That the UCLA men’s basketball team shifted position in
the Associated Press Poll after its loss to West Virginia was to be
expected.
That the direction the Bruins moved was up was somewhat of a
surprise.
After holding onto the No. 18 ranking last week, UCLA (15-4, 5-2
Pac-10) moved up one spot to No. 17 following a victory over USC
and a loss to the Mountaineers.
In all 12 polls released this season, the Bruins have been
between the No. 19 ranking, where they were ranked to begin the
season, and the No. 11 ranking, where they’ve peaked
twice.
West Virginia (14-3), meanwhile, finally cracked the top 10
following its 60-56 victory over UCLA on Saturday. The Mountaineers
““ who reside atop the Big East, considered to be college
basketball’s strongest conference ““ moved up to No. 9
in the latest poll.
After a weekend during which all three remaining undefeated
teams in college basketball fell ““ Duke, Florida and
Pittsburgh ““ there was uncertainty as to who would fill the
top three poll spots.
The biggest benefactor of those misfortunes was Connecticut
(16-1), which supplanted Duke (17-1) at the No. 1 spot in the poll
for the first time all season. The Blue Devils fell to No. 2.
Memphis (17-2), which defeated UCLA 88-80 in the Preseason NIT
Semifinals in Madison Square Garden, currently sits third in the
poll.
At No. 10, Washington (16-2, 5-2 Pac-10) is the only other
Pac-10 team besides UCLA in the top 25.
After the Bruins and Huskies, Arizona (12-6, 5-3 Pac-10) was the
only other Pac-10 team to receive poll votes.
Despite sweeping Stanford and California in Tucson, Ariz., this
past week, the Wildcats actually received fewer votes (3) than the
previous week (7).