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UCLA Poll Watch: Men's Basketball Sinks, Women's Basketball Soars

UCLA's men's and women's basketball teams are heading in opposite directions in the polls as well as in the Pac-12 standings.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

I guess it won't come as a surprise to anyone that UCLA Men's Basketball didn't receive a single vote in either the AP Poll or the USA Today Coaches Poll this week after the Bruins lost both games on their Washington road trip. Even though I've been pretty skeptical about Steve Alford's Bruins this season, I fully expected the Bruins to record their first road sweep of the Alford era in Washington.

As far as I'm concerned, those two losses simply a reflection of the Bruins inconsistency, not their ceiling. Unfortunately, poll voters don't like inconsistency; they care about results, not potential. With that in mind, it may be a long time before we see Steve Alford's team receiving votes again.

On the other hand, UCLA Women's Basketball demonstrated last week that it belongs in the top-25 by toppling two previously undefeated teams: Southern Cal and Oregon. As a result, the Bruins jumped 6 spots in the AP Poll and made a first appearance (at #21) in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

The Bruins are very likely to climb even further in next week's polls after slapping the 11th-ranked Beavers yesterday. Of course, UCLA still needs to take care of business on Sunday in a rematch with the Trojans. USC has a good team this season, so the Bruins will have to produce another good performance to keep their Pac-12 record perfect.

Men's Basketball

Last Week: UCLA lost to Washington 96-93 (2 OT), and lost to Washington State 85-78.

Associated Press Poll (January 4, 2016)
RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Kansas (44) 12-1 1,598 2
2 Oklahoma (21) 12-0 1,574 3
3 Maryland 13-1 1,459 4
4 Virginia 12-1 1,409 5
5 Michigan State 14-1 1,400 1
6 North Carolina 14-2 1,275 7
7 Arizona 13-1 1,126 8
8 Providence 14-1 1,108 12
9 Kentucky 11-2 1,039 10
10 Xavier 13-1 1,001 6
11 Villanova 12-2 979 16
12 Miami (Fla.) 12-1 921 13
13 Iowa State 11-2 844 11
14 Duke 12-2 830 15
15 SMU 13-0 731 17
16 Louisville 12-2 568 18
17 West Virginia 12-1 558 19
18 Butler 11-3 516 9
19 Iowa 11-3 456 NR
20 Purdue 13-2 450 20
21 Texas A&M 11-2 420 20
22 South Carolina 13-0 286 24
23 Connecticut 10-3 107 NR
24 Pittsburgh 12-1 103 NR
25 Dayton 11-2 100 NR


UCLA (9-6, 0-2) received 0 votes.

USA Today Coaches Poll (January 4, 2016)
RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Oklahoma (20) 12-0 781 2
2 Kansas (11) 12-1 769 3
3 Maryland 13-1 732 4
4 Virginia 12-1 698 5
5 Michigan State (1) 14-1 676 1
6 Arizona 13-1 618 7
7 North Carolina 13-2 592 8
8 Kentucky 11-2 526 11
9 Providence 14-1 509 13
10 Duke 12-2 487 12
11 Miami (FL) 12-1 444 15
12 Xavier 13-1 442 6
13 Villanova 12-2 434 16
14 Iowa State 11-2 402 9
15 West Virginia 12-1 350 17
16 Louisville 12-2 282 18
17 Texas A&M 11-2 265 19
18 Purdue 13-2 248 14
19 Butler 11-3 238 10
20 South Carolina 13-0 232 20
21 Pittsburgh 12-1 121 25
22 Gonzaga 12-3 112 24
23 Iowa 11-3 110 NR
24 Connecticut 10-3 81 NR
25 Baylor 10-3 61 21


UCLA (9-6, 0-2) received 0 votes.

Women's Basketball

Last Week: UCLA defeated UC Riverside 70-56, defeated USC 78-73, and defeated Oregon 80-69.

Associated Press Poll (January 4, 2016)
RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Connecticut (32) 11-0 800 1
2 South Carolina 13-0 765 2
3 Notre Dame 13-1 735 3
4 Texas 13-0 705 5
5 Ohio State 10-3 630 9
6 Baylor 14-1 627 4
7 Mississippi State 14-1 616 8
8 Maryland 12-2 580 6
9 Stanford 11-2 521 11
10 Kentucky 11-1 502 7
11 Oregon State 10-2 495 10
12 Tennessee 9-3 460 13
13 Texas A&M 11-3 416 16
14 Arizona State 10-3 356 17
15 UCLA 10-3 243 21
16 Northwestern 12-2 235 14
17 Oklahoma 10-3 229 18
18 Duke 11-4 215 12
19 Florida State 10-4 202 15
20 Missouri 13-0 198 23
21 California 9-3 183 19
22 South Florida 8-3 168 20
23 Michigan State 10-3 109 24
24 DePaul 10-5 94 25
25 Seton Hall 13-1 78 NR
USA Today Coaches Poll (January 4, 2016)
RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Connecticut (32) 11-0 800 1
2 South Carolina 13-0 768 2
3 Notre Dame 13-1 732 3
4 Texas 13-0 703 6
5 Ohio State 10-3 625 9
6 Mississippi State 14-1 621 8
7 Baylor 14-1 620 4
8 Maryland 12-2 602 5
9 Kentucky 11-1 516 7
10 Texas A&M 11-3 500 13
11 Tennessee 10-3 426 16
12 Oregon State 10-3 417 10
13 Stanford 11-3 363 11
14 Arizona State 11-3 359 21
15 Florida State 10-4 288 13
16 Duke 11-4 281 12
17 Northwestern 12-2 235 15
18 South Florida 8-3 233 17
19 Oklahoma 10-3 205 19
20 Seton Hall 13-1 201 23
21 UCLA 11-3 181 NR
22 Michigan State 10-3 127 22
23 Iowa 12-2 116 25
24 DePaul 10-5 110 24
25 Syracuse 11-3 92 NR

This Week In UCLA Sports

Monday, January 4
  • #15 UCLA Women's Basketball vs.#11 Oregon State at Pauley Pavilion (7:00 PM PST)

Tuesday, January 5

  • #5 UCLA Men's Volleyball vs. #14 George Mason in Fairfax, VA (4:00 PM PST)

Thursday, January 7

  • #5 UCLA Men's Volleyball vs. #6 Ohio State in University Park, PA (2:00 PM PST)
  • UCLA Men's Basketball vs. #7 Arizona at Pauley Pavilion (6:00 PM PST)

Friday, January 8

  • #5 UCLA Men's Volleyball vs. #10 Penn State in University Park, PA (4:30 PM PST)

Saturday, January 9

  • UCLA Men's Basketball vs. Arizona State at Pauley Pavilion (2:00 PM PST)

Sunday, January 10

  • #15 UCLA Women's Basketball vs. Southern California in Los Angeles, CA (6:00 PM PST)
  • #6 UCLA Gymnastics vs. #3 Alabama at Pauley Pavilion (2:00 PM PST)
Go BRUINS!