UCLA Basketball: Bruins Ranked 20th in the USA Today Preseason Poll

The UCLA Basketball team got their first major ranking as they made the USA Today preseason men’s basketball Top 25 poll.

After a 15-17 season, the UCLA Basketball team seems to be headed in the direction of progress. Because of that, the Bruins are getting national attention with individual awards and now received their first important preseason ranking.

The USA Today Coaches Poll was just released and listed the Bruins at #20.

This is quite a jump for a team that finished 10th in their conference and had a brutal early exit in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament last spring.

Yes, things ended horribly for the Bruins which resulted in the majority of UCLA Basketball fans to call for Head Coach Steve Alford‘s head. The Bruin coach even acknowledged that things were not where they should be and stated the need for change in a letter he wrote to the UCLA fan base.

It also helps that he brought in a top five recruiting class that has three stellar freshman that will come in and make an immediate impact. Lonzo Ball, T.J. Leaf and Ike Anigbogu will all play several minutes this season as they help UCLA try to get back to elite status.

Add those three to the core of veteran players of Bryce Alford, Isaac Hamilton, Thomas Welsh and Aaron Holiday and the Bruins could definitely make some waves the season.