The UCLA Bruins are one of three undefeated teams left standing. They're No. 7 in the latest US LBM Coaches Poll, their highest ranking in over a decade and the 7-0 start is their best in two decades. But is it enough to earn respect in the College Football Playoff conversation?
CBS Sports' Bryant McFadden raised the question on Saturday night, likening the Bruins' record to "a rapper who raps with no substance in his lyrics." UCLA head coach Bob Chesney, for his part, isn't paying any mind to it.
"I'm not worried overly over what anybody else says," Chesney told reporters on Monday. "It really can't help us, and it really can't hurt us if we let don't let it. It's irrelevant what people have to say."
McFadden, who played seven seasons in the NFL,
clarified that while he's impressed at the job Chesney has done in his first year in Westwood, particularly with the defense and the running game, he believes UCLA has benefitted from a chaotic college football landscape in 2026 and that could ultimately prove to be their undoing.
"I'm saying in terms of substance, there's some things lacking," McFadden said on-air Saturday. ".... Where have they really been tested? ... I don't think they're built right now to be extremely competitive in a first-round playoff game."
#UCLA HC Bob Chesney was asked about this comment and his response #8Clap https://t.co/rXy58hlnWO pic.twitter.com/j2tK4jYSk4
— Nick Hamilton (@NickHamilton213) October 26, 2026
The Bruins are the only undefeated team left in the Big Ten through Week 8 after a 28-10 drubbing of Michigan State. The defense dominated once again, holding their opponent to fewer than 20 points in a game for the fifth time this year while allowing a season-low 156 total yards of offense and recording a season-high four sacks. Offensively, backup quarterback Ty Dieffenbach played well enough, managing the game behind 245 total rushing yards led by senior running back Anthony Woods.
UCLA's signature win this season was against a Dante Moore-less Oregon, a program that entered 2026 with national title hopes that now appear to be unraveling. They've followed that up with wins against a good-but-not great Wisconsin team and Michigan State, who has yet to beat a Big Ten team. The only remaining ranked school on the Bruins' schedule entering Week 9 is No. 25 USC in their final regular season game on Nov. 28, but the Trojans have once again proven to be underwhelming under Lincoln Riley.
But whatever lies ahead for the Bruins, that's what Chesney is focused on. It's not the rankings, the analysts or the columns. What happens between the lines will dictate how far UCLA can go, and he's not losing sight of that.
"I said it from the very beginning with these guys," he said. "You wanna start checking all the good on social media and listening to all those goods, just now that there's a minute where the bad will show up and you gotta take that then, too. So just avoid the good, avoid the bad, focus on the work that you gotta do and at some point, we'll look back at the end of the year and see where we land.
"... But now is not the time. Now is the time for us to just keep going with our work and not worry what anybody on the outside thinks."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: UCLA football is undefeated, but are they a real College Football Playoff contender?
