UCLA Football: Bruins Snubbed on Insider Bowl Projections

Sam Garcia | Aug 20, 2024

Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

College football has yet to reach Week 0, but that has not delayed the early release of College Football Bowl projections. Action Network’s Brett McMurphy devised his own predictions of which 12 teams will fill the College Football Playoff field.

Four Big Ten teams took a third of the spots in the playoff field, but none of the teams in the quartet were UCLA. McMurphy excluded the Bruins’ football program from his projected playoff field while including Big Ten teams Penn State, Iowa, Ohio State, and fellow former Pac-12 team Oregon.

One team in the projected playoff field that may stand out to UCLA football fans is Ohio State – former UCLA head coach Chip Kelly’s new team. Before the start of Kelly’s first season with the Buckeyes as the offensive coordinator, the team is ranked No. 2 trailing Georgia by just 42 points. 

The other teams included in McMurphy’s playoff field were Georgia, Miami, Ole Miss, LSU, Virginia Tech, Utah, and Iowa. The Big Ten and SEC conferences are tied with four teams included in the list, suggesting that the Bruins are going to face stiff competition in their inaugural season in their new conference. 

McMurphy is far from the only person with little confidence in the Bruins’ potential this season. UCLA is currently unranked in the NCAA’s AP Top 25 football teams and USA Today Coaches Poll, and they were not included as a team that received a vote in either poll. 

Perhaps the Bruins’ upcoming season being filled with multiple firsts and their failure to qualify for last season’s playoffs is what has contributed to the negative opinions toward UCLA’s potential. The Bruins are transitioning to both a new head coach, DeShaun Foster, and a new conference that is filled with talent. 

Although a handful of Pac-12 teams moved to the Big Ten alongside the Bruins, UCLA did not play Oregon or Washington last season. This means the only familiar opponent the team will face this season is USC. The Bruins beat the Trojans last season, but the crosstown rivals have gone back and forth since 2020. If the pattern continues, USC will likely reclaim the Victory Bell. 

Additionally, out of the 19 teams in the Big Ten, six teams are ranked in the NCAA’s top 25 teams (Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Michigan, USC, Iowa) while three teams (Washington, Nebraska, Wisconsin) received votes but did not make it in the rankings, creating a challenging schedule for an adapting team.

The Bruins have their work cut out for them this season if they hope to reshape their reputation in the college football community.