AP Top 25: UCLA gains ground in latest media poll after Arizona State win
With Clemson and Alabama falling significantly after weekend losses, the Bruins gained ground in the latest media poll.
UCLA enters Week 11 ranked No. 9 in the new AP Top 25, released Sunday. The Bruins moved up one spot, but were jumped by two-loss LSU after the Tigers handed Alabama a rare second regular-season loss in overtime. The Tide fell four spots to No. 10. Clemson also dropped seven spots to No. 12.
The Bruins are the third-highest-ranked team from the Pac-12, sitting behind Oregon at No. 6 and USC at No. 8. On Saturday, they thwarted an upset-minded Arizona State team to win 50-36.
#️⃣9️⃣ AP Poll pic.twitter.com/2Ab5HA5llp
— UCLA Football (@UCLAFootball) November 6, 2022
This marks the first time since 2014 UCLA has held a spot in the AP Top 10 at any point during the month of November.
That Bruins squad beat USC at the Rose Bowl on Nov. 22, 2014, to climb inside the AP Top 10. This Bruins squad is hoping a similar result against the crosstown rivals can help catapult them into contention for the College Football Playoff.
UCLA (8-1, 5-1 Pac-12) welcomes Arizona (3-6, 1-5 Pac-12) to the Rose Bowl this upcoming weekend — kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. PT on FS1 — and the Bruins will need to keep the focus there first. But it’s hard not to look ahead at least a little.
With both teams sitting right next to each other in the media poll and both holding just one loss on the season, a Nov. 19 meeting at the Rose Bowl could mean a spot in the Pac-12 title game and a legitimate case to make the CFP are both on the line.
The rest of the AP Top 25 can be seen below (first-place votes are in parenthesis). The Pac-12 has five ranked teams once again, with Washington swapping spots with Oregon State.
- Georgia (62)
- Ohio State (1)
- Michigan
- TCU
- Tennessee
- Oregon
- LSU
- USC
- UCLA
- Alabama
- Ole Miss
- Clemson
- Utah
- Penn State
- North Carolina
- Tulane
- NC State
- Texas
- Liberty
- Notre Dame
- Illinois
- UCF
- Kansas State
- Washington
- Florida State
Receiving votes: Cincinnati 74, Kentucky 61, Coastal Carolina 46, Wake Forest 34, Oklahoma State 21, Baylor 19, Kansas 10, Mississippi State 8, South Carolina 6, Troy 5, UTSA 5, Louisville 3, Oregon State 3, San Jose State 1