UCLA Football: Bruins Left Off First Top 25 Poll

Jeremy Hanna | Aug 12, 2024

Jul 24, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach DeShaun Foster walks to the media podium during the Big 10 football media day at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

The Associated Press released its annual preseason poll of the Top 25 NCAA College Football teams, and UCLA is nowhere to be found.

The AP Top 25 College Football Poll often serves as an indicator of the 25 best teams in NCAA Division I football. Compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadcasters across the nation, each voter ranks their personal top 25. And this year, none of those voters saw fit to include the UCLA Bruins.

This is likely because of plenty of unknown factors affecting UCLA Football in 2024. The Bruins have a new head coach in DeShaun Foster, they have one of the hardest schedules in the NCAA, and they're playing in a new, more competitive conference: the Big Ten.

This year, the ten highest-ranked teams are the Georgia Bulldogs with 1,532 points, the Ohio State Buckeyes with 1,490 points, the Oregon Ducks with 1,403 points, the Texas Longhorns with 1,386 points, the Alabama Crimson Tide with 1,260 points, the Ole Miss Rebels with 1,189 points, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish with 1,122 points, the Penn State Nittany Lions with 1,060 points, the Michigan Wolverines with 995 points, and the Florida State Seminoles with 971 points.

UCLA's new conference was well-represented, with four teams in the top 10 and six total teams in the top 25. However, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) leads the pack with nine ranked teams, four of which are in the top 10.

The Top 25 is rounded out with five teams from the Big 12 Conference, four teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and one Independent team: Notre Dame.

While UCLA didn't have the best record last year, finishing 8-5, it's odd that they don't appear anywhere in the rankings. In fact, they didn't receive a single point this year. In the same list in 2023, the Bruins received 66 points. It wasn't enough for them to make the Top 25, but there was still some confidence in the team.

What's particularly surprising is that multiple teams UCLA beat last year received votes over the Bruins. The USC Trojans were ranked 23rd with 172 total points, the Boise State Broncos were ranked 28th with 47 points, and the Colorado Buffalos took 42nd with a single point.

Fortunately, this is just a preseason poll. As of right now, the Bruins have as much a chance as anyone to make it to a 12-team playoff. In a ten-year span, nine of those 12 teams were ranked by AP. Hopefully, UCLA will be one of the three surprises in 2024.

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