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On Saturday evening, the Bruins continued their “revenge tour” when they defeated Arizona 77-72. Today, the voters in both Top 25 polls have rewarded UCLA by moving them into the #2 spot in the USA Today Coaches Poll and the #3 spot in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll. Finally, the Bruins are getting respect from the pollsters.
“Ah! But how is this going to translate on Selection Sunday?” is the question on the mind of every Bruin fan. That’s because just a few days after UCLA defeated Oregon at home (even if ESPN’s Joe Lunardi thinks the Bruins only played the Ducks once), the NCAA Selection Committee released its first mid-season seedings and UCLA got no respect from the Committee who had UCLA as the 15th overall seed and going to the East region.
Oh, my! How things have changed.
There’s a new #1 team today in both polls as the Kansas Jayhawks are the new top team in the land after previously-unbeaten Gonzaga lost on Saturday night to BYU. Gonzaga’s loss has allowed the Bruins to move up in the polls and, now, if UCLA can win this week’s two home games against the Washington schools and the Pac-12 Tournament, UCLA could be back in line for the #1 seed in the West.
After all, we know from past experience that the committee seems to value more recent games over games played earlier in the season. That was one of the justifications offered when UCLA made the NCAA Tournament two years ago when no one thought the team deserved to go. (They didn’t.)
So, will wins over Oregon and Southern Cal at home and road wins over Arizona and Kentucky be enough to earn UCLA a higher seed in the West than what the committee indicated at the start of February? It should because, when you factor in what else has occurred this month in college basketball, it just makes common sense. Most of the teams who were seeded ahead of the Bruins have suffered losses in February. Heck, Virginia, which was the #10 seed, is down to #23 in both Top 25 polls today.
UCLA’s undefeated February should set them up for a high seed in March as long as they can win the Pac-12 Tournament.
As far as the rest of this week’s Top 25 polls, North Carolina moved into the Top 5 in both polls while Arizona dropped to 7th in the AP and 8th in the Coaches Poll after losing to the Bruins. Meanwhile, Oregon stayed at 6th in the AP and moved up to 6th in the Coaches Poll.
College Basketball Top 25 Polls, Week 17
| Rank | AP | Points | Last Week | Coaches | Points | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | AP | Points | Last Week | Coaches | Points | Last Week |
| 1 | Kansas (58) | 1,618 | 3 | Kansas (23) | 797 | 3 |
| 2 | Villanova (2) | 1,487 | 2 | UCLA (3) | 730 | 5 |
| 3/2 | UCLA (3) | 1,474 | 5 | Villanova (5) | 730 | 2 |
| 4 | Gonzaga (2) | 1,419 | 1 | Gonzaga (1) | 686 | 1 |
| 5 | North Carolina | 1,381 | 8 | North Carolina | 663 | 8 |
| 6 | Oregon | 1,343 | 6 | Oregon | 653 | 7 |
| 7 | Arizona | 1,223 | 4 | Louisville | 600 | 6 |
| 8 | Louisville | 1,176 | 7 | Arizona | 585 | 4 |
| 9 | Kentucky | 1,119 | 11 | Kentucky | 578 | 10 |
| 10 | West Virginia | 1,041 | 12 | West Virginia | 478 | 13 |
| 11 | Baylor | 923 | 9 | Baylor | 461 | 9 |
| 12 | Florida | 807 | 13 | Florida | 382 | 12 |
| 13 | Butler | 795 | 22 | Notre Dame | 334 | 17 |
| 14 | SMU | 738 | 17 | Duke | 315 | 11 |
| 15 | Florida State | 722 | 19 | Butler | 314 | 22 |
| 16 | Purdue | 651 | 14 | Purdue | 299 | 14 |
| 17 | Duke | 622 | 10 | Florida State | 290 | 20 |
| 18 | Cincinnati | 504 | 15 | Saint Mary's | 273 | 18 |
| 19 | Notre Dame | 482 | 21 | SMU | 269 | 21 |
| 20 | Saint Mary's | 445 | 20 | Cincinnati | 210 | 16 |
| 21 | Wichita State | 250 | 25 | Wisconsin | 185 | 15 |
| 22 | Wisconsin | 206 | 16 | Wichita State | 140 | 25 |
| 23 | Virginia | 194 | 18 | Virginia | 138 | 19 |
| 24 | Iowa State | 168 | NR | Iowa State | 57 | 29 |
| 25 | Miami | 123 | NR | Miami | 48 | 30 |
Others Receiving Votes
AP Poll: Minnesota 66, Oklahoma State 54, Dayton 32, Michigan 14, Middle Tennessee 13, Creighton 12, Southern Cal 7, Michigan State 3, Monmouth 3, Vermont 2, VCU 2, Virginia Tech 2, Arkansas 1, BYU 1, Maryland 1, Princeton 1.
Coaches Poll: Creighton 44; South Carolina 25; Southern California 21; Middle Tennessee 20; Oklahoma State 16; Dayton 15; Minnesota 10; Maryland 9; Northwestern 8; Xavier 8; Michigan State 7; California 4; Arkansas 2; Michigan 2; Virginia Commonwealth 1.
Go Bruins.