No. 18 UCLA enters Las Vegas Bowl projection after Week 6

The college football season is already nearing its midway point, and it’s starting to become clear which teams are contenders and which ones are pretenders.

Projection: No. 18 UCLA vs. Iowa

This week’s Las Vegas Bowl projection features a bit of a shakeup. UCLA shook off a tough loss against No. 16 Utah two weeks ago to beat then-No. 13 Washington State 25-17 in Week 6. Bruins true freshman quarterback Dante Moore threw for 290 yards and a touchdown to hand the Cougars their first loss of the season.

UCLA has another tough game this week at No. 15 Oregon State. The Pac-12 remains a tricky conference to predict. UCLA, Oregon State, No. 16 Utah and Washington State all remain in the Las Vegas Bowl window, and it’s possible one of them can usurp No. 10 Southern California, which has a difficult second half of the season ahead.

The Big Ten is much simpler: Iowa remains the pick. No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Ohio State and No. 6 Penn State all remain way too highly ranked to be considered for the Las Vegas Bowl. Wisconsin is also unlikely after playing in the game two years ago, the last time the Las Vegas Bowl hosted a Big Ten team.

Iowa helped its case by beating Purdue — likely the only other team in the Big Ten West capable of challenging it outside of Wisconsin — 20-14 in Week 6.

Contact reporter Andy Yamashita at ayamashita@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ANYamashita on X.