The Heartland Line
UCLA jumps 10 spots to No. 12 in Coaches Poll as Texas falls from No. 1
Unbeaten UCLA rose from No. 22 to No. 12 in the Week 7 Coaches Poll after winning at Oregon. Next up is a home game against Wisconsin, which is receiving votes.
UCLA made the biggest move in the Week 7 Coaches Poll. The Bruins went from No. 22 to No. 12 after a 17-15 win at Oregon kept them unbeaten at 5-0, CBS Sports reported Sunday.
The loss cost Oregon 12 spots. The Ducks fell to 3-2 and dropped from No. 12 to No. 25, holding the final spot in the poll. CBS Sports' David Cobb called the Bruins "the biggest mover this week" in his rundown of the new rankings.
The top of the poll also changed. Texas lost 27-24 to Oklahoma in the Red River Showdown and fell five spots to No. 6. Georgia beat Alabama 20-17 in Tuscaloosa and moved up to No. 1 with 60 of the 74 first-place votes. Notre Dame is No. 2, Miami No. 3 and Indiana No. 4. Alabama stayed at No. 7. LSU fell from No. 10 to No. 21 after an overtime loss at Kentucky.
The Big Ten has six teams in the poll. Indiana is the highest at No. 4 and drew nine first-place votes. Ohio State is No. 5 and got one first-place vote after a 45-16 win over Maryland moved it to 5-1. UCLA is No. 12, USC moved up two spots to No. 15 and Iowa also rose two spots to No. 16. Oregon is the sixth team at No. 25. Three other conference teams are close to the poll. Northwestern leads everyone outside the Top 25 with 107 points, Nebraska has 74 and Wisconsin has 39.
The Wisconsin total matters right away. The Badgers (4-1) play at UCLA on Saturday, October 17, at 7:30 p.m. EDT on NBC. That gives the Bruins their first game with a top-15 ranking, and it comes against a team that is just outside the poll. If UCLA wins, it is 6-0 and has a strong claim to stay in the top tier of the conference race. If Wisconsin wins on the road, it would probably move into the rankings and slow down UCLA right after its rise.
UCLA is favored at home, but the price is fairly close. On Novig, one of the venues listing the game, UCLA is -147. The spread is UCLA -3.5 and the total is 46.5. FanDuel has the best sportsbook price on the Bruins at -142. Full pricing is on the Wisconsin at UCLA odds page.
Boise State (No. 24), Wake Forest (No. 23) and Oklahoma State (No. 20) all entered the poll after wins in Week 6. Florida, Duke and Pittsburgh dropped out.
UCLA has a 10-spot jump and a road win over Oregon behind it. Now it has to back that up at home against Wisconsin, which is close to joining the rankings.
