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Another week, another pair of wins for UCLA Women's Basketball. The Bruins' sweep of the Washington schools last week resulted in a boost of two spots in both polls: UCLA is now #12 in the Associated Press Poll and #14 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. The Pac-12 is well-represented in both polls with two teams in the AP top-10 (#7 Oregon State and #9 Arizona State) and another two teams not far behind (#12 UCLA and #15 Stanford).
The Bruins travel to Oregon this week for their last Pac-12 road trip of the season. UCLA faces a hot Oregon Ducks team first before going to Corvallis for a big Sunday showdown with the Beavers. The Bruins really need to earn a split this weekend if they want to hold on to a top-16 spot in the NCAA Tournament seeding. Those spots are precious in the women's tournament since they represent home court advantage for the first weekend of tourney games.
UCLA Men's Basketball is, unfortunately, in a much worse position as the postseason nears. The Bruins are not receiving votes in either national poll, a consequence of being in a tie for ninth place in the conference. In order to keep their postseason hopes alive, the Bruins probably need to sweep their home games this week against Utah and Colorado. Both teams are much better at home than on the road, so it's certainly not unreasonable to expect UCLA to snare a pair of wins before heading back on the road for a two-game set in the Bay Area.
UCLA Men's Volleyball dropped another spot in the AVCA Coaches Poll after losing at home to #12 UC Irvine last week. The Bruins are now the third-ranked team behind MPSF foes #1 Long Beach State and #2 BYU.
With the Bruins struggling for the last couple of weeks to play consistent volleyball, this week's tough slate of games will really test their ability to bounce back from adversity. First up is an away match against #9 Pepperdine, and then UCLA has to travel to Palo Alto for a Sunday game against #4 Stanford. Although the Bruins are still within half a game of first place in the MPSF standings, they are only two games out of sixth place. In other words, Coach Speraw has to get his team back to winning ways this week.
Everything was looking good for UCLA Women's Water Polo until the final of the Triton Invitational last weekend. The then #1 Bruins squared off against then #2 Southern Cal and sadly finished on the wrong end of an 8-6 scoreline. As a consequence, the Bruins and Trojans have swapped places in this week's CWPA Coaches Poll. Of course it's still early in the season, so UCLA and USC will meet several more times before a new national champion is determined.
UCLA Softball started its 2016 campaign last weekend at the Aggie Classic in Texas, The seventh-ranked Bruins played five games in three days, finishing with a 4-1 tournament record.
Although the Bruins lost only three starters from last season's team, one of them was pitching ace Ally Carda, and she's proving difficult to replace. While UCLA's two best pitching prospects (Paige McDuffee and Rachel Garcia) recover from injuries, the Bruins are relying on sophomores Selina Ta'amilo and Johanna Grauer to pitch a lot of innings. It would be unfair to judge the current state of UCLA's pitching based on just five games, but there's reason for concern. With the Bruins scheduled to play another five games this weekend at the Nutter Classic--including a game against #4 LSU--we will get another chance to see how UCLA manages with a thin and inexperienced pitching staff.
UCLA Men's Tennis jumped nine places to claim the fourth spot in this week's ITA rankings. Wins against #3 Texas A&M and #11 Georgia were responsible for the Bruins' improved ranking, and UCLA seems not to have been hurt much by losses to last week's #1 Virginia and this week's #1 North Carolina. The Bruins have a light schedule this week with a single match against UC Irvine.
UCLA Women's Tennis remains at #21 in the ITA rankings after handily defeating UC Davis and Cal State Northridge in a rare doubleheader last weekend. The Bruins face a much stiffer task this week with matches against #15 Pepperdine and #1 California. This is UCLA's chance to make a move in the rankings, and in that respect, today's match against Pepperdine is very important.
Finally, #9 UCLA Baseball opens the 2016 season this weekend with a three-game set against #21 North Carolina. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 PM PST on Friday evening at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Check out orlandobruin's excellent season preview of the Bruins and join us at Bruins Nation as we follow the action this weekend.
Men's Basketball
Last Week: UCLA lost to Arizona 81-75, and defeated Arizona State 78-65.
Associated Press Poll (February 15, 2016)
RANK | TEAM | POINTS | RECORD | PREVIOUS |
1 | Villanova (44) | 1601 | 22-3 | 1 |
2 | Kansas (21) | 1578 | 21-4 | 6 |
3 | Oklahoma | 1471 | 20-4 | 3 |
4 | Iowa | 1349 | 20-5 | 4 |
5 | North Carolina | 1343 | 21-4 | 9 |
6 | Maryland | 1248 | 22-4 | 2 |
7 | Virginia | 1188 | 20-5 | 7 |
8 | Xavier | 1174 | 22-3 | 5 |
8 | Michigan State | 1174 | 21-5 | 8 |
10 | West Virginia | 1094 | 20-5 | 10 |
11 | Miami (Fla.) | 1036 | 20-4 | 12 |
12 | Arizona | 823 | 21-5 | 17 |
13 | Iowa State | 742 | 18-7 | 14 |
13 | Kentucky | 692 | 19-6 | 22 |
15 | Dayton | 681 | 21-3 | 19 |
16 | Oregon | 529 | 20-6 | 11 |
17 | Purdue | 497 | 20-6 | 18 |
18 | Louisville | 494 | 19-6 | 13 |
19 | Notre Dame | 489 | 18-7 | NR |
20 | Duke | 462 | 19-6 | NR |
21 | SMU | 441 | 21-3 | 16 |
22 | Indiana | 232 | 20-6 | 27 |
23 | Providence | 125 | 19-7 | 20 |
24 | Texas | 123 | 16-9 | 24 |
25 | Baylor | 97 | 18-7 | 21 |
UCLA (14-11, 5-7) received 0 points.
USA Today Coaches Poll (February 15, 2016)
RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | PREVIOUS |
1 | Villanova (25) | 22-3 | 785 | 1 |
2 | Kansas (7) | 21-4 | 764 | 6 |
3 | Oklahoma | 20-4 | 680 | 3 |
4 | North Carolina | 21-4 | 674 | 8 |
5 | Maryland | 22-4 | 636 | 2 |
6 | Iowa | 20-5 | 624 | 5 |
7 | Xavier | 22-3 | 615 | 4 |
8 | Virginia | 20-5 | 579 | 7 |
9 | Michigan State | 21-5 | 560 | 9 |
10 | Miami (FL) | 20-4 | 558 | 11 |
11 | West Virginia | 20-5 | 488 | 10 |
12 | Arizona | 21-5 | 425 | 14 |
13 | Dayton | 21-3 | 382 | 17 |
14 | Kentucky | 19-6 | 346 | 21 |
15 | Iowa State | 18-7 | 319 | 15 |
16 | Purdue | 20-6 | 298 | 16 |
17 | Oregon | 20-6 | 259 | 12 |
18 | Notre Dame | 18-7 | 203 | NR |
19 | Duke | 19-6 | 183 | NR |
20 | Providence | 19-7 | 161 | 17 |
21 | Indiana | 20-6 | 154 | 22 |
22 | Baylor | 18-7 | 109 | 19 |
23 | South Carolina | 21-4 | 108 | 20 |
24 | Texas A&M | 18-7 | 106 | 13 |
25 | Texas | 16-9 | 73 | 25 |
UCLA (14-11, 5-7) received 0 points.
Women's Basketball
Last Week: #14 UCLA defeated Washington State 73-61, and defeated Washington 63-59.
Associated Press Poll (February 15, 2016)
RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | PREVIOUS |
1 | Connecticut (32) | 24-0 | 800 | 1 |
2 | Notre Dame | 24-1 | 755 | 3 |
3 | South Carolina | 23-1 | 748 | 2 |
4 | Baylor | 25-1 | 703 | 4 |
5 | Ohio State | 21-4 | 662 | 7 |
6 | Maryland | 23-3 | 614 | 5 |
7 | Oregon State | 22-3 | 604 | 8 |
8 | Texas | 22-2 | 569 | 6 |
9 | Arizona State | 22-4 | 558 | 9 |
10 | Florida State | 21-4 | 532 | 10 |
11 | Louisville | 19-6 | 465 | 12 |
12 | Texas A&M | 17-7 | 416 | 15 |
12 | UCLA | 19-6 | 416 | 14 |
14 | Mississippi State | 21-5 | 398 | 11 |
15 | Stanford | 20-6 | 371 | 13 |
16 | Kentucky | 17-6 | 272 | 18 |
17 | Oklahoma State | 19-5 | 226 | 20 |
18 | Miami (Fla.) | 21-5 | 215 | 19 |
19 | South Florida | 18-6 | 174 | 22 |
20 | Oklahoma | 17-7 | 173 | 21 |
21 | DePaul | 21-7 | 147 | 23 |
22 | Florida | 19-6 | 136 | 16 |
23 | Syracuse | 20-6 | 74 | NR |
24 | Tennessee | 15-9 | 63 | 25 |
25 | Michigan State | 18-7 | 58 | 17 |
USA Today Coaches Poll (February 15, 2016)
RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | PREVIOUS |
1 | Connecticut (32) | 24-0 | 800 | 1 |
2 | South Carolina | 24-1 | 755 | 2 |
3 | Notre Dame | 24-1 | 749 | 3 |
4 | Baylor | 25-1 | 704 | 4 |
5 | Ohio State | 21-4 | 659 | 6 |
6 | Maryland | 23-3 | 618 | 7 |
7 | Texas | 22-2 | 605 | 5 |
8 | Oregon State | 22-3 | 601 | 8 |
9 | Florida State | 21-4 | 529 | 9 |
10 | Arizona State | 22-4 | 521 | 10 |
11 | Louisville | 20-6 | 470 | 12 |
12 | Texas A&M | 18-7 | 443 | 13 |
13 | Mississippi State | 21-5 | 396 | 11 |
14 | UCLA | 19-6 | 359 | 16 |
15 | Stanford | 20-6 | 337 | 14 |
16 | Kentucky | 17-6 | 284 | 18 |
17 | Miami (FL) | 21-5 | 281 | 17 |
18 | Syracuse | 20-6 | 196 | 22 |
19 | DePaul | 21-7 | 185 | 23 |
20 | South Florida | 18-7 | 176 | 20 |
21 | Oklahoma | 17-7 | 128 | 21 |
22 | Michigan State | 18-7 | 121 | 15 |
23 | Duquesne | 23-2 | 106 | 24 |
24 | Oklahoma State | 19-5 | 81 | 24 |
25 | Florida | 19-6 | 76 | 19 |
Men's Volleyball
Last Week: #2 UCLA lost to #12 UC Irvine 3-2, and defeated UC San Diego 3-0.
AVCA Coaches Poll (February 15, 2016)
RANK | TEAM | POINTS | RECORD | PREVIOUS |
1 | Long Beach State (18) | 298 | 11-2 | 1 |
2 | BYU | 273 | 10-2 | 3 |
3 | UCLA (2) | 258 | 12-2 | 2 |
4 | Stanford | 251 | 10-2 | 6 |
5 | Hawai'i | 202 | 9-4 | 4 |
6 | Ohio State | 186 | 10-3 | 9 |
7 | Penn State | 172 | 8-2 | 7 |
8 | Loyola-Chicago | 165 | 8-3 | 5 |
9 | Pepperdine | 150 | 6-5 | 8 |
10 | UC Santa Barbara | 128 | 10-5 | 10 |
11 | UC Irvine | 94 | 4-8 | 12 |
12 | Ball State | 74 | 9-3 | 13 |
13 | CSUN | 57 | 8-5 | 11 |
14 | Lewis | 56 | 9-5 | 14 |
15 | Calif. Baptist | 22 | 8-7 | NR |
Softball
Last Week: #7 UCLA defeated Colorado State 6-5, lost to Texas A&M 5-1, defeated Wichita State 6-5, defeated Texas A&M 7-3, and defeated Colorado State 8-3.
USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll (February 16, 2016)
RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | PREVIOUS |
1 | Florida (31) | 799 | 4-0 | 1 |
2 | Michigan | 746 | 4-1 | 2 |
3 | Auburn (1) | 733 | 5-0 | 4 |
4 | LSU | 675 | 4-1 | 3 |
5 | Alabama | 662 | 4-1 | 5 |
6 | Oregon | 643 | 5-1 | 6 |
7 | Louisiana Lafayette | 563 | 5-0 | 11 |
8 | UCLA | 555 | 4-1 | 7 |
9 | Arizona | 479 | 6-0 | 13 |
10 | Georgia | 472 | 4-0 | 12 |
11 | Washington | 463 | 4-0 | 20 |
12 | Tennessee | 430 | 4-2 | 8 |
13 | Florida State | 411 | 4-1 | 10 |
14 | Oklahoma | 406 | 3-2 | 9 |
15 | UCF | 351 | 4-1 | 17 |
16 | Missouri | 302 | 0-0 | 15 |
17 | Arizona State | 291 | 6-0 | 22 |
18 | Kentucky | 266 | 3-1 | 18 |
19 | James Madison | 259 | 4-1 | 19 |
20 | Minnesota | 243 | 3-2 | 20 |
21 | Baylor | 143 | 2-1 | 16 |
22 | California | 121 | 3-1 | 21 |
23 | South Alabama | 101 | 5-0 | 25 |
24 | Fresno State | 83 | 5-0 | RV |
25 | Texas A&M | 76 | 4-1 | RV |
ESPN/USA Softball Poll (February 16, 2016)
RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | PREVIOUS |
1 | Florida (19) | 4-0 | 499 | 1 |
2 | Michigan | 4-1 | 470 | 2 |
3 | Auburn | 5-0 | 452 | 6 |
4 | LSU | 4-1 | 423 | 3 |
5 | Oregon | 5-1 | 422 | 4 |
6 | Alabama | 4-1 | 401 | 5 |
7 | UCLA | 4-1 | 357 | 7 |
8 | Louisiana-Lafayette | 5-0 | 335 | 11 |
9 | Washington (1) | 4-0 | 290 | 19 |
10 | Arizona | 6-0 | 269 | 15 |
10 | Oklahoma | 3-2 | 269 | 8 |
12 | Georgia | 4-0 | 261 | 14 |
13 | Missouri | 0-0 | 258 | 12 |
14 | Tennessee | 4-2 | 255 | 9 |
15 | Florida State | 4-1 | 247 | 10 |
16 | UCF | 4-1 | 218 | 17 |
17 | Arizona State | 6-0 | 194 | 20 |
18 | Minnesota | 3-2 | 181 | 13 |
19 | Kentucky | 3-1 | 156 | 18 |
20 | James Madison | 4-1 | 130 | 21 |
21 | Baylor | 2-1 | 112 | 16 |
22 | Fresno State | 5-0 | 82 | RV |
23 | Texas A&M | 4-1 | 75 | 24 |
24 | Texas | 5-0 | 54 | RV |
25 | California | 3-1 | 45 | 22 |
Women's Water Polo
Last Week: #1 UCLA defeated Sonoma State 17-1, defeated #16 Loyola Marymount 14-7, defeated #7 UC Davis 5-1, and lost to #2 USC 8-6.
CWPA Poll (February 17, 2016)
RANK | TEAM | POINTS | PREVIOUS |
1 | Southern Cal | 100 | 2 |
2 | UCLA | 96 | 1 |
3 | California | 92 | 3 |
4 | Stanford | 89 | 4 |
5 | UC Davis | 80 | T7 |
T6 | Michigan | 78 | 6 |
T6 | Hawai'i | 78 | T7 |
8 | Arizona State | 74 | 5 |
9 | UC Irvine | 66 | 9 |
T10 | Hartwick | 61 | 12 |
T10 | San Jose State | 61 | 10 |
12 | Pacific | 52 | 13 |
13 | UC San Diego | 48 | T19 |
T14 | Princeton | 46 | 14 |
T14 | Loyola Marymount | 46 | 16 |
16 | Harvard | 42 | 15 |
17 | UC Santa Barbara | 37 | 11 |
18 | Indiana | 36 | 17 |
19 | San Diego State | 29 | 18 |
20 | Wagner | 26 | T19 |
Men's Tennis
Last Week: #9 UCLA lost to #1 Virginia 6-1, defeated #11 Georgia 4-3, defeated #3 Texas A&M 4-2, and lost to #7 North Carolina 4-2.
ITA Division I Men's Team Rankings (February 17, 2016)
RANK | TEAM | PREVIOUS |
1 | North Carolina | 7 |
2 | Virginia | 1 |
3 | TCU | 2 |
4 | UCLA | 9 |
5 | Wake Forest | 10 |
6 | Ohio State | 8 |
7 | Texas A&M | 3 |
8 | Oklahoma | 5 |
9 | USC | 6 |
10 | Texas Tech | 14 |
11 | Georgia | 11 |
12 | Illinois | 12 |
13 | Baylor | 4 |
14 | South Florida | 13 |
15 | Oklahoma State | 17 |
16 | Columbia | 15 |
17 | San Diego | 16 |
18 | California | 24 |
19 | Mississippi | 20 |
T20 | Virginia Tech | 19 |
T20 | Northwestern | 21 |
22 | Stanford | 18 |
23 | Florida | 22 |
24 | Texas | 26 |
25 | Florida State | 28 |
Women's Tennis
Last Week: #21 UCLA defeated UC Davis 4-0, and defeated Cal State Northridge 4-1.
ITA Division I Women's Team Rankings (February 17, 2016)
RANK | TEAM | PREVIOUS |
1 | California | 1 |
2 | North Carolina | 2 |
3 | Florida | 3 |
4 | Georgia | 4 |
5 | Ohio State | 6 |
6 | Vanderbilt | 5 |
7 | Duke | 7 |
8 | Michigan | 8 |
9 | Virginia | 9 |
10 | Texas Tech | 10 |
11 | USC | 11 |
12 | Miami | 12 |
13 | Stanford | 14 |
14 | Oklahoma State | 15 |
T15 | Texas A&M | 16 |
T15 | Pepperdine | 17 |
17 | Alabama | 18 |
18 | Mississippi | 19 |
19 | LSU | 13 |
20 | Kentucky | 22 |
21 | Clemson | 20 |
22 | UCLA | 21 |
23 | TCU | 23 |
24 | Georgia Tech | 24 |
25 | Mississippi State | 26 |
Women's Gymnastics
Last Week: #5 UCLA defeated #16 Oregon State 197.475-196.225.
GymInfo Team Rankings (February 15, 2016)
RANK | TEAM | AVERAGE | HIGH |
1 | Oklahoma | 197.428 | 197.925 |
2 | Florida | 197.258 | 198.175 |
3 | Michigan | 196.993 | 197.425 |
4 | Alabama | 196.959 | 197.525 |
5 | Utah | 196.729 | 197.15 |
6 | LSU | 196.721 | 197.425 |
7 | UCLA | 196.671 | 197.475 |
8 | Auburn | 196.357 | 197.275 |
9 | Boise State | 196.21 | 196.425 |
10 | Georgia | 196.182 | 197.525 |
11 | Arkansas | 196.168 | 196.7 |
12 | Stanford | 195.971 | 196.675 |
13 | Denver | 195.954 | 196.675 |
14 | Nebraska | 195.875 | 196.775 |
15 | California | 195.73 | 196.825 |
16 | Oregon State | 195.721 | 196.35 |
17 | George Washington | 195.675 | 196.175 |
18 | Minnesota | 195.658 | 196.3 |
19 | Missouri | 195.646 | 196.625 |
20 | Arizona | 195.442 | 196.475 |
21 | Eastern Michigan | 195.418 | 196.6 |
22 | Kentucky | 195.357 | 196.05 |
23 | Southern Utah | 195.317 | 195.975 |
24 | Iowa | 195.272 | 196.65 |
25 | Illinois-Champaign | 195.263 | 195.725 |
This Week In UCLA Sports
Thursday, February 18
It's GAMEDAY! The #Bruins are back home to face Utah tonight.
— UCLA Basketball (@UCLAMBB) February 18, 2016
presented by @HUBInsurance | 7 pm PT | TV: ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/CAgtE9zThU
Friday, February 19
No. 10 @UCLABaseball returns to action this Friday. Come out & support the team! ⚾️
— UCLA Athletics (@UCLAAthletics) February 16, 2016
Tix: https://t.co/Lfb7EpCyHL pic.twitter.com/qAitifHFVn
- #8 UCLA Softball vs. #15 UCF in Cathedral City, CA (6:00 PM PST)
- #9 UCLA Baseball vs. #21 North Carolina at Jackie Robinson Stadium (6:00 PM PST)
- #12 UCLA Women's Basketball vs. Oregon in Eugene, OR (6:00 PM PST)
- #2 UCLA Women's Water Polo vs. #9 UC Irvine in Irvine, CA (7:00 PM PST)
- #3 UCLA Men's Volleyball vs. #9 Pepperdine in Malibu, CA (7:00 PM PST)
Saturday, February 20
.@UCLA will be at both weekends of the @NutterClassic! Watch them LIVE only on FloSoftball! https://t.co/SDOEHpUNpy pic.twitter.com/UTT3uwNoZt
— FloSoftball (@FloSoftball) February 16, 2016
- UCLA Track & Field at the Alex Wilson Invitational in South Bend, IN (7:00 AM PST)
- #4 UCLA Men's Tennis vs. UC Irvine in Los Angeles, CA (10:00 AM PST)
- #21 UCLA Women's Tennis vs. #1 California in Los Angeles, CA (1:00 PM PST)
- #9 UCLA Baseball vs. #21 North Carolina at Jackie Robinson Stadium (2:00 PM PST)
- #8 UCLA Softball vs. Notre Dame in Cathedral City, CA (3:00 PM PST)
- #8 UCLA Softball vs. Cal Poly in Cathedral City, CA (5:30 PM PST)
- UCLA Men's Basketball vs.Colorado at Pauley Pavilion (8:00 PM PST)
Sunday, February 21
No. 12 UCLA Concludes Regular Season Road Slate at the Oregon Schools this Week.https://t.co/IbJsRIzs0x#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/MfMElO7Epu
— UCLA W. Basketball (@UCLAWBB) February 18, 2016
- #8 UCLA Softball vs. #4 LSU in Cathedral City, CA (9:00 AM PST)
- #3 UCLA Men's Volleyball vs. #4 Stanford in Palo Alto, CA (11:00 AM PST)
- #8 UCLA Softball vs. Pacific in Cathedral City, CA (11:30 AM PST)
- #9 UCLA Baseball vs. #21 North Carolina at Jackie Robinson Stadium (1:00 PM PST)
- #7 UCLA Women's Gymnastics vs. Washington in Seattle, WA (1:00 PM PST)
- #12 UCLA Women's Basketball vs. #7 Oregon State in Corvallis, OR (6:00 PM PST)