18. UCLA (9-1)
A tremendous crop of talent helped take UCLA to numerous NCAA Tournaments wins, but pretty much all of those pieces were gone last year and the Bruins struggled. This season UCLA added some important pieces in the offseason and have a bigger challenge ahead as first-year members of the Big Ten. Suffice to say they’re succeeding with this new lineup, even with that tough early November loss to New Mexico.
UCLA comes off their best seven-day stretch of the season, starting with last Sunday’s 73-71 upset win at Oregon. Eric Dailey Jr. led the charge with 19 points and 5 rebounds as the offense really showed up against a ranked Ducks squad for a 2-0 start to conference play. The Bruins then headed to Phoenix on Saturday and used a strong finish to win 57-54 against former league rival Arizona. Tyler Bilodeau had 17 points, Skyy Clark added 15 points, and the Bruins got another prominent win while forcing 22 turnovers.
The schedule hadn’t exactly been outstanding before this week, and the shooting had some iffy moments, but the Bruins just proved they certainly belong among the ranked teams. Their defense has turned in some fantastic performances, including allowing just 54 against the Wildcats this weekend, and this team has enough firepower to win meaningful games in the Big Ten. North Carolina is their next big matchup, and they’ll see them next Saturday for an intriguing test.