Where Does Phil Steele Rank UCLA in Big Ten?

UCLA has been one of the most talked about football programs heading into the 2025 football season. Behind the polarizing transfer of former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava and the culture shift DeShaun Foster is cultivating ahead of his second season, the Bruins are surely an interesting team.

However, they're intrigue doesn't necessarily translate to how national pundits feel about them as an actual football team. Ahead of their second season in the Big Ten Conference, many media members and corporations feel the Bruins will lean towards the bottom of the conference and barely scrape out six wins.

American sports writer Phil Steele released his preseason rankings for the Big Ten in his annual preview magazine and ranked programs based on his plus/minus and power ratings. The decimal-based system is an adequate ranking system.

He placed UCLA 14th in the conference with a 106.61 rating. For reference, Ohio State is first with a 128.19 rating, Iowa is ninth with a 115.08 rating and and Purdue is last with a 94.57 rating. In On3 contributor Dan Morrison's recap of Steele's rankings, this is what he had to say about UCLA's placement:

"UCLA was always bound to have a difficult transition to the Big Ten. Former head coach Chip Kelly left late in the coaching cycle and was replaced by an internal hire in DeShaun Foster. The Bruins would miss a bowl, and now they want to find a way to improve on that effort.

"Quarterback is the most visible position on the field, and UCLA made a splash this offseason. They landed transfer Nico Iamaleava. A former starter in the SEC, the hope is that he can immediately turn things around and be competitive. However, Steele still has the Bruins ranked pretty low in his power rankings."

In its inaugural season in the conference, UCLA finished with a 5-7 record in collaboration with Foster's first season and former coach Chip Kelly leaving. The optics of their first season doesn't look too good -- five wins is the least UCLA has totaled since 2019, but what some tend to overlook is that the program was really hitting a stride towards the end of the season. And with Foster getting a full offseason under his belt, the Bruins might shock a lot of people.

The former Tennessee signal-caller and Foster will be joined by offensive lineman Garrett DiGiorgio and linebacker JonJon Vaughns. The Bruins will be one of six teams to come out on the third day of the media days, July 24, along with USC, Purdue, Michigan, Michigan State and Iowa in Las Vegas and on the Big Ten Network.