Joel Klatt: UCLA Has Best Shot To Be 1st-Time College Football Playoff Team

The Bruins have added one of the most prominent voices in college football to their expanding bandwagon.

Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt said on "The Joel Klatt Show" that, of the teams that have yet to make a College Football Playoff appearance, No. 11 UCLA football (6-0, 3-0 Pac-12) is the most likely to clinch a berth this season.

"Watch out for the Bruins," Klatt said. "I'm not even telling you this is a likely scenario, I'm just saying of the teams that have not made the Playoff yet, the most likely path is UCLA."

Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan and Clemson are undefeated, in the top five and have made the CFP in the past. As Klatt points out, however, none of the teams ranked No. 6 through No. 11 in the latest AP Poll have made the Playoff before. And even though No. 12 Oregon has made it once, that was all the way back in 2015 in a vastly different national landscape.

The other teams the Bruins are competing with in that tier are Tennessee, USC, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss and Penn State. But whereas Klatt said he thinks each of those teams either have too difficult of a schedule or too many glaring issues, he was more than convinced by UCLA's latest win over Utah that they could take care of business against the Ducks and Trojans over the next month.

"Nothing scares me all that much," Klatt said in regards to the Bruins' upcoming slate. "I know Oregon is a good football team, and (UCLA) might lose, and I'm not even saying that this is imminent, that they're gonna be a playoff-caliber team or even that they're gonna play for the Pac-12 championship. But I am telling you that of these teams that have not made the Playoff, it's the most likely and plausible path that I can create."

Klatt noted that Utah entered Saturday 13-3 since Cameron Rising took over as the starting quarterback early in the 2021 season. In two of those losses, the Utes hung 45 points on Ohio State's defense and lost by just three in the Rose Bowl and only lost to Florida by three points on the road thanks to a last-minute touchdown by the Gators this September.

After beating a team like that, games against Stanford, Arizona State, Arizona and Cal – who are a combined 9-13 on the season – do not appear to be notable roadblocks for the Bruins.

UCLA boasts the No. 6 total offense in the country while also ranking No. 10 in points per game. Klatt attributed that success to coach Chip Kelly, running back Zach Charbonnet and fifth-year quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson.

"Dorian Thompson-Robinson is playing at a borderline Heisman level, maybe Pac-12 Player of the Year level," Klatt said. "His experience has materialized into efficient play. He's throwing the ball well, he's making plays with his feet."

Klatt said he believes if any Pac-12 team went undefeated and won the conference championship – so at this point, either UCLA or USC – the selection committee would honor that and include them among the top four. The former Colorado star quarterback remains skeptical of the Trojans' defense, however, and said he thinks they may not be able to hold up when the offense does not take control of games early.

UCLA, on the other hand, boasts the No. 2 total defense in the Pac-12 and ranks No. 1 in yards allowed per play among its conference peers.

Klatt has long been a public supporter of Kelly and his teams since he got to Westwood, but this is by far the furthest he has gone in his praise and prognostication of the Bruins in that time.

Two weeks ago, the Bruins had one AP voter include them on their top 25 ballot. Now, heading into their bye week, UCLA has nearly cracked the top 10, lead national analysts like Klatt are devoting full segments to their Playoff chances and they are tied for the eighth-best odds to win the national championship.

Depending how the next week goes across college football, and how UCLA fares on its upcoming trip to Eugene, this might only be the beginning of the hype surrounding the program.

Follow Connon on Twitter at @SamConnon
Follow All Bruins on Twitter at @FN_AllBruins
Like All Bruins on Facebook at @FN.AllBruins
Subscribe to All Bruins on YouTube

Read more UCLA stories: UCLA Bruins on Sports Illustrated
Read more UCLA football stories: UCLA Football on Sports Illustrated