After a successful week at home against Oregon State and Oregon, the UCLA men’s basketball team was rewarded in the latest edition of the Associated Press Poll on Monday. The Bruins (22-6, 12-4 Pac-10) moved up from No. 19 to No. 15, jumping over West Virginia, Michigan State, North Carolina State, Florida, and Kansas in the rankings. UCLA now sits sandwiched in the rankings between No. 14 Washington and No. 16 West Virginia, two teams that the Bruins are a combined 0-3 against this season. UCLA has now been ranked in the top 20 since the beginning of the season.
PAC-10 STANDINGS: With last week’s results, the Pac-10 standings have also taken a new shape as the conference enters its last week of regular season play. With UCLA’s two victories last weekend and California’s loss to Washington, the Bruins now have sole possession of first place in the conference. Cal’s loss to Washington dropped them into a second-place tie with Washington at 11-5 in the conference. The Golden Bears’ game against the Bruins this Thursday has enormous postseason implications. If Cal (17-8, 11-5) defeats UCLA, the two schools would have the same conference record. But a Cal victory would give it the tiebreaker over UCLA as the Golden Bears would have defeated the Bruins both times this season. If Washington (22-5, 11-5) ends up tied with UCLA and Cal atop the Pac-10, the picture could be even more hazy. The Huskies already own the tiebreaker over the Bruins by winning the season head-to-head series, but if they were to end up tied with the Golden Bears, with whom they have split games this season, the end result would depend on how other Pac-10 teams fare this week. Since Washington and Cal have split their season series, the tiebreaker would be determined by both school’s results against the Pac-10 team occupying the highest position in the standings, continuing down until one team holds an advantage. Based on this scenario, Cal would likely need Washington State to beat out Arizona State and Oregon State for eighth place in the Pac-10 or else they would lose the No. 1 seed in the Pac-10 Tournament to the Huskies. Stanford and Arizona, currently tied for third in the Pac-10, are still barely in the mix for a potential first-place tie in the Pac-10 standings at 10-6.
KEEFE HONORED: 2006-2007 recruit James Keefe (Rancho Santa Margarita High School) was honored last week by being selected to compete in the prestigious McDonalds All-American Game. Keefe will play for the West roster in the game, which also features four other Pac-10 recruits. Twins Robin and Brook Lopez (San Joaquin HS), who have commited to Stanford for next season, will also play for the West along with Chase Budinger (La Costa Canyon HS) who chose to commit to Arizona over UCLA. Also among those who will play in the game is the No. 1 recruit in the nation, Greg Oden (Lawrence North HS, Indiana), who has committed to Ohio State. Oden will play for the East team. The game will be played at Cox Arena in San Diego on March 29.