Wisconsin moves up in both polls before Rose Bowl trip to No. 12 UCLA

Wisconsin did not play last weekend but still moved up in both major polls. The Badgers now head west to face one of the biggest surprises of the Big Ten season at the Rose Bowl.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Wisconsin (4-1, 2-0 Big Ten) climbed two spots to No. 26 in the AP poll with 92 points. The Badgers also moved up one place to No. 30 in the coaches poll, where they received 39 points. Both totals leave them just short of the Top 25 going into a road game that could change that.

The opponent got a much bigger lift this week. UCLA won 5-0 and 3-0 in conference play by beating then-No. 13 Oregon on the road on Oct. 10. The Journal Sentinel reported that the result moved the Bruins to No. 12 in both polls. That was a nine-spot jump in the AP ranking and a 10-spot jump with the coaches. UCLA had come into that game ranked No. 21.

The Bruins' start is a sharp change from preseason expectations. The USA Today Big Ten preseason poll picked them to finish 12th in the conference. This is their first 5-0 start since 2022. UCLA went 3-6 in league play in each of its first two Big Ten seasons. First-year coach Bob Chesney arrived from James Madison, where he was Sun Belt Coach of the Year last season and took the Dukes to the College Football Playoff.

Wisconsin has been building momentum of its own. It is one of the conference's unbeaten teams in league play through two games, and it had an off week to prepare for the trip. The Badgers kick off against UCLA at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 17 at the Rose Bowl, with the game on NBC.

The stakes are clear for both teams. Wisconsin would very likely move into the rankings with a win over a top-15 opponent on the road. UCLA wants to show that the win in Eugene marked a real change for the program and was not a one-off result. The loser falls out of the group of teams without a Big Ten loss.

The market expects a close game. UCLA is favored at -156 on Novig, one of the venues listing the game, and theScore Bet has the Bruins at -155. The spread is UCLA -3.5, roughly a field goal plus the hook, and the total is 46.5. Full pricing is on the Wisconsin at UCLA game page.

A week after that, Wisconsin returns home to face USC at Camp Randall. That means two straight games against the conference's Los Angeles schools.