Men's Basketball AP Poll: UCLA Sticks Around in Top 10 Despite Loss

Another conference road lost didn't cost the Bruins much ground in the rankings.

UCLA men's basketball (17-4, 8-2 Pac-12) dropped from No. 8 to No. 9 in the latest edition of the AP Poll on Monday. The Bruins earned 993 points – down from 1,155 points from a week ago – but remained inside the top 10 for the fifth-straight week.

The only game UCLA played this week was on the road against crosstown rival USC. Despite leading by double digits at halftime, the Bruins found themselves on the wrong end of a 25-3 run early in the second half and wound up losing 77-64. That marked the second-straight loss for the blue and gold, who were previously riding a 14-game winning streak.

UCLA currently ranks No. 5 in the NET Rankings, No. 3 in the KenPom, No. 3 in the T-Rank and No. 3 in the BPI.

Purdue stayed at No. 1, ascending to unanimous status thanks to then-No. 2 Alabama's upset loss at the hands of Oklahoma. The Crimson Tide dropped to No. 4 as a result, while Tennessee moved up to No. 2 in their place and Arizona slid in at No. 5.

Half of last week's top 10 lost a game, though, as did last week's No. 11, 12, 13, 15, 18, 19, 20 and 25 teams. That chaos opened the door for San Diego State and Indiana to re-enter the fray.

Again, Arizona and UCLA were the only Pac-12 teams to receive votes. Utah and USC have the next most impressive resumes in the conference, but neither ranks inside the top 40 in either the NET or the KenPom.

The full AP Poll is listed below:

1. Purdue (21-1), 1550 points (62 first-place votes)
2. Tennessee (18-3), 1443
3. Houston (20-2), 1415
4. Alabama (18-3), 1312
5. Arizona (19-3), 1310
6. Virginia (16-3), 1258
7. Kansas State (18-3), 1190
8. Kansas (17-4), 1034
9. UCLA (17-4), 993
10. Texas (17-4), 939
11. Baylor (16-5), 905
12. Gonzaga (18-4), 837
13. Iowa State (15-5), 832
14. Marquette (17-5), 769
15. TCU (16-3), 752
16. Xavier (16-5), 689
17. Providence (17-5), 438
18. Saint Mary's (19-4), 419
19. Florida Atlantic (21-1), 392
20. Clemson (18-4), 340
21. Indiana (15-6), 250
22. San Diego State (17-4), 170
23. Miami (FL) (16-5), 146
24. UConn (16-6), 131
25. Auburn (16-5), 117

Others Receiving Votes: Missouri 74, Charleston 68, Illinois 56, Creighton 51, New Mexico 47, North Carolina 47, North Carolina State 39, Boise State 31, Duke 24, Rutgers 17, Texas A&M 16, Northwestern 13, Memphis 10, Arkansas 9, Pittsburgh 9, West Virginia 2, Nevada 2, Oral Roberts 2, Saint Louis 1

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