UCLA Football: Expert Believes A Win This Weekend Could Bolster Playoff Chances
Your 4-1 UCLA Bruins football program currently sits fifth in the Pac-12 conference with an important Week 6 on the way against Oregon State.
Chip Kelly's bunch ranks 18th in the country overall, but an upset win against the 15th-ranked Beavers could improve their CFP chances according to Fox Sports' Joel Klatt.
"If they can get past Oregon State this week in Corvallis, all of the sudden their schedule is way easier than the rest of the Pac-12,” Klatt said. “They could absolutely beat SC. I think that the toughest remaining game for UCLA is this weekend. If UCLA wins this weekend, watch out. … If they go to Vegas and beat this week’s winner (in) Oregon-Washington — let’s say one of those teams goes — and they go in there and beat them, UCLA’s going to the Playoff. Now it’s about can your quarterback get better? Can your run game get continue to get better? Chip Kelly has quietly built something very good.”
(h/t to Derek Peterson of Saturday Out West for the transcription)
Besides the Bruins' next opponent, the Washington Huskies, Oregon Ducks, USC Trojans and Utah Utes all rank higher than UCLA in both the AP Top 25 and the Pac-12 standings.
The Bruins have Utah to thank for their lower rank compared to their peers but clawed their way back to the Top 25 thanks to their upset win against Washington State last weekend.
2023 marks the final season for the Pac-12 and it seems as though every team in the conference wants to send the conference off in style.
Such stiff conference competition will play well into playoff committee voters' hands when the time comes as a result of seven Pac-12 teams currently in the top 20.
According to Klatt, a few upset conference victories could lead UCLA into college football's final four come January and the first test of a potential run starts with Oregon State this weekend.
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