UCLA Football Bowl Projections: Week 13

Taking a look around the internet to see where the experts are picking the Bruins to play come bowl season.

After defeating the Trojans and reclaiming the Victory Bell in memorable fashion, the Bruins are now being projected to make it to even higher-profile bowl games.

UCLA football (7-4. 5-3 Pac-12) faltered to a 5-4 record in Week 9, but now after a bye and two straight victories, the prospects of the postseason are soaring. Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw and ran for a six-touchdown performance against USC and could try to replicate his effort in one of many bowl possibilities this winter.

ESPN: Valero Alamo Bowl vs. No. 10 Oklahoma
San Antonio, TX
Dec. 29, 6:15 p.m.

The Alamo Bowl will match up the second-choice teams from the Pac-12 and Big-12 for the 2021 season. At this moment, Oklahoma has a 10-1 record on the season, while also being ranked No. 10 in this week’s AP Poll. After losing their undefeated record in Week 11 to No. 9 Baylor, the Sooners came back strong and defeated Iowa State to get back to their winning ways. The Bruins and Sooners have played six times in their history with the former’s only win coming in 2005. Coach Karl Dorrell and quarterback Drew Olson led the Bruins to a 3-0 start after the victory over the ranked Sooners. In more recent history, the teams played a home and home series in 2018 and 2019. The Bruins lost both games against Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts-ran offenses. This bowl projection would likely be the Bruins’ highest-profile bowl game.

CBS: San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl vs. No. 21 Wake Forest
San Diego, CA
Dec. 28, 5:00 p.m.

The Holiday Bowl matches up a Pac-12 team and an ACC team. Wake Forest has a 9-2 record on the season so far and fell eight spots to No. 21 in the AP Poll. In Week 12, the Demon Deacons collected their second loss of the season, losing to Clemson by three touchdowns. There isn’t much history between UCLA and Wake Forest, as they have never played head-to-head. In other sports, such as basketball, soccer and tennis, the matchup between the Bruins and the Deacons is more regular. If this bowl matchup were to occur, it would technically be one of a kind on the gridiron.

Action Network: SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl vs. Penn State
Las Vegas, NV
Dec. 30, 7:30 p.m.

The Las Vegas Bowl will match up a Pac-12 team with a Big Ten team for the 2021 season. Penn State currently has a 7-4 record through 12 weeks of the season and is just on the outskirts of the AP Poll, where they sit at No. 28. In Week 12, the Nittany Lions shut out Rutgers 28-0 to earn their seventh win of the season. Bruin fans in the 1960s may remember when the opposite coast teams played home-and-home series from 1963 to 1968. The Bruins took the upper hand in the six matchups with four wins. Penn State coach James Franklin has been rumored for USC football’s top job, so UCLA supporters could be seeing their soon-to-be foe in a bowl game this winter.

College Football News: SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl vs. Purdue
Las Vegas, NV
Dec. 30, 7:30 p.m.

The Las Vegas Bowl will match up a Pac-12 team with a Big Ten team for the 2021 season. Purdue has a 7-4 record on the season and recently won against Northwestern by a score of 32-14. The Boilermakers lay just outside of the AP Poll and received three points in this week’s AP Poll. The all-time series between the two schools goes UCLA’s way with a 3-0-2 advantage. With two rare ties coming against Purdue in 1959 and 1960, the Boilermakers have never come away with a victory. The last time the two teams played one another was in 1980, when the Bruins came away with a 23-14 victory.

247Sports: Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl vs. Miami (FL)
El Paso, TX
Dec. 31, 9:30 a.m.

The Sun Bowl matches up the fifth-choice Pac-12 team with an ACC team ranked fourth through eighth in the conference. Miami currently has a 6-5 record this season and won their most recent game against Virginia Tech, 38-26. The Bruins may have the 2-1 all-time edge over the Hurricanes, but the most recent edition of this game is surely still a sore subject for most Bruin fans. In 1998, No. 3 UCLA lost their 20-game winning streak and shot at a National Championship with a 49-45 Orange Bowl defeat. The stakes would be much lower than the game 23 years ago, but would likely provide an interesting matchup versus Miami for current Bruins.

USA Today: Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl vs. No. 22 San Diego State
Inglewood, CA
Dec. 18, 4:30 p.m.

The LA Bowl matches up the fifth-choice Pac-12 team with the Mountain West champions, and 2021 will be its inaugural year. In Week 12, SDSU picked up another win, this time against UNLV, bringing its record to 10-1. After the victory, the Aztecs moved up one spot in the AP Poll to No. 22. Since 1922, the Aztecs and Bruins have faced off 23 times, with the Bruins taking 21 of the contests. The Bruins held a 19-game winning streak from 1925 to 2009, but in the most recent matchup in 2019, SDSU picked up its first-ever win against UCLA at the Rose Bowl.

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