UCLA Football is ranked in the Top 25 polls this week for the first time this season following the Bruins’ demolition of Maryland yesterday.
The Bruins have entered both the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll at 23.
Texas again claimed the top spot in both following the Longhorns’ win over Tennessee. Meanwhile, Georgia is ranked second, Notre Dame is ranked third and Miami has moved up to fourth after crushing Central Michigan. Indiana slipped to fifth in the Coaches poll and sixth in the AP poll after struggling against Northwestern on Friday. Meanwhile, Ohio State climbed to fifth in the AP poll and sixth in the Coaches poll after beating Illinois easily. Alabama moved up to seventh in both polls after the Crimson Tide rolled over South Carolina. Florida’s win over Ole Miss moved the Gators up to eighth while the Rebels fell to ninth in the AP poll and twelfth in the Coaches poll. BYU rounds out the AP Top Ten and remained ninth in the Coaches Poll. Texas Tech completes the Coaches Top Ten.
Other Big Ten schools in Top 25 include Iowa which is ranked 14th in both polls while Oregon is ranked 15th in both polls. Southern Cal’s loss to the Ducks dropped them to 18th in both polls. While unranked by the AP, both Penn State and Michigan are the other two Big Ten schools in the Coaches poll, coming in at 22nd and 24th, respectively.
Penn State and Michigan both dropped out of the AP poll along with Louisville and Texas A&M. Louisville, Texas A&M, Washington, and Oklahoma dropped out of the Coaches poll.
Here are both complete Top 25 polls:
UCLA’s next game will be on Saturday, October 10, 2026 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon against the #15 Oregon Ducks. Kickoff time and broadcast network are both still to be determined.
Go Bruins!!!
Thanks again for supporting The Mighty Bruin. Your paid subscriptions make this site possible. Questions, comments, story ideas, angry missives and more can be sent to to @TheMightyBruin on Twitter.
So happy to be wrong with my thoughts on this last night. Go Bruins!
The fact that Baugh (Florida/SEC) is getting Heisman love and Knight is not is starting to piss me off.
Here are the #s:
Baugh 83 carries, 600 yards, 11 TDs, 7.2 yard average per carry.
Knight 49 carries, 445 yards, 9 TDs, 9.1 yard average per carry.
The only metric in which Baugh is superior is volume and that is because UCLA has great depth at the position and uses it liberally so that we can be more fit in the 4th quarter.
In one article, Baugh is among the top five candidates. No mention of Knight in the same article among the five listed, or even the 13 listed as on the fringe candidates, as follows:
C.J. Carr, Notre Dame; Jaylin Carter, Memphis; Reed Harris, Arizona State; Kevin Jennings, SMU; Lincoln Kienholz, Louisville; Gio Lopez, Wake Forest; Jayden Maiava, USC; Drew Mestemaker, Oklahoma State; Julian Sayin, Ohio State; Austin Simmons, Missouri; Colin Simmons, Texas; Gunner Stockton, Georgia; Kamario Taylor, Mississippi State.
Some of these guys are legit candiates. But Lincoln Kienhotz on 2-2 Louisville? Wake's QB? Really?
Knight is not a favorite. Not even in the mix among the top 18. Ohio State even gets a second candidate before Knight on this list.
Boo.
The only thing that warms me is that, knowing what I know about HCBC and his players, this is not a significant concern with any of them. I am sure Knight would rather win a team championship than an individual trophy.