Make California Post a Preferred Source Given another week to assess UCLA, the College Football Playoff selection committee had a different take on the Bruins.
In the wake of an impressive road victory over Minnesota, UCLA rose to No. 4 in the CFP rankings released Tuesday night. That’s four spots above where the Bruins were slotted only a week ago.
Most importantly, moving into the top four puts UCLA (9-0 overall, 6-0 Big Ten) on track to receive a first-round bye into the quarterfinal round of the 12-team playoff.
So, did the CFP selection committee make a mistake last week when it came to the Bruins?
“I don’t think it was an admission of them being ranked too low,” Hunter Yurachek, chairman of the CFP selection committee, said on a conference call with reporters. “I think what we’re seeing with the parity around college football [is] that we now have only two remaining unbeaten teams and UCLA is one of those, and I think they continue to improve as a team.
“The defense has been steady and really dominant all season, they’ve had an established running game and their quarterback play is getting better — their backup quarterback that has been filling in really seemed to find his way, especially in the fourth quarter of that game against Minnesota.”
Yurachek was alluding to quarterback Ty Dieffenbach, who replaced the injured Nico Iamaleava a month ago, throwing 75-yard touchdown passes on back-to-back offensive plays to help the Bruins pull away for a 34-20 victory over the Golden Gophers.
This is UCLA’s highest spot ever in the CFP rankings after its No. 8 ranking last week tied its previous high from the 2014 season.
The only teams ranked ahead of the Bruins were No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Utah and No. 3 Alabama. UCLA and Utah are the last remaining unbeaten teams in major college football.
The Bruins’ move was part of a major shakeup in which no team remained in the same CFP spot as a week ago.
USC (7-2, 4-2) rose two spots to No. 18 and has a chance to vastly improve its standing Saturday when it faces No. 9 Indiana, which dropped five spots despite not playing last weekend.
Should the Bruins secure a first-round bye, they’ll need to come up with a plan to avoid the fate of nearly every predecessor in that spot — teams with byes have gone only 1-7 in the quarterfinals since the playoff expanded to 12 teams for the 2024 season.
UCLA can tie a single-season school record for victories Friday night if it beats Illinois at the Rose Bowl; only twice before have the Bruins won 10 games in the regular season.
There’s also a scenario in which the Bruins could clinch a spot in the Big Ten title game this weekend depending on the results of other conference games.
