UCLA Moves Up To No.13 and No.14 in Polls

By Bruin Basketball Report

After sweeping both Oregon schools on the road, the Bruins moved up to No.13 in the ESPN/USA Today and No.14 in the AP polls released today.

The Bruins defeated the Oregon Ducks 56-49 last Thursday; and then followed it with a 63-54 win over the Oregon State Beavers on Saturday.

UCLA (17-4, 7-2) has sole possession of first place in the Pac-10 conference. Arizona, California, and Stanford all trail UCLA by one game. Washington, the only other top 25 ranked Pac-10 team, is in third place two games behind the Bruins.

The Washington Huskies got no love from voters this week dropping out of the top ten and are ranked No.15 and No.16 in the ESPN/USA Today and AP polls, respectively.

The Huskies were swept on their road trip through the Bay area last week. They lost by only two points to Cal in Berkeley and then lost a heartbreak game in OT to Stanford.

Lute's Olson's imploding Arizona Wildcats received zero votes in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls. The Wildcats were routed at Chapel Hill on Saturday by North Carolina 86-69.

For the first time in weeks other Pac-10 teams received votes, the California Bears received three votes and the Stanford Cardinal one vote in the AP poll.

The Michigan Wolverines, a team UCLA soundly beat earlier in the season, entered the rankings at No.20 and No.21 in the ESPN/Today and AP polls this week. The Wolverines defeated ranked Michigan St. and Wisconson last week. Michigan's success in the Big 10 well benefit the Bruins at tournament seeding time.

The Bruin's RPI rating is No.14 this week; while their SOS (Strength of Schedule) is 14th toughest in the nation.

UCLA plays host this week to the Arizona Sun Devils on Thursday night and Arizona Wildcats on Saturday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion.

(BruinBasketballReport.com)