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Coach Bob Chesney’s UCLA Bruins continued their stellar season with a 17-7 win over Wisconsin in Week 6 on the same day Pat McAfee shared a bold take on the upstart Big Ten contenders. Chesney emphasized recently that his program’s standards are the reason for its 2026 successes, not any specific one-time goal.
Chesney and his team have walked the walk and talked the talk so far this season, drawing comparisons to the 2025 national championship-winning, Curt Cignetti-led Indiana Hoosiers. Chesney’s speech bears some similarity to Cignetti’s, but the Bruins aren’t on the same level for myriad reasons.
UCLA’s schedule looks easy in comparison to many Big Ten contenders, with only one game left against a ranked team (USC on November 28), but that doesn’t mean they are national title game bound.
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Chesney’s team is still a relative unknown
UCLA is coming off of back-to-back losing seasons in its only two seasons in the Big Ten, making them a relative newcomer to the winner’s circle. This season’s team has performed admirably, but the season is still only halfway over and there is a lot more fans need to see from Chesney’s team before they are declared a title contender.
Starting quarterback Nico Imaleava is out for the season after suffering an injury in UCLA’s win over Oregon, which was a huge blow to the Bruins’ title hopes.
New starting QB Ty Dieffenbach performed well against the Badgers in comparison to his experience level, and has potential as a tall, efficient quarterback with a California background who can rally the hometown fans.
Dieffenbach’s 264-yard passing game against the Badgers showed Chesney knows how to coach up his players, but there is still way more fans need to see from him in the future.
Chesney’s JMU background
Chesney has a very similar background to Cignetti as he led James Madison to 9-4 and 12-2 seasons before heading to UCLA. The Bruins attempted to catch lightning in a bottle the same way the Hoosiers did, and so far it’s working.
Will Chesney’s magic continue, or will it run out sometime soon? Home games against Michigan State and Nevada suggest that it will continue for the time being, but Chesney still hasn’t tested himself at the major conference level aside from a handful of games this season. Chesney has a ferocity similar to Cignetti as evidenced by his recent defense of Iamaleava, but it’s still being tested.
There will be a learning curve, and UCLA is right in the middle of it.
UCLA Talent deficit
Iamaleava had a chance to be the Bruins’ Fernando Mendoza after joining Chesney’s team with a College Football Playoff appearance under his belt from his days at Tennessee.
The Bruins made the most of his talent but now will trudge forward with Dieffenbach at the controls of the offense. UCLA dominated Wisconsin, holding QB Colton Joseph to 66 yards passing. It was a phenomenal performance, but it came against a Big Ten pretender who was thoroughly outclassed by Notre Dame earlier this year, not an Ohio State or Indiana-caliber team.
Chesney’s Bruins look good, but have a ways to go
UCLA looks good, but still has a long way to go in a Big Ten Conference that figures to get much better in the coming years. The 2026 edition looks strong from top-to-bottom, but lacks the dominant teams of the past three years.
The Bruins have had the good fortune of sneaking up on teams this season, but it won’t happen in 2027 and beyond. Chesney’s program is looking promising, but it’s still a huge question mark and work-in-progress. The Bruins are a team well worth keeping an eye on, but they are almost certainly in for some turbulence as the season continues to heat up.
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