UCLA doesn't lose and you drop them 2-3 slots.

I would expect some well deserved criticism on this one.

UCLA deserves to drop after their showing in both games last week even with the wins, but way to show the east coast/big east bias by putting Georgetown 4th. As if the Western teams didn't have to deal with enough East Coast Bias from ESPN and the rest of the national media, now the local media is doing it also. Aren't their some good Journalism schools in the West to hire people out of?

April 1st is just over 3 weeks away, yet we're all treated to a real laugher of a joke. Namely, this latest poll. I would argue that the Pac-10 teams 1-9 are better than those in every other conference. Yet 2 wins drops us 2 slots. Nice work Brian. Way to put some thought into this.

If you're going to drop us down for controversial calls, I can understand Tennessee, and even Kansas if you did that.....but dropping us below Georgetown?

Georgetown has been the absolute king of winning on last second controversial calls this season. Their blatant uncalled goaltending to beat West Virginia was way worse than either of our games, not to mention the phantom call that let them sink two FTs to beat Villanova, which every party involved said shouldn't have been a foul.

Your poll is a joke, right? I work in Washington, D.C., live in Maryland. I check this blog daily to follow the Bruins. Trust me, no one out here thinks Georgetown is better than UCLA. No one. You're are like some of the national commentators who focus on one controversial call at the end of a couple of games and forget about all those that preceed them.

In fairness here, we were outplayed by two teams we seldom led throughout the game - and in one of those games, we needed a buzzer-beater to beat a 15-point underdog. We're not exactly on a roll, much less playing up to our capabilities. This will be one of many polls cast that will drop us this week.

I usually think Dohn is pretty level-headed and fair, but completely disagree with this poll and not just because I'm a UCLA fan. Georgetown???

Yeah, UCLA barely won, but I think we deserve recognition for beating the #7 team and for the guts to pull out those wins.

I understand why you guys are getting upset about Brian's poll, but keep in mind that Brian has said in the past that he factors in recent play pretty heavily. Cut the guy some slack.

With that said, can anyone here honestly say that we looked like a top 2-3 team in the past week? Hell, we barely looked like a top 10 team. We've been struggling as of late, and coming from double digit deficits against two teams isn't exactly convincing anyone that UCLA is one of the best teams in the country - especially if you're focusing on the last 7 days...

What a downer. I would stop reading the blog except that my need to be informed precedes my need for happiness.

Brian, I love your work...but this just makes no sense. If you are dropping UCLA below Tennessee and Georgetown for the way in which we won this past weekend,that doesn't jibe. Tennessee's last 4 games have been a loss, 2 squeakers against bubble teams in which they were down and a blowout over a team that has won twice in their last 9 games. Georgetown won 2 nice games this week but this is a stretch.

you all should realize Dohn just does this to get a reaction. He can't be as clueless as he appears when he moves USC up 5 spaces after a loss, and us down 5 spaces after beating and demoralizing #7 Stanford, and Cal.

He doesn't believe his own rankings, he just does them to generate controversy.

Silverlake,
If you're going to rip me (and that is fine), please get your facts straight. I dropped UCLA two places. The Bruins were third in my poll last week.

i dunno... kinda weird....

This is probably the exact response that Brian hoped for when he was filling out his 'professional' ballot this week (notice he gets the most 'hits' adn comments on his blog entries when he is anti-UCLA--coincidence? I think not), but can't resist another opportunity to expose Brian's clear anti-UCLA agenda.

I guess at Rutgers, it doesn't matter if you compete against weaker competition to justify that somehow, you belong at the top. Just as Brian harped as long as he possibly could to 'celebrate the mediocrity' that was the Karl Dorrell era in football, he continues to laud the programs like Memphis and Tennessee which play in considerably weaker conferences over UCLA's tough wins against two very good pac-10 teams this past week.

Note: we just clinched our 3rd straight PAC-10 championship in the year which Coach Howland and countless others who actually have a sound understanding of the game have stated is the MOST difficult year EVER in the Pac-10's history. But again, this 'poll' is just simply consistent with Brian's understanding that you take mediocrity over excellence, and as long as these amazing teams like Memphis and Tennesee continue to win against the likes of powerhouse teams like Southern Miss, Southern Methodist and South Carolina, he has NO problem continuing to place them at the top of his rankings, b/c to him, it doesn't matter whether you have to beat the best to be the best. As long as you have an easy schedule against cup-cake teams and continue to 'win', that's good enough for him. And of course, punish teams who actually have to play tough opponents through the course of a conference schedule if they only 'squeak' out a 1 point win.

So continue to 'celebrate mediocrity' Brian. Despite your constant denials, Bruins Nation is pretty clear about your biases against our programs, and we'll continue to take our place as the DOMINANT program in the country despite having our own 'beat reporter' continue to try to put the program down below teams which he hasn't had the 'opportunity' to put under his 'Dohn microscope' the way he gets to criticize and dissect every and little flaw we have.

Wake up Brian and everyone else who rushes to his defense as if he is somehow the AUTHORITY on all things Bruin. NO team in the country (to include your beloved tar heels and hoyas--my alma mater by the way) are perfect; EVERY team has their flaws, and that is what is going to make this tournament better than ever. But to say that the Bruins are the 5th best team in the country? Laughable. Absolutely laughable. Even MR. East Coast Bias himself, Jay Bilas consistently states that UCLA is THE best team in the country. So continue to put down your own 'home' program Brian. We'll continue to be the dominant program in the west and country despite your repeated attempts to push forward your own 'east coast' anti-Bruin agenda. GO BRUINS.

Brian,

Sorry, hit the wrong button. But my point still stands. Maybe you can respond to the point:

1) Have you moved any team in your poll up after losing this besides USC?

2) Have you moved any teams down in your poll after winning besides UCLA?

Silverlake, that's exactly what I thought when I first read the poll. Ridiculous and, Brian, I think you know it!

So, Brian, are you saying that if selection took place today, UCLA shouldn't be a 1 seed, and that G-Town should?

C'mon, "You CANNOT be serious."

laughable. i guess you know something all the other college bball analysts across the country don't. just glad your opinion is worthless.

With polls like this from the media it's really no wonder that we've been consistently ranked lower this year in the AP poll than we've been in the coaches poll. Can't quite figure Brian's poll out. Doesn't really make sense. TN just lost to Vandy a week ago. GT is the king of controvercial wins. Cal and Stanford would probably beat both TN and GT.

Hey Brian, if you're gonna move TN up to number two why not go all the way and move them up to #2? After all, they beat Memphis. It's pretty easy to see how your polls open up potential cyclical arguments that defy logic from multiple angles.

Just lost what little respect I have for Brian. He did the same exact sensational rankings three weeks ago and got shredded for it. He should be writing for the Enquirer instead. I think he needs to show UCLA at least an inkling of respect but all he does is try to crash the party. Move back to Rutgers and give your job to someone else more deserving of the job.

Brian, what would you have ranked UCLA if they had lost to Stanford or Cal? I don't think they'd be much lower than where you have them now and they WON.