A crushing loss to Stanford on Sunday had only minor
repercussions for the UCLA basketball team’s ranking in the
Associated Press Poll.
The Bruins dropped two spots from No. 3 to No. 5 in the poll on
Monday. This week marks the 11th consecutive week the Bruins have
been rated in the top five in the poll, although their current
ranking is the lowest its been in 10 weeks.
UCLA fell behind No. 4 Ohio State, as well as North Carolina,
which moved up to No. 3 after demolishing Arizona. Florida and
Wisconsin kept the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively.
In the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll, the Bruins fell three spots
from No. 2 to No. 5. The top five spots in the coaches poll are
currently exactly the same as the AP Poll.
After beating the Bruins, Stanford made its first appearance in
the AP Top 25 since last year’s preseason AP Poll. The
Cardinal, ranked 23rd in this week’s poll, has turned around
a slow start, winning three in a row and six of its last seven
games. Stanford (14-5, 6-3 Pac-10) trails co-conference leaders
UCLA (18-2, 7-2) and Oregon (19-2, 7-2) by just one game.
However, the Cardinal was not ranked in the top 25 of the
coaches poll. Thirty teams had more votes in the coaches poll than
Stanford.
USC’s loss to Stanford last Thursday made its stay in the
AP Top 25 very short. The Trojans (16-6, 6-3) were ousted from the
poll a week after making their debut as the No. 25 team in the
nation.
Also moving down in the AP Poll were Arizona and Oregon. Arizona
(14-6, 5-4) dropped three spots from No. 17 to No. 20 after its
home loss to North Carolina. The Wildcats have now lost four of
their last five games.
Oregon moved down two spots from No. 7 to No. 9 after falling to
Washington without starting point guard Aaron Brooks. But the Ducks
were able to savor their trip with a wild overtime win over
Washington State after Brooks had rejoined the lineup.
Washington State, meanwhile, moved up in the rankings despite
losing to Oregon at home. The Cougars (17-4, 6-3), which defeated
Oregon State earlier in the week, moved up from No. 20 to No. 18.
They are tied with Stanford and USC in the Pac-10 standings.
The next two weeks will be critical for the Pac-10. UCLA faces
Oregon this week in a game that will at least temporarily move one
of the teams into sole possession of first place in the conference.
UCLA also has a rematch with USC next week. Meanwhile, Washington
State, after facing the Arizona schools this week, gets a chance
for revenge against Stanford in Pullman next week.