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The Top 4 spots in both polls stayed virtually the same this week. In the USA Today Coaches Poll, the only difference is that UCLA and Villanova are no longer tied for second. The Wildcats just edged out the Bruins for the 2nd spot.
Oregon and North Carolina flipped spots, setting up another potential top 5 matchup for UCLA if both the Bruins and the Ducks can win their first two games at the Pac-12 Tournament this week in Las Vegas. Assuming that happens, whomever wins the Pac-12 Tournament should be looking at a #1 seed somewhere and, if it’s UCLA, it should be in the West because that would be the second time in three weeks they would have defeated a Top 5 team.
But, to get to that Top 5 matchup, UCLA will need to first beat the winner of Southern Cal and Washington and, then, probably #7 Arizona again. In other words, the Revenge Tour is taking up residency in Las Vegas this week.
If the Bruins are to get the top seed in the West, they need to win 3 games this weekend. That’s not going to be an easy feat. But, then, to win the National Championship, they need to run off 6 more consecutive wins.
So, they need a total of 9 wins over four weekends.
And it all begins Thursday at 8:30 pm PT.
Here are this week’s polls:
College Basketball Top 25 Polls, Week 18
| Rank | AP | Points | Last Week | Coaches | Points | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | AP | Points | Last Week | Coaches | Points | Last Week |
| 1 | Kansas (59) | 1,619 | 1 | Kansas (27) | 795 | 1 |
| 2 | Villanova (2) | 1,517 | 2 | Villanova (2) | 743 | 2 |
| 3 | UCLA (3) | 1,487 | 3 | UCLA (2) | 737 | 2 |
| 4 | Gonzaga (1) | 1,430 | 4 | Gonzaga (1) | 674 | 4 |
| 5 | Oregon | 1,364 | 6 | Oregon | 655 | 6 |
| 6 | North Carolina | 1,291 | 5 | North Carolina | 649 | 5 |
| 7 | Arizona | 1,252 | 7 | Arizona | 600 | 8 |
| 8 | Kentucky | 1,182 | 9 | Kentucky | 581 | 9 |
| 9 | Baylor | 1,084 | 11 | Louisville | 544 | 7 |
| 10 | Louisville | 1,047 | 8 | Baylor | 516 | 11 |
| 11 | West Virginia | 958 | 10 | West Virginia | 462 | 10 |
| 12 | SMU | 849 | 14 | Purdue | 391 | 16 |
| 13 | Purdue | 839 | 16 | Florida | 347 | 12 |
| 14 | Duke | 667 | 17 | Duke | 345 | 14 |
| 15 | Cincinnati | 634 | 18 | SMU | 303 | 19 |
| 16 | Florida State | 631 | 15 | Notre Dame | 301 | 13 |
| 17 | Florida | 617 | 12 | Florida State | 278 | 17 |
| 18 | Butler | 538 | 13 | Saint Mary's | 262 | 20 |
| 19/18 | Saint Mary's | 456 | 20 | Cincinnati | 262 | 18 |
| 20 | Wichita State | 401 | 21 | Butler | 249 | 15 |
| 21 | Virginia | 400 | 23 | Virginia | 189 | 23 |
| 22 | Notre Dame | 394 | 19 | Wichita State | 184 | 22 |
| 23 | Iowa State | 147 | 24 | Wisconsin | 82 | 21 |
| 24 | Wisconsin | 139 | 22 | Iowa State | 63 | 24 |
| 25 | Maryland | 47 | NR | Middle Tennessee St. | 30 | 29 |
Others Receiving Votes
AP Poll: Middle Tennessee 28, Oklahoma State 23, Minnesota 22, Michigan 16, Dayton 11, Seton Hall 9, Southern Cal 6, Providence 5, Vermont 3, Arkansas 2, Miami 2, VCU 2, Wake Forest 2, Creighton 1, Michigan State 1, Princeton 1, UNC Wilmington 1.
Coaches Poll: Oklahoma State 25; South Carolina 22; Miami (Fla.) 19; Maryland 13; Minnesota 13; Northwestern 13; Southern California 12; Creighton 10; Arkansas 7; Vermont 6; California 5; Michigan 3; North Carolina-Wilmington 2; Monmouth 2; Virginia Tech 2; Wake Forest 1; Nevada 1; Vanderbilt 1; Dayton 1.
Go Bruins.