UCLA Football Bowl Projections: Week 9
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The Bruins have now dropped their first game of the season, drastically shifting their bowl projections heading into the back half of the yea.
No. 12 UCLA football (6-1, 3-1 Pac-12) spent the weekend in Eugene, and coach Chip Kelly’s homecoming at Oregon ended in a 45-30 defeat. Getting to the Pac-12 Championship is still not out of the equation for the Bruins, and with games against Stanford, Arizona State and Arizona up next, the blue and gold could rise back into the top 10 as early as next week.
Here is where college football media has UCLA projected to play come bowl season.
ESPN
Cotton Bowl, UCLA vs Cincinnati
Arlington, TX
Jan. 2, 10:00 a.m.
The Cotton Bowl does not have any strict conference ties attached to it and is one of the esteemed New Year’s Six bowl games. Last year, Cincinnati played in the Cotton Bowl when it was part of the College Football Playoff, losing to No. 1 Alabama in the national semifinal.
The Bearcats are currently ranked No. 20 in the nation and hold a 6-1 record through Week 8. The Bearcats scratched by unranked SMU in their last contest, only defeating their AAC foes by two points.
Cincinnati has a chance to go undefeated the rest of the way, though, with the only ranked opponent left on its schedule being No. 23 Tulane in the final week of the regular season.
Unlike the other opponents UCLA has been projected to face, coach Chip Kelly and the Bruins have faced the Bearcats twice since he took over in Westwood.
In Kelly and quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s first game with the program, Cincinnati played spoiler at the Rose Bowl, defeating UCLA by a score of 26-17. A year later, the Bruins lost again, but on the road. Thompson-Robinson could bring his UCLA journey full circle if this Cotton Bowl pairing were to occur.
Pro Football Network
Holiday Bowl, UCLA vs. Georgia Tech
San Diego, CA
Dec. 28, TBA
The Holiday Bowl pairs teams from the Pac-12 and ACC, but the game itself has not been played since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
UCLA was selected to participate to face North Carolina State in the 2021 version of the event, but had to drop out due to positive COVID-19 cases and additional exposures just hours before kickoff.
Georgia Tech is currently 3-4 and would provide the Bruins with its lowest-profile bowl projection so far. The Yellow Jackets lost to Virginia 16-9 in Week 8 and have also lost to Clemson, Ole Miss and UCF this fall.
UCLA has never squared off against Georgia Tech in football, but the athletic programs have played each other in different sports. The Bruins and Yellow Jackets opened the 2017 college basketball season in China, during a trip that also was infamous for three UCLA men’s basketball players getting arrested for shoplifting.
Yahoo
Alamo Bowl, UCLA vs. Oklahoma State
San Antonio, TX
Dec. 29, 6:00 p.m.
The Alamo Bowl matches up the second-choice teams from the Pac-12 and the Big 12.
Oklahoma State is currently in a similar position as UCLA. Both programs are currently 6-1 and sit three spots from each other in the AP Poll, with the Cowboys losing their undefeated season at the hands of No. 7 TCU in Week 7. Oklahoma State now sits at No. 9 after recovering with a 41-34 victory over then-No. 20 Texas 41-34 last weekend.
UCLA and Oklahoma State have a brief history between their football programs, meeting for a home-and-home in 2002 and 2004. The Bruins and Cowboys split the two games, with quarterback Cory Paus leading the Bruins to a 38-24 victory in the 2002 matchup while throwing for 277 yards and three touchdowns.
However, the two sides have not faced off since then.
CBS Sports
Alamo Bowl, UCLA vs. TCU
San Antonio, TX
Dec. 29, 6:00 p.m.
The Alamo Bowl matches up the second-choice teams from the Pac-12 and the Big 12.
TCU has emerged as one of the six remaining undefeated FBS teams just past the halfway point of the season. The Horned Frogs rose to No. 7 in the AP Poll after defeating then-No. 17 Kansas State in a 38-28 comeback victory in Week 8.
The Bruins have minimal experience the Horned Frogs, with the two sides facing off in 1939, 1942, 1952 and 1961, but they did win three out of those four matchups. The universities' respective histories nearly intersected when UCLA men’s basketball was rumored to hire TCU’s head coach Jaime Dixon during its 2019 coaching search, but that fell apart at the 25th hour.
UCLA has played in the Alamo Bowl once and won, defeating Kansas State 40-35 to wrap up the 2014 season. The victory was also the Bruins' most recent bowl victory.
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