For at least one week, the UCLA Bruins are the kings of the Big Ten. After some impressive early performances, everyone was waiting to see how UCLA handled a road test against Oregon before fully buying in on what Bob Chesney is building in Year 1 in Westwood. A 17-15 win -- that felt more convincing than the final score indicated -- was the point of affirmation the Bruins needed to truly be taken seriously as a Big Ten contender in 2026.
Five of UCLA's last seven games are at home and they miss both Indiana and Ohio State on their remaining schedule, setting up a real possibility that the Bruins play their way into the Big Ten title game and the College Football Playoff. To do so, UCLA will have to lean on backup quarterback Ty Dieffenbach who will be the starter going forward after Nico Iamaleava suffered what is likely a season-ending knee injury late against Oregon. If there's an offense built to mitigate the damage of losing a starting quarterback, it's UCLA's run-heavy attack led by star back Wayne Knight, but Iamaleava's injury does present a significant hurdle for the Bruins.
As of this moment, UCLA's win in Eugene is the most impressive result any Big Ten team has on their résumé, but that will change on Saturday when either Ohio State or Indiana emerge victorious in a titanic showdown in Bloomington. For the Buckeyes, they're trying to get their first signature win after letting one slip away in Austin earlier this season, needing to answer some questions about their ability to close out a big game. The Hoosiers, meanwhile, have been doing just enough to escape with wins over Northwestern and Nebraska, but have yet to show that top gear that made them the national champions a year ago.
As a spoiler for next week's Big Ten Power Rankings, the winner in Bloomington will grab the No. 1 spot, but for now that position belongs to the Bruins. Let's dive into where all 18 teams in the conference stand heading into Week 7. It felt like UCLA dominated against Oregon in a supremely weird contest that featured a ton of turnovers on both sides.
The two concerns I had about the Bruins heading into the game were whether they had a defense that could hold up and whether their offensive line was good enough to lean on against good teams. Those questions were answered pretty emphatically, and while the defense certainly got some gifts from Dylan Raiola, they were also sensational at preventing explosive plays. That's the name of the game against Oregon (and a lot of other top offenses), and that, coupled with a relatively positive afternoon from Knight and the run game, makes me think this UCLA team can indeed hang around the top of the conference all season.
They have to show they can refocus off a huge win and handle business against a quality Wisconsin team, but for now, the Bruins deserve this spot. The Buckeyes have really only played one bad quarter of football this season. Unfortunately for them, that came at the worst time against Texas and cost them the No. 1 ranking in the country (and these power rankings).
Extract — continue reading at the source.
