We apologize profusely for the delayed publishing of these Bell Week articles. The person responsible has been fired. Out of a cannon.
Well, all rebuilds are a bit of a challenge, but when you're on your third head coach in four seasons and pine for the halcyon days of Jim Mora, then yeah. It's a tough spot for Bob Chesney (seen here looking cool as shit), but the bar's pretty dang low. How will the Bruins do in their first season under Chesney? Let's talk it out.
Schedule
Predictions
BoilerUp89: Why is their schedule a bunch of shoe boxes? 4-8 (1-8) with a victory over Purdue.
Kind of...: Chesney isn't Cignetti, but he is a very good coach. I'd give 5-to-1 that UCLA wins more than one conference game. I would expect them to be favored over MSU, the Wisconsin game to be a tossup, and Illinois to be less than a TD favorite. In other words, all winnable. Frankly, if USC's schedule proves too much there could be a dead man walking vibe around Riley by the time they play for the Victory Bell, too. Maryland on the road is certainly gettable too.
At the same time. at Cal and vs. San Diego State is a relatively challenging way of starting the season. I'm going to say 6-6/4-5 and a bowl for the Bruins.
Transient Buckeye: Whoever designed that schedule graphic should retroactively have his/her degree revoked.
Perhaps I'm being unduly influenced by the opinions of some of my fellow "writers," (hey, I'm easily led!). But I'm feeling unreasonably optimistic about a team that won three games last season and got absolutely clown-hammered six times. I don't think UCLA is going bowling this season, because they're likely to pick up at least one and quite possibly two losses in the nonconference season. But there are some winnable Big Ten games on this slate. They don't have the almost-nonstop murderer's row that they were staring down in 2025. Purdue, Wisconsin, and Michigan State should all be gettable. The Big Ten screwed UCLA by giving them September Maryland, so that one doesn't look good.
The big problem is that UCLA could be quite a bit better than they were last year, and still not see a lot of improvement in their record. It's expecting a bit much for all the coin-flip games to go the Bruins' way, but maybe they can get a mild upset somewhere. I'm going to start them off at 4-8 (3-6), but I will say that I think that 5-7 is a lot more likely than 3-9 or worse. They won't be the total dumpster fire they were for most of last season. The goals for this year are to look a little bit more competitive against he conference's upper tier, and get the foundation laid for a genuine step forward in 2027.
HoustonBoiler: I'm gonna guess 4-8 with wins over San Diego State, Purdue, Nevada, and either wisconsin or Michigan State. The Cal game is a close loss in my mind. I don't think UCLA is ready to cross the country and win games, so losses to September Maryland, Minnesota (snow in Minneapolis on 11/7 - could happen), and Michigan. I think UCLA will push Illinois and USC but the Fighting Berts and condoms get it done.
AlmaOtter: Cal/SDSU/Nevada isn't an easy non-conference slate, but at least they avoid the Ohio State/Indiana juggernauts. I think they open up the Big Ten slate with wins over Purdue and Maryland (at the vaunted SECU Stadium in September, no less!), then drop the rest of the conference games. 4-8 (2-9), but some solid development and a few moral victories thrown in there. Also still laughing at TB's usage of the phrase "clown-hammering" up above.
