UCLA Has To Prove It's Worthy of Preseason Ranking

Despite what has been a strange offseason for the UCLA Bruins, some are higher on the team heading into the 2026-27 season than you may think.

Last season, the Bruins went 24-12 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. On paper, that sounds pretty good, but beneath that supposed success was a lot of inconsistency and unnecessary distractions that held the team back from hitting its full potential.

For starters, their biggest offseason pick-up was point guard Donovan Dent, a former Mountain West Player of the Year and a star point guard for New Mexico. Upon his arrival at UCLA, things didn't go quite as smoothly as head coach Mick Cronin and his staff had hoped, as Dent had his worst collegiate season since his freshman season and struggled to find any consistency all year.

Additionally, head coach Mick Cronin couldn't stay out of the headlines for most of the season. The worst instance was when he ejected Steven Jamerson from a game himself after a hard foul against Michigan State. Aside from that, the Bruins lost Dent and leading scorer Tyler Bilodeau this offseason and have been snubbed by a handful of top transfer portal talents.

The general public also feels the same way. In ESPN's Jeff Borzello's way-too-early Top 25 preseason rankings, he has the Bruins just outside the top 25. Last year, the Bruins began the season ranked in the AP Poll before their sluggish start caused them to slip out and never get back inside the rankings, but they'll look to right the ship next season.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/ucla as UCLA Has To Prove It's Worthy of Preseason Ranking.

Copyright ABG-SI LLC. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 8:30 AM.