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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 |