UCLA Surprisingly Overlooked Despite Recent Success

The UCLA men's basketball team is still being followed by the hole it dug itself in to start the month.

Jan 7, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Mick Cronin reacts against the Michigan Wolverines in the first half at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

It seems the national media isn't letting go of the four-game skid the UCLA men's basketball team suffered to start the new calendar year.

It doesn't come as a surprise that the Bruins didn't make this week's Associated Press Top 25, but what is rather shocking is the fact that Coach Mick Cronin's squad didn't receive a single vote. Not one.

The Bruins also didn't receive a vote in this week's USA Today Coaches Poll, even after getting two last week.

Here's the most baffling part -- Wisconsin moved up one spot in both polls after blowing out Nebraska. Yet in the same week, UCLA upset the then-No. 18 Badgers. And even so, the Bruins get no consideration whatsoever.

The logic simply doesn't seem to be there.

It's clear the four-game losing streak is still haunting UCLA, and maybe it should. Losing four straight severely hurts your reputation, but the Bruins have slowly started to combat it.

Now winners of three straight, including the aforementioned upset over Wisconsin, UCLA is not the same team it was earlier in the month. The Bruins have shown that they are back and, at the very least, deserving of consideration for a spot in the rankings.

Fortunately for the Bruins, they will have the perfect opportunity to earn it this week, starting with a road matchup with its bitter rival, USC, and a second meeting with No. 16 Oregon, this time at home.

The only concern for the Bruins is whether or not UCLA they will have star junior forward Tyler Bilodeau, who left the game against Washington with an ankle injury not even 3 minutes into the contest.

“We came up here and won without Tyler," Cronin said after UCLA's win over the Huskies on Friday. "We played Friday, Tuesday, Friday, and we’ve got to turn around and play on the road again on Monday, then Thursday. The schedule for all of the West Coast teams, I don’t know what the answer is. And then I looked at Michigan State’s schedule, their last seven or eight games are all against top-20, top-30 teams. I don’t know what the answer is for the Big Ten.” 

UCLA's game against USC is set for 7 p.m. PST, 10 p.m. EST.

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