NCAA Basketball top 25 power rankings: Texas Tech rises, Baylor and Providence fall
By Joey Loose
13. UCLA (19-5)
We’re still waiting to see what exactly is going to happen with UCLA this season. Last year’s team was certainly one of the stories of the postseason, marching to the Final Four and nearly upending Gonzaga in the process. That talent remains nearly the same, if not better, and these Bruins have showed at times this season that they can be the kind of team that makes another deep run; though they aren’t always that consistent.
This week got off to a good start with an easy 76-56 win over Washington State back on Thursday, a game featuring a great effort from both sides of the ball. Johnny Juzang scored 19 points, Jaylen Clark had 18, and the Bruins really limited the shooting of the Cougars. Two days later, UCLA got another big win, this time prevailing 76-50 over Washington, with Clark’s 25 points leading the charge this time.
This team is not going to win the Pac-12 regular-season title, but they do still have a few more weeks to get hot and put themselves in the best position for March. There’s certainly depth and talent on this team to do some impressive things in the NCAA Tournament; it’s all going to come down to the execution in the end. After hosting Arizona State early next week, the Bruins get tricky road dates at Oregon and Oregon State.