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UCLA Poll Watch: Baseball Continues to Slide

UCLA Baseball looks to end its six-game skid this week against Stanford.

By Bruinette88
@UCLABaseball

When the Bruins lost to Cal State Northridge on Tuesday, UCLA Baseball's losing streak reached six games. During that stretch, the Bruins have dropped out of the top-25 in the polls and have fallen into the bottom half of the Pac-12 standings. UCLA (12-14, 4-5) can improve on that position this weekend when the Bruins host third place Stanford (15-8, 4-2). UCLA has played much better at home than on the road this season, and a sweep of the Cardinal would likely propel the Bruins into the top-4 in the conference.

UCLA Softball is in a much better position. The Bruins won two out of three against the #4 Ducks in Eugene last week, lifting UCLA three spots to #13 in the latest USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll. The Bruins are currently in third place in the Pac-12, but with last place Stanford in town for a three game set starting Saturday, UCLA should be able to close the gap on first-place Oregon.

UCLA Men's Volleyball began last week as the nation's #1 team. A week later, the Bruins are at #4 after two damaging losses to BYU--the new #1 team. Although the NCAA tournament field now essentially includes 6 teams, four of the six spots go to conference tournament winners, so simply being one of the top-4 teams in the country doesn't ensure a tournament berth. Furthermore, with its last two regular season games against #3 Stanford and #6 Pepperdine, UCLA's path through the MPSF tournament looks increasingly difficult. A win tonight against Stanford would certainly improve the Bruins' chances of an NCAA tournament appearance. A win on Saturday against Pepperdine is even more important.

Despite knocking off the top team in the country last week, UCLA Beach Volleyball climbed just one spot in the polls. The Bruins are now back to #4 after handing Pepperdine its first loss of the season and after defeating #4 Hawai'i in Honolulu. The Bruins are competing in the USAV Hermosa Beach Tournament this weekend and then will begin preparations for the Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Championships by playing three nonconference opponents in the following two weeks.

UCLA Women's Water Polo picked up three lopsided wins last week against #11 San Jose State, Redlands and Pomona-Pitzer. The Bruins outscored their opponents 66-11 in those matches and extended their winning streak to nine games. UCLA (20-2, 3-0) remains at #2 in the most recent CWPA Coaches poll, but that could change this weekend when the Bruins travel across town to battle the top-ranked Trojans. The winner of that contest will almost certainly win the MPSF regular season title.

Wins against Stanford and #16 California last week were enough to lift UCLA Men's Tennis one place in the latest ITA rankings. The Bruins (16-2, 4-0) are now the fourth-ranked team in the nation, and sport a perfect record in Pac-12 play. UCLA is on the road this week with matches against Arizona (8-14, 0-4) and Utah (16-7, 0-3). If the Bruins return home with a pair of wins, they'll play for the Pac-12 regular season title next weekend against Southern Cal.

UCLA Women's Tennis extended its winning streak to four games last week with road wins against Colorado and Utah. Those victories gave the Bruins eight wins in their last nine contests and lifted UCLA (13-4, 5-1) into a tie for fourth place in the Pac-12. Surprisingly, the wins didn't count for much in the ITA rankings--UCLA dropped three places to #23. The Bruins host the Arizona schools this weekend. A win against the Sun Devils tomorrow would see the Bruins move past them into third place.

Finally, the final USA Today Coaches polls for men's and women's basketball have been released. As expected, UCLA Men's Basketball isn't on the radar of the voters. However, UCLA Women's Basketball finished #13 in the final poll, down one place from its position at the end of the regular season. That strikes me as pretty ridiculous, especially since the Bruins were dropped a place to accommodate placing previously unranked Washington in the top-10. Unfortunately, too many voters place far too much emphasis on the outcomes of a few games in a single-elimination tournament, and in this case, Washington is the beneficiary of votes resulting from the Huskies' improbable run to the Final Four. Nevertheless, even at #13, UCLA exceeded the preseason expectations of most pundits, and the Bruins are well-situated to build upon this season's success.

Baseball

Last Week: UCLA lost to Cal State Fullerton 14-7, and lost three games to California: 9-1, 8-2, 5-3.

NCBWA Poll (April 4, 2016)

RANK TEAM RECORD LAST WEEK PREVIOUS
1 Florida 27-3 4-0 3
2 Miami (Fla.) 23-4 3-0 2
3 Vanderbilt 23-5 3-1 4
4 Louisville 22-5 3-0 5
5 Texas A&M 22-6 1-3 1
6 TCU 22-5 4-0 8
7 Florida State 19-6 1-1 7
8 Mississippi State 20-8-1 3-1 11
9 South Carolina 24-5 1-3 6
10 California 18-6 4-0 12
11 Oregon State 19-7 3-2 9
12 Florida Atlantic 21-4 3-0 17
13 North Carolina 20-7 1-3 10
14 Ole Miss 21-7 1-2 13
15 LSU 18-9 2-2 15
16 Mo. State 22-5 3-1 19
17 NC State 19-9 3-1 23
18 Clemson 21-7 4-1 24
19 Oklahoma State 19-9 2-2 18
20 Virginia 18-11 1-3 14
21 Michigan 20-5 4-0 25
22 BYU 23-3 3-0 26
23 UC Santa Barb. 20-6 2-2 22
24 Arkansas 19-9 1-3 16
25 Georgia Tech 20-7 2-2 21

UCLA (12-14, 4-5) received 0 votes.
D1 Baseball Poll (April 4, 2016)
RANK TEAM LAST WEEK RECORD PREVIOUS
1 Florida 4-0 27-3 2
2 Vanderbilt 3-1 23-5 3
3 Miami (Fla.) 3-0 23-4 4
4 Louisville 3-0 22-5 8
5 Mississippi State 3-1 20-8 11
6 Texas A&M 1-3 22-6 1
7 Oregon State 3-2 19-7 6
8 South Carolina 1-3 24-5 5
9 Florida State 1-1 19-6 9
10 TCU 4-0 22-5 10
11 California 4-0 18-6 12
12 Clemson 4-1 21-7 14
13 North Carolina 1-3 20-7 7
14 NC State 3-1 19-9 17
15 LSU 2-2 18-9 15
16 East Carolina 3-1 19-9 19
17 Florida Atlantic 3-0 21-4 22
18 Ole Miss 1-2 21-7 13
19 UC Santa Barbara 2-2 20-6 24
20 Long Beach State 1-3 17-10 16
21 Kentucky 3-2 20-8 NR
22 Texas Tech 4-1 20-8 NR
23 Oklahoma State 2-2 19-9 21
24 College of Charleston 3-1 20-8 NR
25 Michigan 4-0 20-5 NR

UCLA (12-14) did not receive consideration.

Softball

Last Week: #16 UCLA defeated Cal State Fullerton 5-4, defeated #4 Oregon 16-6, lost to #4 Oregon 6-5, and defeated #4 Oregon 4-1.

USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll (April 5, 2016)

RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Michigan (17) 27-3 781 2
2 Florida (10) 34-3 765 1
3 Auburn (2) 33-4 731 3
4 Alabama (2) 31-7 712 6
5 Louisiana-Lafayette 29-3 656 5
6 Oregon 27-6 622 4
7 James Madison (1) 30-2 611 7
8 LSU 28-9 591 8
9 Florida State 27-4 524 9
10 Georgia 31-7 492 10
11 Texas A&M 30-6 470 12
12 Washington 22-8 458 11
13 UCLA 22-11-1 408 16
14 Oklahoma 26-7 396 13
15 Missouri 26-7 347 15
16 Kentucky 31-8 301 14
17 Tennessee 27-10 295 17
18 Arizona 23-11 275 18
19 Baylor 31-7 256 19
t20 Notre Dame 26-6 172 22
t20 Arizona State 27-10 172 20
22 Minnesota 24-10 124 21
23 Fresno State 24-9-1 76 25
24 Florida Atlantic 30-7 61 23
25 USF 31-10 42 24

ESPN/USA Softball Poll (April 5, 2016)

RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Michigan (9) 27-3 488 2
2 Auburn (3) 33-4 468 3
3 Florida (5) 34-3 467 1
4 Alabama (1) 31-7 430 7
5 Louisiana-Lafayette (1) 29-3 426 4
6 James Madison (1) 30-2 411 6
7 Oregon 27-6 361 5
8 Florida State 27-4 359 8
9 LSU 28-9 340 10
10 Texas A&M 30-6 314 11
11 Georgia 31-7 308 9
T12. Oklahoma 26-7 253 13
T12. Washington 22-8 253 13
14 Missouri 26-7 231 15
T15. Kentucky 31-8 206 12
T15. UCLA 22-11-1 206 18
17 Arizona 22-8 184 17
18 Baylor 31-7 179 19
19 Tennessee 27-10 165 16
20 Notre Dame 26-6 106 20
21 Arizona State 27-10 100 21
22 Minnesota 24-10 85 22
23 South Florida 31-10 49 23
24 Ohio State 19-8-1 39 24
25 Fresno State 24-9 29 NR

Men's Volleyball

Last Week: #1 UCLA lost to #3 BYU 3-1. and lost to #3 BYU 3-1.

AVCA Coaches Poll (April 4, 2016)

RANK TEAM POINTS RECORD PREVIOUS
1 BYU (9) 289 21-3 3
2 Ohio State (7) 273 22-3 2
3 Stanford (3) 263 19-3 4
4 UCLA (1) 254 21-5 1
5 Long Beach State 220 21-6 5
6 Pepperdine 193 13-8 6
7 UC Santa Barbara 182 17-9 7
8 Ball State 148 20-6 9
9 Hawai'i 145 14-11 8
10 CSUN 120 13-14 10
11 Penn State 109 16-7 11
12 Loyola-Chicago 77 17-7 12
13 Lewis 58 15-12 13
14 California Baptist 21 14-14 NR
15 UC Irvine 18 9-18 14

Beach Volleyball

Last Week: #5 UCLA defeated #1 Pepperdine 3-2, defeated Arizona State 5-0, and defeated #4 Hawai'i 3-2.

AVCA Coaches Poll (April 4, 2016)

RANK TEAM RECORD PREVIOUS
1 Pepperdine 14-1 1
2 Southern California 17-2 2
3 Florida State 16-1 3
4 UCLA 12-4 5
5 Hawai'i 10-6 4
6 Long Beach State 8-6 7
7 Arizona 10-3 6
8 Georgia State 17-4 8
9 Stetson 18-6 9
10 Florida International 9-7 10

Women's Water Polo

Last Week: #2 UCLA defeated #7 California 4-3, defeated #11 San Jose State 13-6, defeated Redlands 23-2, and defeated Pomona-Pitzer 25-3.

CWPA Poll (April 6, 2016)
RANK TEAM POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Southern California 100 1
2 UCLA 96 2
3 Stanford 92 3
4 Hawaii 88 4
5 Arizona State 83 5
6 UC Irvine 79 6
7 California 76 7
8 Michigan 72 8
9 UC Davis 67 9
10 UC San Diego 64 10
11 San Jose State 63 11
12 Pacific 56 12
13 Harvard 50 13
14 UC Santa Barbara 46 14
15 Indiana 43 15
16 Princeton 42 17
17 Long Beach State 34 16
18 San Diego State 32 20
19 Loyola Marymount 28 18
20 Wagner 26 19
21 Hartwick 20 22
22 California Baptist 19 21
23 Marist 10 24
24 CSU Bakersfield 9 23
25 Cal State Northridge 6 25


Men's Tennis

Last Week: #5 UCLA defeated Stanford 4-1, and defeated #16 California 4-2.

ITA Division I Men's Team Rankings (April 6, 2016)

RANK TEAM POINTS PREVIOUS
1 North Carolina 73.43 1
2 TCU 69.05 2
3 University of Virginia 68.45 3
4 UCLA 67.84 5
5 Ohio State University 65.41 4
6 Wake Forest University 58.41 6
7 University of Georgia 58.07 7
8 University of Southern California 54.52 9
9 University of Oklahoma 51.78 18
10 Texas A&M University 50.54 10
11 Texas Tech University 50.38 12
12 Oklahoma State University 50.28 8
13 Northwestern University 49.23 13
14 University of Florida 48.83 11
15 University of Illinois 44.27 15
16 University of Arkansas 44.05 14
17 University of Texas 41.1 21
18 University of Tulsa 39.77 24
19 California 38.29 16
20 University of Kentucky 37.71 19
21 University of Michigan 37.04 20
22 University of South Florida 36.34 17
23 Florida State University 34.76 22
24 Mississippi State University 32.93 25
25 SMU 32.23 27

Women's Tennis

Last Week: #20 UCLA defeated Colorado 6-1, and defeated Utah 4-2.

ITA Division I Women's Team Rankings (April 6, 2016)

RANK TEAM POINTS PREVIOUS
1 California 79.23 1
2 North Carolina 70.48 3
3 Ohio State 67.49 2
4 Georgia 66.21 4
5 Vanderbilt 64.00 5
6 Florida 63.13 6
7 Miami (Fla.) 59.47 7
8 Duke 54.12 10
9 Pepperdine 53.48 9
10 South Carolina 52.65 8
11 Michigan 47.11 11
12 Texas Tech 42.95 13
13 Auburn 41.53 14
14 Oklahoma State 40.83 17
15 Virginia 39.30 12
16 LSU 38.60 15
17 Georgia Tech 38.55 16
18 Texas A&M 38.39 25
19 Stanford 34.60 18
20 Wake Forest 31.67 19
21 Kentucky 31.43 23
22 Wichita State 30.90 22
23 UCLA 30.85 20
24 Southern California 30.34 27
25 Mississippi State 30.30 28

Women's Gymnastics

Last Week: #9 UCLA won the Pac-12 Championship.

GymInfo Team Rankings (March 14, 2016)

RANK TEAM TEAM ROS AVERAGE HIGH
1 Oklahoma 197.845 197.55 198.075
2 Florida 197.655 197.475 198.175
3 LSU 197.555 197.18 197.925
4 Alabama 197.325 196.977 197.55
5 Utah 197.205 196.975 197.675
6 Auburn 197.12 196.666 197.325
7 Michigan 197.085 196.9 197.425
8 Georgia 196.99 196.429 197.525
9 UCLA 196.94 196.735 197.475
10 Denver 196.645 196.345 197.525
11 California 196.555 196.18 197.5
12 Nebraska 196.535 196.135 197.35
13 Arkansas 196.505 196.32 197.225
14 Oregon State 196.45 196.085 196.85
15 Boise State 196.425 196.408 197.325
16 Minnesota 196.395 196.045 197.425
17 Washington 196.36 195.523 196.65
18 Iowa 196.33 195.421 196.65
19 Stanford 196.305 196.15 197.4
20 Missouri 196.235 195.877 196.65
21 Arizona 196.155 195.775 196.85
22 Kentucky 196.115 195.72 196.7
23 George Washington 195.905 195.695 196.6
24 Eastern Michigan 195.875 195.432 196.6
25 Illinois-Champaign 195.87 195.605 196.525

Men's Basketball

Final USA Today Coaches Poll (April 4, 2016)

RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Villanova (30) 35-5 750 6
2 North Carolina 33-7 720 3
3 Kansas 33-5 657 1
4 Oklahoma 29-8 643 7
5 Virginia 29-8 631 5
6 Oregon 31-7 596 4
7 Michigan State 29-6 488 2
8 Miami 27-8 480 11
9 Indiana 27-8 456 12
10 Syracuse 23-14 446 NR
11 Xavier 28-6 361 9
12 Texas A&M 28-9 358 17
12 Maryland 27-9 358 15
14 West Virginia 26-9 331 8
15 Iowa State 23-12 315 19
16 Kentucky 27-9 297 13
17 Notre Dame 24-12 285 NR
18 Duke 25-11 263 20
19 Purdue 26-9 184 10
20 Utah 27-9 170 14
21 Gonzaga 28-8 157 NR
22 Arizona 25-9 154 16
23 Wisconsin 22-13 149 NR
24 Baylor 22-12 105 18
25 Iowa 22-11 82 24


UCLA (15-17) received 0 points.

Women's Basketball

Final USA Today Coaches Poll (April 6, 2016)

RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Connecticut 38-0 800 1
2 Oregon State 32-5 718 6
3 Syracuse 30-8 713 15
4 Baylor 36-2 680 4
5 South Carolina 33-2 666 2
6 Notre Dame 33-2 662 3
7 Texas 31-5 599 7
8 Washington 26-11 536 NR
9 Maryland 31-4 493 5
10 Ohio State 26-8 463 9
11 Stanford 27-8 455 16
12 Florida State 25-8 441 10
13 UCLA 26-9 391 12
14 Louisville 26-7 377 8
15 Kentucky 25-8 357 13
16 Arizona State 26-7 324 11
17 DePaul 27-9 298 21
18 Mississippi State 28-8 297 14
19 Tennessee 22-14 NR NR
20 Texas A&M 22-10 191 18
21 Michigan State 25-9 186 17
22 South Florida 24-10 180 20
23 Oklahoma 22-11 77 23
24 Miami (Fla.) 24-9 71 19
25 West Virginia 25-10 55 25

Go BRUINS!

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