UCLA Poll Watch: Women's Basketball Drives for a Top-16 Tourney Seed

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.

presented by @HUBInsurance | 7 pm PT | TV: ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/CAgtE9zThU

— UCLA Basketball (@UCLAMBB) February 18, 2016

#21 UCLA Women's Tennis vs. #15 Pepperdine in Los Angeles, CA (1:30 PM PST)

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

Friday, February 19

No. 10 @UCLABaseball returns to action this Friday. Come out & support the team! ⚾️

Tix: https://t.co/Lfb7EpCyHL pic.twitter.com/qAitifHFVn

— UCLA Athletics (@UCLAAthletics) February 16, 2016

• #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)