What if every men’s college basketball Associated Press poll released since the poll’s debut in 1949 was merged into one? Where would the UCLA Bruins slide in the overall rankings?
That mega AP poll actually exists. Thanks to Liz Powell and her tracking website, we can see exactly where the Bruins rank. UCLA owns the No. 5 spot in the ranking, behind Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina and Kansas.Below the Bruins are Arizona, Louisville, Indiana, Michigan State and Syracuse to round out the Top-10.
It’s not a surprise to see UCLA, who has an NCAA-leading 11 titles, near the top of the all-time poll. The four schools ranked ahead of the Bruins are all top-five in NCAA titles as well, showing a very strong correlation. More surprisingly, the lone other
member of the top-five, the UConn Huskies and their six NCAA titles, were down at No. 14 in the all-time poll.
UCLA has been the No. 1 team in 134 different AP Polls, the second-most of any school behind Duke’s 151. The Bruins have been named in 749 of the 1,322 total polls, with the 749 number being the fifth most for any school.
The other Big Ten schools ranked in the all-time poll were No. 8 Indiana, No. 9 Michigan State, No. 11 Illinois, No. 12 Michigan, No. 13 Ohio State, No. 16 Purdue, No. 18 Maryland. As for old Pac-12 teams, Arizona comes in at No. 6 but no other old Pac-12 team made the Top-25.
The Bruins sit at No. 22 in the first poll of the 2026-2027 season but Mick Cronin and Nikola Kusturica hope to help that number get closer to UCLA’s all-time average this winter.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Where does UCLA basketball rank in an all-time Associated Press poll?
