LOS ANGELES \u2013 The UCLA men’s basketball team will open the 2025-26 season ranked No. 12 in the preseason Associated Press poll, as announced on Monday. The Bruins, who went 23-11 overall last season, will return four key contributors from last season’s team and have welcomed five transfer students this summer.
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\nThe top five teams in the preseason poll include No. 1 Purdue, No. 2 Houston, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 UConn and No. 5 St. John’s.
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\nThe Bruins are one of six programs in the Big Ten Conference to have been ranked among the AP’s top 25 teams. Also in the top 25 poll from the Big Ten are No. 7 Michigan, No. 17 Illinois, No. 22 Michigan State and No. 24 Wisconsin. Conference foes Indiana, Iowa, Ohio State, Oregon, USC and Washington have received votes in the preseason poll.
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\nThis marks UCLA’s highest preseason ranking (AP poll) since the 2022-23 season, when the Bruins opened at No. 8 in the AP poll.
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\nUCLA will play a pair of exhibition games this month, including this Friday night’s exhibition contest at San Diego State (7 p.m., PT, at Viejas Arena at SDSU). UCLA’s showdown this Friday will include a radio broadcast on AM 790, the Bruins’ flagship station. The Bruins will host one exhibition game against UC Irvine on Tuesday, Oct. 28, before opening their regular-season schedule against Eastern Washington on Monday, Nov. 3. The season-opening game against Eastern Washington is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. inside Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial.
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\nGlancing at the preseason AP poll, UCLA will play seven regular-season games against teams that have been ranked in the poll. That includes matchups with Arizona, Gonzaga, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue and Wisconsin.<\/p>\n
AP Preseason Poll (Men’s Basketball)
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\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tRank
\n\t\t\tTeam
\n\t\t\tPoints
\n\t\t\tLast Season
\n\t\t
\n\t
\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t1
\n\t\t\tPurdue
\n\t\t\t1485
\n\t\t\t24-12
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t2
\n\t\t\tHouston
\n\t\t\t1459
\n\t\t\t35-5
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t3
\n\t\t\tFlorida
\n\t\t\t1382
\n\t\t\t36-4
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t4
\n\t\t\tUConn
\n\t\t\t1299
\n\t\t\t24-11
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t5
\n\t\t\tSt. John’s
\n\t\t\t1203
\n\t\t\t31-5
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t6
\n\t\t\tDuke
\n\t\t\t1123
\n\t\t\t35-4
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t7
\n\t\t\tMichigan
\n\t\t\t1084
\n\t\t\t27-10
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t8
\n\t\t\tBYU
\n\t\t\t1078
\n\t\t\t26-10
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t9
\n\t\t\tKentucky
\n\t\t\t1056
\n\t\t\t24-12
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t10
\n\t\t\tTexas Tech
\n\t\t\t1015
\n\t\t\t28-9
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t11
\n\t\t\tLouisville
\n\t\t\t966
\n\t\t\t27-8
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t12
\n\t\t\tUCLA
\n\t\t\t741
\n\t\t\t23-11
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t13
\n\t\t\tArizona
\n\t\t\t715
\n\t\t\t24-13
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t14
\n\t\t\tArkansas
\n\t\t\t695
\n\t\t\t22-14
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t15
\n\t\t\tAlabama
\n\t\t\t620
\n\t\t\t28-9
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t16
\n\t\t\tIowa State
\n\t\t\t616
\n\t\t\t25-10
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t17
\n\t\t\tIllinois
\n\t\t\t567
\n\t\t\t22-13
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t18
\n\t\t\tTennessee
\n\t\t\t462
\n\t\t\t30-8
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t19
\n\t\t\tKansas
\n\t\t\t453
\n\t\t\t21-13
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t20
\n\t\t\tAuburn
\n\t\t\t424
\n\t\t\t32-6
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t21
\n\t\t\tGonzaga
\n\t\t\t387
\n\t\t\t26-9
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t22
\n\t\t\tMichigan State
\n\t\t\t188
\n\t\t\t30-7
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t23
\n\t\t\tCreighton
\n\t\t\t158
\n\t\t\t25-11
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t24
\n\t\t\tWisconsin
\n\t\t\t136
\n\t\t\t27-10
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t25
\n\t\t\tNorth Carolina
\n\t\t\t104
\n\t\t\t23-14
\n\t\t
\n\t
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