The UCLA Bruins football program has a first-time head coach and is making the transition to the Big Ten. On top of that, the schedule is a tough one for them.
Ahead of Week 1, Paul Myerberg of USA Today revealed the 10 toughest schedules and UCLA made the list. Here’s what Myerberg wrote.
Toughest games: at LSU (Sept. 21), vs. Oregon (Sept. 28), at Penn State (Oct. 5)
Opponents’ 2023 record: 99-59
Those three opponents listed above come in three consecutive weeks — representing the toughest uninterrupted three-game run of any team in the Big Ten and possibly the entire Bowl Subdivision. It gets easier, though only to a point: UCLA takes on Nebraska (away), Iowa, Washington (away) and USC down the stretch, also without a break. This schedule will make it very hard for the Bruins and new coach DeShaun Foster to stay out of the bottom of the Big Ten.
UCLA faces all of LSU, Oregon, and Penn State on consecutive weeks, which includes traveling to LSU and Penn State with a home game against Oregon in the middle.
It doesn’t get much harder than that.