I am going to start off by saying that I HATE the Wisconsin Badgers for a very simple reason. Since I became a Bruin in the Fall of 1989, UCLA has been to the Rose Bowl just twice — 1994 and 1999. Of course, I went to both games and the Badgers won both of them. If you utter the words “Ron” and “Dayne” and I don’t know what I might do to you. I’m liable to tackle you like Bobby Boucher.
I also can’t stand Luke Fickell. For years, I blamed him for the first loss of the Chip Kelly era. That day, I walked through the tunnel a few minutes after kickoff and immediately asked the question “Did we score 40 points yet?” only to watch the Bruins lose to Fickell’s Bearcats. To be fair, I now realize that it was more of a problem with Chip Kelly being a complete fraud than Fickell simply outcoaching Chip, but I still don’t like Luke Fickell
So, the bottom line tomorrow is that UCLA needs to win to avenge the two Rose Bowl losses and the loss to the Bearcats, too. Period.
Odds
I sure hope some of you made some money last week by taking the Bruins and the points. Unfortunately, I didn’t as I wasn’t anywhere I could put a few bucks down on that sure thing. At least, I moved to 4-0-1 against the spread last week because I dropped another Over call last week, making me 1-4 on the Over/Under this season. Of course, Kirk Herbstreit took the Bruins as his Superdog pick last week. So, he scored 12.5 points for that win.
This week, UCLA opened as a 3-point favorite. While either the action since or the loss of Nico Iamaleava has cut the spread to 2.5 points, I don’t think it matters. UCLA is going to win this game by more than a field goal. Take the Bruins and give the points this week.
The Over/Under for this game started at 49.5 points and Nico’s injury has clearly caused a big shift here as it now sits at between 42.5 and 43.5 points. So, I’m goinnng to call it at the higher 43.5 level. Both teams have hit the Over in 3 of 5 games. While UCLA and Oregon only totaled out to 32 points, I think the Bruins left a lot of points on the table. In Bob, we trust. That won’t happen again. I’m taking the Over and expecting Ty Dieffenbach to light up the scoreboard at home and, by that, I mean he’s going to hand off to the Bruin law firm of Knight, Woods and Thomas who will put the ball over the plane of the goal line.
Tailgating and Game Time Weather Forecast
It may not be your typical Pasadena Chamber of Commerce Day tomorrow. Don’t get me wrong, the weather won’t resemble anything like it was in Maryland a few weeks ago. There just may not be a lot of sun out there in the Rose Bowl parking lots tomorrow.
It should be mostly sunny and about 82° when the parking lots open at 10:30 am PT for tailgating. About 11 am, clouds will start moving in as it becomes partly cloudy and it will become mostly cloudy by noon. Meanwhile, it will slowly warm up to a high of about 87° at 1:00 pm PT and it will remain that warm until the temperature starts to cool off as we head toward kickoff. The sun may try to peak out between 1 pm and 4 pm as it changes back to partly cloudy. When the game kicks off at 4:30 pm, it will be about 85°.
Look for it to keep cooling off into the low 80s by the end of the first half. You can expect the temperature in the second half to dip into the upper 70s before finally reaching about 76° by the end of the game.
Let’s take a look at how to watch, listen and stream tomorrow’s game.
#12 UCLA Football (5-0)
Opponent: Wisconsin Badgers (4-1)
Series Record: UCLA leads, 7-4
When: 4:30 pm PT, Saturday, October 17, 2026
Where: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
Live TV: NBC with Noah Eagle, Todd Blackledge and Kathryn Tappen
Live Stream: PeacockTV.com and the Peacock app
Radio/Audio:
KABC-AM 790 in Los Angeles with Josh Lewin, Matt Stevens and Wayne Cook
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM Ch. 85 (UCLA Call)Online: UCLABruins.com
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Rebroadcast (All times PT):
Monday, 10/19 at 3:00 pm on BTN (B1G Football in 60)Monday, 10/19 at 9:00 pm on BTN (B1G Football in 60)
Tuesday, 10/20 at 7:00 am on BTN (B1G Football in 60)
Wednesday, 10/21 at 7:00 am on BTN (B1G Football in 60)
Wednesday, 10/21 at 9:30 pm on BTN (B1G Football in 60)
Thursday, 10/22 at 10:30 am on BTN (B1G Football in 60)
Go Bruins!!!
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See you at the game Joe!