UCLA Football: Bruins' Road to Making the College Football Playoff
UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley didn't shy from talk of a Pac-12 championship or the College Football Playoff after the Bruins' 42-30 loss to Oregon on Oct. 11.
"To this point, we still have everything in front of us," Hundley said. "There will be a two-loss team in that playoff. Hopefully we come out and just do our part. If we play good ball for the rest of the season, anything goes."
Since falling to 4-2 with that defeat, UCLA scrapped for a pair of road wins and entered the inaugural College Football Playoff rankings at No. 22.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
| 6-2 | 22 | 25 | 25 | 23 |
The Bruins have a long way to climb from No. 22 to No. 4, but history suggests it's possible—recent history, in fact.
Michigan State went on a tear in its final stretch, winning the Big Ten title en route to the No. 4 ranking in the final BCS poll.
Following the Spartans' road map could lead UCLA's way into the College Football Playoff, but it's not an easy path.
Biggest Obstacles to Playoff Berth
The most substantial hurdle UCLA has between it and running the table to close out this season is itself.
The Bruins have repeatedly failed to play up to potential, or their own lofty standards. Whether surrendering sacks en masse, coughing up costly turnovers or drawing inopportune penalties, UCLA football has been its own worst enemy.
Eliminating self-inflicted wounds is the first and perhaps biggest step UCLA can take toward playoff contention.
As far as external challenges, UCLA has a pretty favorable schedule ahead of it. Three of the Bruins' four remaining games are at the Rose Bowl, starting this week with No. 12 Arizona.
| Nov. 1 | Arizona (6-1) | Rose Bowl; Pasadena, California |
| Nov. 8 | Washington (5-3) | Husky Stadium; Seattle |
| Nov. 22 | USC (5-3) | Rose Bowl; Pasadena |
| Nov. 28 | Stanford (5-3) | Rose Bowl; Pasadena |
UCLA is 2-0 against Arizona since Jim Mora and Rich Rodriguez arrived at their respective programs. The Bruins have similar fortune against rival USC in the Mora era.
Stanford is another story. The Cardinal beat UCLA in consecutive weeks in 2012, including in the Pac-12 title game, then dominated the Bruins in October 2013.
This year's Stanford team looks much different than the two conference title-winning squads of 2012 and 2013, however. The Cardinal defense is still stout, but the offense is anemic.
UCLA's sole remaining road date is a Nov. 8 homecoming trip for Mora. The head coach faces his alma mater, Washington, in a city where he spent three seasons with the professional franchise.
Husky Stadium is a notorious inhospitable venue for visiting teams, but this year's Washington team has two losses there. The Huskies are battling through an offensive identity crisis not unlike that of Stanford.
Expect UCLA to be the favorite in all four of its remaining dates. Should the Bruins live up to expectations in that stretch, the remaining obstacles between them and the College Football Playoff are entirely beyond their control.
Help Needed
Before UCLA can worry about any outside help it might need, the Bruins need to take some advice from Jerry Maguire.
Mora summarized the situation bluntly on the Oct. 22 edition on Fox Sports Radio's Jay Mohr Sports.
"We can't lose another one and be in the [Pac-12 championship] picture," he said.
Indeed, UCLA's playoff help starts internally. The Bruins must win out to have any semblance of a sliver of a chance at cracking the top four—and winning out includes a Pac-12 title game victory.
Hundley was steadfast that winning the conference title remained the goal, but the Bruins are heading into the final month of the season playing catch-up. They currently look up at three teams in the Pac-12 South Division race: Utah, Arizona and Arizona State.
Arizona comes to the Rose Bowl on Saturday, so the formula there is pretty simple: UCLA pulls ahead of the Wildcats with a win.
The Bruins hold a similar head-to-head tiebreaker over Arizona State should the Sun Devils drop another conference game.
The trickier scenario is that which involves Utah. The Utes upset UCLA in the Rose Bowl on Oct. 4, 30-28.
UCLA needs Utah to drop two more games because the Utes hold the head-to-head advantage. Either Arizona or Arizona State beating Utah helps UCLA, but the Bruins benefit from Oregon winning at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Nov. 8.
In fact, UCLA fans should become Ducks supporters the rest of the way. An 11-1 Oregon team, presumably ranked in the top four of the College Football Playoff rankings, is the ideal Pac-12 title game opponent.
Going back to the Michigan State 2013 analogy, UCLA needs Oregon to be its Ohio State: a championship-caliber opponent and marquee win to close out the season.
Prediction
UCLA's season is confounding to this point, but salvageable. The Bruins are certainly capable of playing at a championship level, demonstrated in their 62-27 shellacking of Arizona State.
Otherwise, however, they have fallen short of expectations. Take away the two home losses to Utah and Oregon, and UCLA is still underachieving, squeaking past seemingly inferior opponents because of lackluster performance on either side of the ball.
The Bruins are not just capable of winning each of their next four: They should win those four. But expectation and reality have not quite been on the same page for this UCLA team.
We are deep enough into the season that the repeatedly erratic performances by UCLA are more identity than aberration. Because the Bruins should go the remainder of their schedule unscathed does not mean they will.
Look for UCLA to lose once more, effectively eliminating it from the College Football Playoff race.
Prediction: 9-3; Holiday Bowl
Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise cited.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
