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UCLA Poll Watch: The Bruins Go Down Swinging

Last week wasn't kind to UCLA in the national polls. The lone team moving up in the rankings was UCLA Women's Gymnastics.

@UCLABaseball

Last week was pretty brutal for UCLA Athletics in the polls. Only one team managed to move up in the national rankings. UCLA Women's Gymnastics inched up one spot in the rankings after a not particularly impressive performance against Washington.

Two other teams managed to hold on to their spots in the rankings after workmanlike performances against inferior competition. UCLA Women's Water Polo is still the second ranked team in the country after comfortably beating ninth-ranked UC Irvine, and UCLA Men's Tennis stayed put at #4 in the ITA rankings after blanking the Anteaters.

For the rest, it was all downhill. UCLA Men's Basketball is well adrift of the top-25 in what everyone agrees is a subpar season, but losing to Utah at home seriously dented their hopes of an NCAA Tournament invitation this season.

The situation for UCLA Women's Basketball is completely different. The Bruins are in contention for a top-16 seed in the NCAA Tournament which would give them the luxury of playing the first two rounds in Pauley Pavilion. However, UCLA's chances of securing one of those seeds were diminished when they lost to #7 Oregon State in Corvallis. The loss hurt the Bruins in the polls too; UCLA slipped down two places to #14 in the AP Poll and one place to #15 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

Meanwhile, UCLA Men's Volleyball has only managed a split in each of the past three weeks, and in each instance, it has resulted in the Bruins taking a single step down in the AVCA Coaches Poll for three consecutive weeks. Sunday's loss to Stanford means that UCLA is now #4, and there's a lot of work that will need to be done to regain the top spot.

The Bruins didn't fare any better on the diamond than they did on the hardwood. UCLA Baseball stumbled out of the gate, opening the season with a win and two losses to #21 North Carolina. It wasn't the pair of losses that was troubling, though. It was the nature and magnitude of the defeats. The Bruins certainly didn't look like a top-10 team to me, and the poll voters agree. UCLA dropped six places in this week's Baseball America poll to land at #15.

UCLA Softball did a bit better, finishing the first weekend of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic with a 3-2 mark. However, the Bruins were blitzed by #4 LSU, and managed to lose to Notre Dame as well. Poll voters responded by dropping the Bruins three spots (to #11) in the NFCA Coaches Poll and in the USA Softball Poll (to #10).

Finally, UCLA Women's Tennis continued its nosedive in the ITA rankings. The Bruins are now ranked 29th after losses to #15 Pepperdine and #1 California. Although I thought the Bruins were too highly ranked in preseason polls considering the number of quality players lost to graduation, I didn't imagine that they would fall quite this far this fast. Let's hope that they can pull things together for the conference season.

Men's Basketball

Last Week: UCLA lost to Utah 75-73, and defeated Colorado 77-53.

Associated Press Poll (February 22, 2016)
RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Villanova (45) 24-3 1,604 1
2 Kansas (20) 23-4 1,580 2
3 Virginia 21-5 1,393 7
3 Oklahoma 21-5 1,393 3
5 Xavier 24-3 1,368 8
6 Michigan State 22-5 1,346 8
7 North Carolina 22-5 1,241 5
8 Iowa 20-6 1,144 4
9 Arizona 22-5 1,028 12
10 Maryland 23-5 976 6
11 Louisville 21-6 902 18
12 Miami (Fla.) 21-5 851 11
13 Oregon 21-6 842 16
14 West Virginia 20-7 772 10
15 Duke 20-7 674 20
16 Kentucky 20-7 627 14
17 Iowa State 19-8 616 13
18 Indiana 22-6 571 22
19 Baylor 20-7 521 25
20 Purdue 21-7 357 17
21 Texas A&M 20-7 283 NR
22 Utah 21-7 253 NR
23 Notre Dame 18-8 185 19
24 SMU 22-4 154 21
25 Texas 17-10 104 24

UCLA (15-12, 6-8) received 0 points.

USA Today Coaches Poll (February 22, 2016)
RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Villanova (25) 24-3 792 1
2 Kansas (7) 23-4 751 2
3 Virginia 21-5 679 8
4 Oklahoma 21-5 668 3
5 Xavier 24-3 652 7
6 North Carolina 22-5 639 4
7 Michigan State 22-5 626 9
8 Iowa 20-6 561 6
9 Maryland 23-5 527 5
10 Arizona 22-5 512 12
11 Miami (FL) 21-5 466 10
12 West Virginia 20-7 366 11
13 Oregon 21-6 365 17
14 Kentucky 20-7 333 14
15 Indiana 22-6 317 21
16 Baylor 20-7 305 22
17 Iowa State 19-8 304 15
18 Duke 20-7 303 19
19 Purdue 21-7 245 16
20 Notre Dame 18-8 176 18
21 Texas A&M 20-7 172 24
22 Dayton 21-5 121 13
23 Utah 21-7 120 NR
24 Providence 19-8 102 20
25 Texas 17-10 66 25


UCLA (15-12, 6-8) received 0 points.

Women's Basketball

Last Week: #12 UCLA defeated Oregon 77-72, and lost to #7 Oregon State 64-54.

Associated Press Poll (February 22, 2016)
RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS
1 UConn (32) 26-0 800 1
2 Notre Dame 25-1 756 2
3 South Carolina 25-1 746 3
4 Baylor 27-1 704 4
5 Ohio State 23-4 656 5
6 Maryland 25-3 623 6
7 Oregon State 24-3 608 7
8 Texas 24-2 581 8
9 Arizona State 24-4 563 9
10 Louisville 22-6 508 11
11 Texas A&M 20-7 463 12
12 Florida State 21-5 421 10
13 Stanford 22-6 409 15
14 UCLA 20-7 387 12
15 Kentucky 19-6 338 16
16 Mississippi State 22-6 319 14
17 Miami 22-5 258 18
18 Syracuse 22-6 241 23
19 DePaul 23-7 221 21
20 Michigan State 20-7 134 25
21 South Florida 19-7 131 19
22 Oklahoma State 19-7 94 17
23 Oklahoma 18-8 91 20
24 Missouri 21-6 76 NR
25 Colorado State 24-1 58 NR

USA Today Coaches Poll (February 22, 2016)
RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Connecticut (32) 26-0 800 1
2 South Carolina 26-1 756 2
3 Notre Dame 26-1 748 3
4 Baylor 28-1 704 4
5 Ohio State 23-4 664 5
6 Maryland 25-3 625 6
7 Oregon State 24-3 594 8
8 Texas 24-2 588 7
9 Arizona State 24-4 541 10
10 Louisville 22-6 503 11
11 Texas A&M 20-7 461 12
12 Florida State 21-6 433 9
13 Stanford 22-6 390 15
14 Kentucky 19-6 374 16
15 UCLA 20-7 335 14
16 Mississippi State 22-6 319 13
17 Miami (FL) 22-5 291 17
18 Syracuse 22-6 275 18
19 DePaul 23-7 229 19
20 South Florida 19-7 184 20
21 Michigan State 20-7 159 22
22 BYU 23-4 84 NR
23 Oklahoma 18-9 71 21
24 Missouri 21-6 55 NR
25 Colorado State 24-1 36 NR

Men's Volleyball

Last Week: #3 UCLA defeated #9 Pepperdine 3-0, and lost #4 Stanford 3-1.

AVCA Coaches Poll (February 22, 2016)
RANK TEAM POINTS RECORD PREVIOUS
1 Long Beach State (20) 300 13-2 1
2 BYU 270 12-2 2
3 Stanford 265 12-2 4
4 UCLA 245 13-3 3
5 Ohio State 198 12-3 6
6 Penn State 190 10-2 7
7 Hawai'i 183 10-5 5
8 UC Santa Barbara 141 11-6 10
9 Ball State 137 11-3 12
10 Pepperdine 128 6-5 9
11 Loyola-Chicago 123 9-4 8
12 CSUN 82 10-5 13
13 UC Irvine 55 4-10 11
14 Lewis 47 10-6 14
15 California Baptist 22 8-9 15


Baseball

Last Week: #7 UCLA lost to #21 North Carolina 4-0, defeated North Carolina 6-5, and lost to North Carolina 14-5.

NCBWA Poll (February 22, 2016)
RANK TEAM RECORD LAST WEEK PREVIOUS
1 Florida 3-0 3-0 1
2 Louisville 3-0 3-0 2
3 Vanderbilt 3-0 3-0 3
4 Texas A&M 3-0 3-0 4
5 Miami (Fla.) 3-0 3-0 6
6 LSU 3-0 3-0 7
7 Oregon State 2-1 2-1 5
8 Virginia 2-1 2-1 8
9 Louisiana-Lafayette 3-0 3-0 13
10 Florida State 3-0 3-0 14
11 Oregon 3-0 3-0 17
12 Houston 3-0 3-0 15
13 TCU 2-1 2-1 12
14 North Carolina 2-1 2-1 21
15 UCLA 1-2 1-2 9
16 Oklahoma State 2-2 2-2 11
17 California 1-2 1-2 10
18 Arkansas 3-0 3-0 22
19 NC State 2-1 2-1 20
20 South Carolina 3-0 3-0 24
21 Michigan 4-0 4-0 NR
22 Coastal Carolina 2-1 2-1 23
23 Cal State Fullerton 1-2 1-2 16
24 Mississippi State 2-2 2-2 19
25 Missouri State 3-0 3-0 NR

D1 Baseball Poll (February 22, 2016)
RANK TEAM RECORD PREVIOUS
1 Florida 3-0 1
2 Louisville 3-0 2
3 Vanderbilt 3-0 3
4 Texas A&M 3-0 4
5 Oregon State 2-1 5
6 Miami 3-0 6
7 LSU 3-0 7
8 NC State 2-1 10
9 Oregon 3-0 14
10 North Carolina 2-1 16
11 Virginia 2-1 13
12 Oklahoma State 2-2 8
13 California 1-2 9
14 UCLA 1-2 11
15 South Carolina 3-0 17
16 Louisiana-Lafayette 3-0 18
17 TCU 2-1 19
18 Florida State 3-0 20
19 Coastal Carolina 2-1 24
20 Mississippi State 2-2 15
21 Southern California 1-2 12
22 Houston 3-0 22
23 Texas 2-1 23
24 Arkansas 3-0 25
25 Cal State Fullerton 1-2 21

Softball

Last Week: #8 UCLA defeated #15 UCF 2-0, lost to Notre Dame 8-6, defeated Cal Poly 9-1, lost to #4 LSU 10-5, and defeated Pacific 9-1.

USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll (February 23, 2016)
RANK TEAM POINTS RECORD PREVIOUS
1 Florida (32) 800 11-0 1
2 Michigan 767 8-1 2
3 Auburn 714 10-1 3
4 Alabama 679 10-1 5
5 LSU 664 8-2 4
6 Louisiana-Lafayette 647 8-1 7
7 Oregon 583 8-3 6
8 Georgia 539 9-0 10
9 Washington 528 9-1 11
10 James Madison 483 9-1 19
11 UCLA 459 7-3 8
12 Oklahoma 396 7-2 14
13 Florida State 375 6-3 13
14 Tennessee 365 8-3 12
15 Arizona 354 8-3 9
16 Texas A&M 348 11-1 25
17 Missouri 333 6-0 16
18 Kentucky 277 9-2 18
19 Arizona State 268 11-1 17
20 Fresno State 175 10-0 24
21 Minnesota 134 5-4 20
22 UCF 119 4-7 15
23 Notre Dame 81 7-3 RV
24 Texas 78 10-0 RV
25 California 71 6-3 22

ESPN/USA Softball Poll (February 23, 2016)
RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Florida (18) 11-0 496 1
2 Michigan 8-1 476 2
3 Auburn 10-1 450 3
4 Alabama 10-1 421 6
5 LSU 8-2 420 4
6 Louisiana-Lafayette 8-1 405 8
7 Oregon 8-3 366 5
8 Washington (1) 9-1 363 9
9 Georgia 9-0 310 12
10 UCLA 7-3 293 7
11 Oklahoma 7-2 282 T10
T12. Missouri 6-0 265 13
T12. James Madison 9-1 265 20
14 Texas A&M (1) 11-1 247 23
15 Florida State 7-3 194 15
16 Arizona 8-3 186 T10
T17. Arizona State 11-1 182 17
T17. Kentucky 9-2 182 19
19 Tennessee 8-3 179 14
20 Fresno State 10-0 148 22
21 Texas 10-0 108 24
22 Minnesota 5-4 72 18
23 Mississippi State 9-0 34 RV
24 Baylor 5-3 31 21
25 California 6-3 30 25

Women's Water Polo

Last Week: #2 UCLA defeated #9 UC Irvine 11-6.

CWPA Poll (February 24, 2016)
RANK TEAM POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Southern Cal 100 1
2 UCLA 96 2
3 California 92 3
4 Stanford 88 4
5 UC Davis 80 5
6 Hawai'i 78 T6
T7 Michigan 75 T6
T7 Arizona State 75 8
9 UC Irvine 67 9
10 Hartwick 63 T10
11 San Jose State 59 T10
12 Pacific 58 12
13 UC San Diego 50 13
14 Loyola Marymount 45 T14
15 Princeton 43 T14
16 Harvard 42 16
17 UC Santa Barbara 38 17
18 Indiana 34 18
19 San Diego State 28 19
20 Wagner 26 20

Men's Tennis

Last Week: #4 UCLA defeated UC Irvine 7-0.

ITA Division I Men's Team Rankings (February 24, 2016)
RANK POINTS TEAM PREVIOUS
1 94.05 North Carolina 1
2 84.88 University of Virginia 2
3 73.9 Ohio State University 6
4 71.43 UCLA 4
5 67.84 Wake Forest University 5
6 65.37 Texas Tech University 10
7 65.2 Texas A&M University 7
8 62 TCU 3
9 60.59 Oklahoma State University 15
10 52.3 University of Oklahoma 8
11 51.28 University of Illinois 12
12 50.39 California 18
13 50.24 University of Southern California 9
14 50.21 University of South Florida 14
15 48.81 Northwestern University T20
16 45.23 University of Georgia 11
17 42.67 University of Memphis NR
18 33.56 University of Kentucky NR
19 31.23 University of Mississippi 19
20 31.16 University of Oregon NR
21 30.8 Penn State University NR
22 30.55 University of Tulsa NR
23 28.75 Columbia University 16
24 27.58 University of San Diego 17
25 26.69 North Carolina State NR


Women's Tennis

Last Week: #21 UCLA lost to #15 Pepperdine 6-1, and lost to #1 California 5-2.

ITA Division I Women's Team Rankings (February 24, 2016)
RANK POINTS TEAM PREVIOUS
1 88.63 California 1
2 81.27 Ohio State University 5
3 71.43 University of Michigan 8
4 70.62 Vanderbilt University 6
5 69.22 University of Georgia 4
6 67.21 North Carolina 2
7 59.65 University of Florida 3
8 58.78 Texas Tech University 10
9 57.05 Duke University 7
10 50.61 Pepperdine T15
11 47.23 Oklahoma State University 14
12 42.28 LSU 19
13 41.52 University of Miami (Florida) 12
14 40.85 University of Tulsa NR
15 33.86 University of Kentucky 20
16 33.7 Stanford 13
17 33.32 University of South Carolina NR
18 33 University of Virginia 9
19 30.74 University of Washington NR
20 29.91 Texas A&M University T15
21 28.72 Wichita State University NR
22 28.6 University of Mississippi 18
23 26 University of Kansas NR
24 25.92 Arizona State University NR
25 25.33 Mississippi State University 25


UCLA Women's Tennis is ranked 29th with 20.4 points.

Women's Gymnastics

Last Week: #7 UCLA defeated Washington 196.675-196.450.

GymInfo Team Rankings (February 22, 2016)
RANK TEAM TEAM ROS AVERAGE HIGH
1 Oklahoma 197.595 197.422 197.925
2 Florida 197.355 197.329 198.175
3 Alabama 197.195 196.997 197.525
4 Michigan 196.92 196.838 197.425
5 Utah 196.85 196.789 197.15
6 UCLA 196.81 196.671 197.475
7 LSU 196.75 196.879 197.825
8 Auburn 196.495 196.453 197.275
9 Arkansas 196.315 196.166 196.7
10 Georgia 196.31 196.253 197.525
11 Boise State 196.185 196.225 196.425
12 Stanford 196.045 195.957 196.675
13 Denver 196.005 196.011 196.675
14 Nebraska 195.955 195.8 196.775
14 California 195.955 195.843 196.9
16 Missouri 195.9 195.772 196.65
17 Oregon State 195.84 195.882 196.85
18 Iowa 195.71 195.147 196.65
19 Minnesota 195.695 195.639 196.3
20 George Washington 195.52 195.629 196.175
21 Eastern Michigan 195.485 195.459 196.6
22 Kentucky 195.48 195.413 196.05
23 West Virginia 195.42 195.221 195.8
24 Illinois-Champaign 195.315 195.411 196.3
25 Arizona 195.235 195.442 196.475

Go BRUINS!