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UCLA Poll Watch: Baseball & Softball Continue To Slide

Both UCLA Baseball and UCLA Softball have had early season pitching woes that have caused them to drop games and fall in the national rankings.

By Bruinette88
@UCLASoftball

UCLA Baseball split its four games last week, winning two out of three against Cal Poly and losing a midweek game to Long Beach State. Aside from a 19-0 defeat of Cal Poly in the middle game of the series, the UCLA pitching staff gave up at least six runs in each of the other games. That's not the kind of pitching that we've come to expect from Coach Savage's teams, and considering the lack of pop in the Bruins' lineup, it's a recipe for a difficult season.

The voters apparently agree with that assessment. The Bruins drop five places to #20 in this week's NCBWA poll, and fall seven places to #21 in the latest D1 Baseball poll.

UCLA Softball has its own pitching problems. With injuries to Paige McDuffee and Rachel Garcia, the Bruins are down to two pitchers. Unfortunately, neither of them has pitched consistently, and neither has pitched well in relief. As a result, the Bruins have given up a lot of runs--too many runs, in fact, for a lineup that has hit the ball well so far but lacks the slugging and timely hitting of last season's team.

The Bruins lost three of their five games last week, and as a result, they are down another two spots to #13 in this week's NFCA Coaches poll and down a full five spots to #15 in the most recent USA Softball poll.

As expected, there was no change at the top of the AVCA Coaches poll; UCLA Men's Volleyball holds down the fourth spot in the national rankings for a second straight week after beating Cal Baptist and Southern Cal. In fact, the top-4 in men's volleyball may remain unchanged for the next couple of weeks until the top teams in the MPSF face each other again.

UCLA Women's Water Polo holds onto its #2 CWPA ranking in spite of losing last week. The Bruins won their first three games in the UC Irvine Invitational, but for the second time this season, they lost to #1 Southern Cal in a tournament final. The Bruins will have to wait over a month before they get another shot at USC. UCLA has a single conference game against the Trojans this season: April 9 at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center. Be sure to mark your calendars.

One of the few UCLA teams to climb in the polls this week is UCLA Women's Basketball. The Bruins closed out the regular season with an upset of #9 Arizona State. That win helped propel UCLA to #12 in the AP poll and #14 in the USA Today Coaches poll. More importantly, it boosted UCLA's chances of playing at home in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins are currently projected to be a No. 3 seeds in one of the regions.

There's not much to say about UCLA Men's Basketball, sadly. The Bruins will finish outside the top-25 again, concluding a season in which they seem all but certain to miss the NCAA Tournament.

Although UCLA Men's Tennis won its only match last week, its narrow, unimpressive 4-3 victory over Stanford cost the Bruins in the ITA rankings. UCLA is now sixth, down two spots from last week. UCLA Women's Tennis fared better, knocking off two opponents and climbing two positions in the ITA rankings to #27.

Last but not least, UCLA Gymnastics cruised to an easy victory over Arizona State last week but dropped in the GymInfo Team rankings based on the score they posted against the Sun Devils. The Bruins are now seventh, one spot behind Pac-12 rival Utah.

Men's Basketball

Last Week: UCLA lost to California 75-63, and lost to Stanford 79-70.

Associated Press Poll (February 29, 2016)
RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Kansas (63) 25-4 1,623 2
2 Michigan State (2) 24-5 1,510 6
3 Villanova 25-4 1,479 1
4 Virginia 22-6 1,405 3
5 Xavier 25-4 1,356 5
6 Oklahoma 22-6 1,297 3
7 Miami (Fla.) 23-5 1,211 12
8 North Carolina 23-6 1,205 7
9 Oregon 23-6 1,065 13
10 West Virginia 22-7 1,056 14
11 Louisville 22-7 822 11
12 Indiana 23-6 819 18
13 Utah 23-7 751 22
14 Maryland 23-6 753 10
15 Purdue 22-7 613 20
16 Iowa 20-8 572 8
17 Duke 21-8 495 15
18 Arizona 22-7 450 9
19 Baylor 21-8 447 19
20 Texas A&M 22-7 419 21
21 Iowa State 20-9 413 17
22 Kentucky 21-8 405 16
23 Texas 19-10 338 25
24 SMU 24-4 196 24
25 California 21-8 178 NR


UCLA (15-14, 6-10) received 0 points.

USA Today Coaches Poll (February 29, 2016)
RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Kansas (31) 25-4 799 2
2 Villanova 25-4 734 1
3 Michigan State (1) 24-5 733 7
4 Virginia 22-6 673 3
5 Xavier 25-4 637 5
6 Oklahoma 22-6 623 4
7 Miami (Fla.) 23-5 607 11
8 North Carolina 23-6 584 6
9 West Virginia 22-7 518 12
10 Oregon 23-6 510 13
11 Indiana 23-6 434 15
12 Maryland 23-6 405 9
13 Purdue 22-7 330 19
13 Utah 23-7 330 23
15 Iowa 20-8 321 8
16 Arizona 22-7 307 10
17 Baylor 21-8 288 16
18 Texas A&M 22-7 261 21
19 Kentucky 21-8 226 14
20 Iowa State 20-9 221 17
21 Duke 21-8 211 18
22 Texas 19-10 187 25
23 Wichita St 23-7 68 NR
24 Saint Mary's 24-4 61 NR
25 California 21-8 58 NR


UCLA (15-14, 6-10) received 0 points.

Women's Basketball

Last Week: #14 UCLA defeated Arizona 80-53, and defeated #9 Arizona State 74-61.

Associated Press Poll (February 29, 2016)
RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Connecticut (32) 28-0 800 1
2 Notre Dame 28-1 756 2
3 South Carolina 28-1 747 3
4 Baylor 29-1 704 4
5 Maryland 27-3 662 6
6 Texas 26-2 642 8
7 Louisville 24-6 578 10
8 Oregon State 25-4 550 7
9 Ohio State 23-6 549 5
10 Arizona State 25-5 499 9
11 Stanford 24-6 469 13
12 UCLA 22-7 437 14
13 Kentucky 21-6 415 15
14 Florida State 23-6 414 12
15 Texas A&M 21-8 356 11
16 Mississippi State 24-6 326 16
17 Syracuse 23-6 272 18
18 DePaul 24-7 236 19
19 Michigan State 22-7 233 20
20 South Florida 21-7 157 21
21 Miami (FL) 22-7 150 17
22 West Virginia 22-8 96 25
22 Colorado State 26-1 96 NR
24 Oklahoma 19-9 81 23
25 Florida 22-7 76 NR

USA Today Coaches Poll (February 29, 2016)
RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Connecticut (32) 29-0 800 1
2 South Carolina 28-1 756 2
3 Notre Dame 28-1 746 3
4 Baylor 30-1 706 4
5 Maryland 27-3 668 6
6 Louisville 24-6 590 10
7 Texas 26-3 575 8
8 Oregon State 25-4 557 7
9 Ohio State 23-6 530 5
10 Florida State 23-6 490 12
11 Arizona State 25-5 484 9
12 Stanford 24-6 467 13
13 Kentucky 21-6 437 14
14 UCLA 22-7 379 15
15 Texas A&M 21-8 375 11
16 Mississippi State 24-6 326 16
17 Syracuse 23-6 286 18
18 DePaul 24-7 255 19
19 Michigan State 22-7 223 21
20 South Florida 21-8 191 20
21 Miami (FL) 22-7 176 17
22 Oklahoma 19-9 107 23
23 Colorado State 26-1 72 25
24 Florida 22-7 45 NR
25 UTEP 25-2 38 NR

Men's Volleyball

Last Week: #4 UCLA defeated #15 Cal Baptist 3-0, and defeated Southern Cal 3-1.

AVCA Coaches Poll (February 29, 2016)
RANK TEAM POINTS RECORD PREVIOUS
1 Long Beach State (20) 300 15-2 1
2 BYU 274 14-2 2
3 Stanford 265 14-2 3
4 UCLA 241 15-3 4
5 Ohio State 208 13-3 5
6 Penn State 200 12-2 6
7 Hawai'i 160 10-7 7
8 Ball State 155 13-3 9
9 UC Santa Barbara 149 13-6 8
10 Pepperdine 126 7-5 10
11 Loyola-Chicago 112 11-4 11
12 CSUN 79 10-7 12
13 Lewis 54 11-7 14
14 UC Irvine 44 4-12 13
15 California Baptist 17 8-11 15

Baseball

Last Week: #14 UCLA lost to #21 Long Beach State 10-1, defeated Cal Poly 7-6, defeated Cal Poly 19-0, and lost to Cal Poly 6-2.

NCBWA Poll (February 29, 2016)
RANK TEAM RECORD LAST WEEK PREVIOUS
1 Florida 7-1 4-1 1
2 Vanderbilt 8-0 5-0 3
3 Texas A&M 7-1 4-1 4
4 Oregon State 7-1 5-0 7
5 Louisville 5-2 2-2 2
6 Miami (Fla.) 5-2 2-2 5
7 TCU 6-1 4-0 13
8 Oregon 6-1 3-1 11
9 Florida State 5-1 2-1 10
10 LSU 5-2 2-2 6
11 North Carolina 5-1 3-0 14
12 Arkansas 8-0 5-0 18
13 California 5-2 4-0 17
14 Virginia 4-3 2-2 8
15 South Carolina 8-0 5-0 20
16 NC State 5-2 3-1 19
17 Louisiana-Lafayette 4-3 1-3 9
18 Ole Miss 6-1 3-1 NR
19 Mississippi State 6-2 4-0 24
20 UCLA 3-4 2-2 15
21 Houston 4-3 1-3 12
22 Cal State Fullerton 4-2 3-0 23
23 Coastal Carolina 4-2 2-1 22
24 Florida Atlantic 7-0 3-0 NR
25 East Carolina 6-1 3-1 NR

D1 Baseball Poll (February 29, 2016)
RANK TEAM RECORD LAST WEEK PREVIOUS
1 Florida 7-1 4-1 1
2 Vanderbilt 8-0 5-0 3
3 Texas A&M 7-1 4-1 4
4 Oregon State 7-1 5-0 5
5 Louisville 5-2 2-2 2
6 North Carolina 5-1 3-0 10
7 LSU 5-2 2-2 7
8 NC State 5-2 3-1 8
9 Oregon 6-1 3-1 9
10 Miami 5-2 2-2 6
11 TCU 6-1 4-0 17
12 California 5-2 4-0 13
13 South Carolina 8-0 5-0 15
14 Arkansas 8-0 5-0 24
15 Florida State 5-1 2-1 18
16 East Carolina 6-1 3-1 NR
17 Ole Miss 6-1 3-1 NR
18 Coastal Carolina 4-2 2-1 19
19 Virginia 4-3 2-2 11
20 Mississippi State 6-2 4-0 20
21 UCLA 3-4 2-2 14
22 Southern California 4-3 3-1 21
23 Cal State Fullerton 4-2 3-0 25
24 Louisiana-Lafayette 4-3 1-3 16
25 Oklahoma State 2-5 0-3 12

Softball

Last Week: #11 UCLA lost to #1 Florida 2-1, defeated #8 Georgia 14-6, defeated BYU 9-4, lost to #12 Oklahoma 11-7, and lost to Northwestern 7-2.

USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll (March 1, 2016)
RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Florida (32) 16-0 800 1
2 Michigan 12-2 738 2
3 Auburn 15-1 728 3
4 Alabama 15-1 718 4
5 LSU 13-2 659 5
6 Louisiana-Lafayette 14-1 644 6
7 Oregon 12-4 568 7
8 Washington 12-3 546 9
9 Georgia 13-1 524 8
10 James Madison 12-1 521 10
11 Texas A&M 17-1 455 16
12 Florida State 12-3 424 13
13 UCLA 9-6 411 11
14 Oklahoma 10-4 402 12
15 Arizona 11-5 344 15
16 Tennessee 10-5 308 14
17 Kentucky 14-2 292 18
18 Missouri 9-2 267 17
19 Arizona State 14-2 224 19
20 Minnesota 10-4 204 21
21 Notre Dame 12-3 162 23
22 Fresno State 12-3 108 20
23 Nebraska 10-3 85 NR
24 Baylor 11-3 64 NR
25 UCF 7-8 48 22

ESPN/USA Softball Poll (March 1, 2016)

RANK TEAM RECORD PREVIOUS
1 Florida (18) 16-0 1
2 Alabama 15-1 4
3 Michigan 12-2 2
4 Auburn 15-1 3
5 Louisiana-Lafayette 14-1 6
6 LSU 13-2 5
7 Washington 12-3 8
8 Oregon 12-4 7
9 Texas A&M (1) 17-1 14
10 James Madison 12-1 12
11 Georgia 13-1 9
12 Florida State 13-3 15
13 Oklahoma 10-4 11
14 Missouri 9-2 12
15 UCLA 9-6 10
16 Kentucky 14-2 17
17 Arizona State 15-2 17
18 Arizona 11-5 16
19 Minnesota 10-4 22
20 Tennessee 10-5 19
21 Fresno State 12-3 20
22 Baylor 11-3 24
22 Oregon State 14-2 NR
24 Texas 14-2 21
25 Notre Dame 12-3 NR


Women's Water Polo

Last Week: #2 UCLA defeated #19 San Diego State 6-5, defeated #7 Michigan 14-8, defeated #6 Hawai'i 10-6, and lost to #1 Southern Cal 10-7.

CWPA Poll (March 2, 2016)
RANK TEAM POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Southern Cal 100 1
2 UCLA 96 2
3 Stanford 92 4
4 Hawai'i 87 6
5 Michigan 85 T7
T6 California 78 3
T6 UC Irvine 78 9
8 UC Davis 70 5
9 Arizona State 69 T7
10 San Jose State 62 11
11 Hartwick 59 10
12 UC San Diego 57 13
13 Pacific 53 12
14 UC Santa Barbara 46 17
15 Loyola Marymount 41 14
16 Harvard 38 16
17 Wagner 34 20
18 San Diego State 33 19
19 Indiana 32 18
20 Princeton 28 15

Men's Tennis

Last Week: #4 UCLA defeated Stanford 4-3.

ITA Division I Men's Team Rankings (March 1, 2016)
RANK TEAM POINTS PREVIOUS
1 North Carolina 93.84 1
2 Virginia 72.04 2
3 TCU 66.76 8
4 Ohio State 65.69 3
5 Oklahoma State 65.10 9
6 UCLA 64.10 4
7 Wake Forest 60.12 5
8 Texas A&M 58.55 7
9 Northwestern 54.34 15
10 Texas Tech 53.98 6
11 Illinois 52.20 11
12 Southern California 47.23 13
13 Oklahoma 45.06 10
14 Baylor 41.10 34
15 Texas 40.04 26
16 Georgia 39.63 16
17 South Florida 39.17 14
18 California 38.16 12
19 Michigan 31.45 28
20 Tulsa 31.32 22
21 Oregon 30.88 20
22 Kentucky 30.46 18
23 Memphis 30.42 17
24 Penn State 27.88 21
25 Columbia 25.86 23

Women's Tennis

Last Week: UCLA defeated Southern Cal 5-2, and defeated #24 Baylor 4-1.

ITA Division I Women's Team Rankings (March 1, 2016)
RANK TEAM POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Ohio State 84.47 2
2 California 80.4 1
3 North Carolina 70.38 6
4 Michigan 67.5 3
5 Texas Tech 57.06 8
6 Duke 55.88 9
7 Georgia 55.12 5
8 Vanderbilt 54.58 4
9 LSU 43.93 12
10 Oklahoma State 43.69 11
11 Pepperdine 43.08 10
12 South Carolina 35.14 17
13 Wichita State 34.75 21
14 Texas A&M 33.74 20
15 Florida 31.98 7
16 Virginia 31.45 18
17 Kentucky 30 15
18 Tulsa 29.96 14
19 Clemson 27.39 34
20 Stanford 27.32 16
21 Miami (Fla.) 27.14 13
22 Fresno State 24.56 26
23 Kansas 22.62 23
24 Syracuse 22.3 33
25 Mississippi State 22.27 25


UCLA Women's Tennis is ranked 27th with 20.34 points.

Women's Gymnastics

Last Week: #6 UCLA defeated Arizona State 196.625-192.950.

GymInfo Team Rankings (February 29, 2016)
RANK TEAM TEAM ROS AVERAGE HIGH
1 Oklahoma 197.705 197.488 198.075
2 Florida 197.440 197.397 198.175
3 Alabama 197.325 197.053 197.55
4 LSU 197.150 197.006 197.9
5 Michigan 197.065 196.886 197.425
6 Utah 197.020 196.819 197.15
7 UCLA 196.825 196.666 197.475
8 Auburn 196.720 196.536 197.275
9 Arkansas 196.460 196.283 197.225
10 Georgia 196.375 196.189 197.525
11 Boise State 196.330 196.254 196.425
12 California 196.235 195.956 196.9
13 Denver 196.210 196.200 197.525
14 Missouri 196.185 195.867 196.65
15 Nebraska 196.070 195.875 196.775
16 Stanford 196.045 195.957 196.675
17 Iowa 195.980 195.240 196.65
18 Arizona 195.895 195.641 196.475
19 Minnesota 195.850 195.709 196.3
20 Oregon State 195.840 195.882 196.85
21 George Washington 195.765 195.716 196.6
22 Illinois-Champaign 195.710 195.586 196.525
23 Kentucky 195.670 195.556 196.7
24 Eastern Michigan 195.635 195.497 196.6
25 West Virginia 195.540 195.347 196.225

Go BRUINS!

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