Chesney Leads UCLA to College Football Playoff Berth After Historic 6-0 Start

Start an eight-clap. Sing the “Sons of Westwood.” Put on your Wayne Knight jersey.

UCLA is bound for the College Football Playoff, marking a remarkable turnaround for a program that has hovered in mediocrity since the turn of the century.

What once seemed improbable is now a reality. With Bob Chesney at the helm, the Bruins are playing with a purpose and a standard that has quickly elevated this squad among the nation’s elite.

Chesney has the team rolling, sitting at six wins with five or six regular-season games remaining. The talent and depth on display suggest this group is capable of sustaining excellence deep into the fall.

Even when adversity strikes, the Bruins have proven resilient. Starting quarterback going down? No concern. The backup has shown he might even be an upgrade, keeping the offense humming without a beat.

The coach himself is generating Heisman-level buzz. Chesney guided James Madison to the College Football Playoff last year, and now he’s on the verge of accomplishing the same at UCLA, a program more synonymous with inventing the internet than gracing ESPN’s college football homepage.

Chesney doesn’t limit his vision to Saturday games. He conducts Sunday scrimmages to develop players seeking more reps, embodying a philosophy that there are no ceilings for what this team can achieve.

This unrestricted mindset is exactly why Chesney refuses to set limits on his team’s potential — because the sky’s the limit.

UCLA’s standing among the sport’s elite will soon be confirmed in the initial College Football Playoff rankings.

Consider the suspense dispelled. The Bruins are projected to sit inside the top 12 when the first rankings drop on Nov. 3, and they’ll remain there through every subsequent weekly release.

Their playoff path is set. UCLA will feature in the first-round matchups beginning Dec. 18.

After one of the most scintillating 6-0 starts in recent memory, the question is no longer if the Bruins will make the CFP, but where they’ll play and when.

The schedule favors the Bruins going forward. At this pace, they could contend for a first-round home game, potentially steering them back to Pasadena’s Rose Bowl for a quarterfinal showdown on Jan. 1, 2027.

Now that’s a happy New Year’s gift.

Skepticism is understandable, but Jim Mora’s famous rhetorical question doesn’t apply here. “Playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs?” The answer is a resounding yes.

Who’s going to stop this team now? With the only undefeated remnants in the Big Ten or SEC facing their own tests, UCLA controls its own destiny — walking into a room full of opportunities, Leonardo DiCaprio style.

Look at the schedule: UCLA has only one ranked opponent left on the docket. The next two outings come against Michigan State, winless in the Big Ten, and Nevada, which has already fallen to Montana State, Middle Tennessee, and North Dakota State.

In short, the Bruins will be 8-0 heading into a home game against Minnesota on Nov. 7. The Golden Gophers, led by P.J. Fleck, who was in the running for the UCLA job before DeShaun Foster got the nod in 2024, provide a competitive but ultimately surmountable challenge. In the battle between a coach who tells his team to row boats and one who tells them to burn them, Chesney’s Bruins will prevail.

Next up: a Friday night showdown against abysmal Illinois at the Rose Bowl. The margin for error will be large at 10-0, with the final two regular-season games offering breathing room.

Michigan remains tough at home, and No. 16 USC boasts an elite offense that often conceals its flaws, but the Bruins are predicted to paint the Victory Bell blue by Thanksgiving week.

One scenario to monitor: If UCLA finishes 10-2, captures the Big Ten title game, and falls, the team would need to follow the 2025 Alabama model and hope for a CFP at-large invite after suffering its third loss in a conference championship.

Given the momentum, that worry seems distant. The Big Ten landscape has been volatile, with Indiana, Ohio State, and Oregon once appearing in a league of their own, but now the Hoosiers look vulnerable and the Buckeyes and Ducks are running with backup quarterbacks.

If the Big Ten title game were played this instant, it would pit the Bruins against the Buckeyes — a matchup few saw coming two months ago.

Chesney and his squad are operating on a simple premise: their best football is still ahead.

For UCLA to host a first-round CFP contest, they’ll likely need to enter the postseason with just one loss. History shows that none of the four teams that hosted first-round games a year ago had two defeats, but the Bruins are positioning themselves to put themselves in that exact spot.

Start an eight-clap. Sing the “Sons of Westwood.” Put on your Wayne Knight jersey.

UCLA is going to the CFP.

Source link