia Tech	24
25	Mississippi	25

Women's Gymnastics

Last Week: UCLA defeated #20 Arizona 196.800-196.475.

GymInfo Team Rankings (January 26, 2016)

RANK	TEAM	AVERAGE	HIGH
1	Florida	197.192	197.675
2	Oklahoma	197.094	197.475
3	Michigan	196.938	196.975
4	UCLA	196.758	196.925
5	Alabama	196.688	197.175
6	LSU	196.45	196.95
7	Utah	196.342	196.725
8	Arkansas	196.113	196.7
9	Auburn	196.106	196.275
10	Boise State	196.063	196.425
11	George Washington	195.8	196.175
12	Stanford	195.783	196.675
13	Georgia	195.769	196.775
14	Denver	195.642	195.9
15	Oregon State	195.633	196.35
16	Missouri	195.6	196.05
17	Nebraska	195.342	196.15
18	Minnesota	195.267	195.675
19	Illinois-Champaign	195.242	195.5
20	Arizona	195.217	196.475
21	California	195.15	195.65
22	West Virginia	195.083	195.8
23	Kentucky	195.033	195.175
24	Eastern Michigan	194.992	195.05
24	Southern Utah	194.992	195.6

This Week In UCLA Sports

Wednesday, January 27

• #1 UCLA Men's Volleyball vs. #2 Long Beach State at Pauley Pavilion (7:00 PM PST)

Thursday, January 28

UCLA Men's Basketball vs. Washington at Pauley Pavilion (7:00 PM PST)

Friday, January 29

• #18 UCLA Women's Swimming & Diving vs. #2 Stanford in Los Angeles, CA (2:00 PM PST)
• #21 UCLA Women's Tennis vs. St. Mary's in Pacific Palisades, CA (2:00 PM PST)
• UCLA Track & Field at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, AR (3:00 PM)
• #15 UCLA Women's Basketball vs. Colorado in Boulder, CO (6:00 PM PST)
• #1 UCLA Men's Volleyball vs. #12 Cal State Northridge at Pauley Pavilion (7:00 PM PST)

Saturday, January 30

• UCLA Track & Field at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, AR (10:00 AM)
• #7 UCLA Baseball Alumni Game at Jackie Robinson Stadium (12:00 PM PST)
• #18 UCLA Women's Swimming & Diving vs. #7 California in Los Angeles, CA (12:00 PM PST)
• #14 UCLA Men's Tennis vs. #6 Georgia in Los Angeles, CA (1:00 PM PST)
• #2 UCLA Women's Water Polo vs. USA (Scrimmage) in Los Angeles, CA (2:00 PM PST)
• UCLA Men's Basketball vs. Washington State in Los Angeles, CA (4:00 PM PST)