UCLA Football Bowl Projections: Week 8
Following the Bruins’ bye week and back-to-back victories over top-25 opponents, the blue and gold are now projected to play in the upper echelon of bowl games.
No. 9 UCLA football (6-0, 3-0 Pac-12) has qualified for bowl eligibility for the second year in a row, hitting the six-win mark faster than they have since 2005. A Pac-12 championship berth is within reach for UCLA as well, and a win over No. 10 Oregon on Saturday could place the Bruins in solid contention for an appearance in the Rose Bowl game or even the College Football Playoff.
As it currently stands, more than a few major pundits expect to see UCLA play in their home stadium come the postseason.
Here is where the national media has UCLA projected to play come bowl season.
ESPN, Action Network, College Football News, USA Today, Yahoo, 247Sports
Rose Bowl, UCLA vs. Michigan
Pasadena, CA
Jan. 2, 2:00 p.m.
The Rose Bowl matches up the top available teams from the Pac-12 and Big Ten, potentially providing UCLA with an early look at the competition in their future conference.
At the moment, Michigan owns a 7-0 record while being ranked No. 4 in this week’s AP Poll. If this were the official CFP poll, the Wolverines would not be appearing in the Rose Bowl and would instead be competing in one of the two national semifinals.
Michigan defeated then-ranked No. 10 Penn State by a score of 41-17 in Week 7 and has matchups against unranked Michigan State, Rutgers and Nebraska on the slate in the coming weeks.
The Bruins and Wolverines have played 11 times, with UCLA winning the most recent contest in 2000 by a score of 23-20 at the Rose Bowl. Quarterback Ryan McCann led the Bruins to a comeback victory and a 3-0 start that also included a victory over Alabama. The running back in that contest was current running back coach DeShaun Foster.
UCLA was supposed to play against Michigan at the Big House in the second game of the 2022 season, but in 2019, the Wolverines terminated the previously planned home-and-home between the programs. Running back Zach Charbonnet began his collegiate career at Michigan before transferring to UCLA ahead of the 2021 season, and a Rose Bowl pairing between the future Big Ten foes would be a homecoming of sorts for the former Wolverine.
UCLA has not appeared in the Rose Bowl game since losing to Wisconsin in 1999 and has not won it since beating Iowa in 1986, despite calling the historic stadium home since 1982.
Pro Football Network
Rose Bowl, UCLA vs. Penn State
Pasadena, CA
Jan. 2, 2:00 p.m.
If both Ohio State and Michigan end up going to the College Football Playoff, a different Big Ten contender could be awaiting the Bruins in Pasadena.
The Nittany Lions have a 5-1 record so far in 2022 and are fresh off their first loss of the season at the hands of the Wolverines. Penn State is currently ranked No. 16 in the AP Poll and has games against Minnesota and Ohio State coming up in Week 8 and Week 9.
UCLA and Penn State’s history is not exactly fresh in fans' memories. The Bruins have faced the Nittany Lions six times dating back to 1963 – the most recent contest being a UCLA win in 1968 – but the programs have never played each other at the Rose Bowl. The Bruins are 4-2 in the all-time head-to-head matchup.
Whether or not UCLA and Penn State play in 2022’s edition of the bowl game, the West Coast and East Coast programs' 60-year drought of facing one another will end when the Bruins join the Big Ten in 2024.
CBS Sports
Alamo Bowl, UCLA vs. TCU
San Antonio, TX
Dec. 29, 6:00 p.m.
The Alamo Bowl matches up the second-choice teams from the Pac-12 and the Big 12.
TCU – like its possible opponent, UCLA – has begun the season undefeated with a 6-0 record. The Horned Frogs rose to No. 8 in the AP Poll after defeating then-No. 8 Oklahoma State in a 43-40 thriller in Week 7.
The Bruins have minimal history against with Horned Frogs, with the two sides facing off in 1939, 1942, 1952 and 1961. The universities' respective histories nearly instersected when UCLA men’s basketball was rumored to hire TCU’s head coach Jaime Dixon during its 2019 coaching search, but that fell apart at the 25th hour.
UCLA has played in the Alamo Bowl once and won, defeating Kansas State 40-35 to wrap up the 2014 season. The victory was also the Bruins' most recent bowl victory.
The Athletic
Cotton Bowl, UCLA vs. Cincinnati
Arlington, TX
Jan. 2, 10:00 a.m.
The Cotton Bowl does not have any conference ties attached, and it is one of the prestigious New Year’s Six bowl games. In the case of this prediction by The Athletic's Stewart Mandel and Scott Dochterman, USC is poised to win the Pac-12 and make the Rose Bowl while UCLA will make the top-tier game as an at-large.
Cincinnati played in the Cotton Bowl last year when it was part of the College Football Playoff, falling to No. 1 Alabam in the national semifinal.
The Bearcats are currently ranked No. 21 in the nation and hold a 5-1 record through Week 7. Cincinnati lost to Arkansas in Week 2, but have defeated all of their opponents by at least two scores since then. Cincinnati has a solid chance to go undefeated the rest of the way through the season, with the only ranked opponent left on its schedule being No. 25 Tulane at home in the final week of the regular season.
Unlike the other opponents UCLA is projected to face, coach Chip Kelly and the Bruins have actually gone head-to-head with the Bearcats in something close to their current iteration. Kelly and quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s first game together was against Cincinnati, and coach Luke Fickell led his team to a 26-17 upset win at the Rose Bowl. A year later, the Bruins lost to the Bearcats again, this time on the road.
Thompson-Robinson could bookend his UCLA journey with a thematically resonant matchup if this Cotton Bowl pairing were to occur.
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