After Loss, They Slip to New Low

Here it is approaching late February and UCLA is barely clinging to a national ranking.

The Bruins are No. 25 in the Associated Press poll, dropping five spots after defeating Arizona and losing to Arizona State at home last week. It is their lowest ranking of the season.

UCLA (17-8, 9-5 in the Pacific 10 Conference) was No. 5 in the preseason AP poll, moved up to No. 3 on Nov. 19, then began to slide, falling to No. 20 by Dec. 3. A nine-game winning streak against mostly mediocre opponents enabled the Bruins to climb into the top 10 for one week at No. 9 on Jan. 14, but six consecutive weeks of splitting two games has taken its toll.

“Kansas, Duke, Maryland and Cincinnati are playing the most consistently best basketball in the country,� Coach Steve Lavin said. “Then there are about 30 teams in a big group.�

Among them are six Pac-10 teams scrambling for the regular-season title and favorable seeding in the conference tournament. UCLA is tied for fifth with the California Bears, whom the Bruins visit Thursday.

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Because the Bruins are 6-6 the last six weeks, it is possible they will go 3-3 the next three weeks--splitting at Cal and Stanford, at home against Oregon and Oregon State and losing in the second round of the Pac-10 tournament.

That would give them a 20-11 record entering the NCAA tournament.

Where would they be seeded?

Their victories over No. 1 Kansas, No. 5 Alabama and No. 14 Arizona will be looked upon favorably by the selection committee, but a ho-hum February and an inability to string more than two victories together will not.

The Bruins rank No. 23 in the ratings percentage index used by the NCAA in seeding teams. Unless they can patch together a winning streak down the stretch, the highest they can expect to be seeded in a region is fifth. A No. 6 seeding is more likely.

Steve Henson