Now it becomes real for UCLA.
The Bruins were No. 8 in the first round of College Football Playoff rankings, which doesn’t matter. If they end up 10-2, as a Big Ten team, they’re a mortal lock to get into the CFP. But at this point, they want a spot in the Big Ten Championship, and they’re good enough to beat anyone left on the slate.
Minnesota has proven it’s almost good enough to beat anyone, losing a brutal 23-16 heartbreaker to Indiana last week. It beat Iowa and Michigan, but a weird 41-13 loss at Purdue is an issue for an at-large CFP spot. However, win out, and there’s a shot at getting into the Big Ten title game.
UCLA vs Minnesota: Quick Hits
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UCLA gets Illinois in the Rose Bowl next, then has to travel to Michigan, and finishes up down the road at USC.
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Minnesota goes to Penn State next week, hosts Northwestern, and close with the Paul Bunyan Axe game at Wisconsin.
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The two programs have only faced each other four times, with Minnesota winning the last meeting 21-17 in 2024. The Gophers are 3-1, starting with a 21-3 win in the 19162 Rose Bowl.
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How To Watch UCLA vs Minnesota
Date: Saturday, November 7, 2026
Game Time: 12:00 PM ET
TV: FOX
Location: Huntington Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN
– Week 10 Schedule, Predictions
– CFN Top 25 | Bowl Projections
– Expert Picks: Week 10
Why UCLA Will Win
Run, run, and keep running.
There’s no real mystery to what UCLA does. It blasts away, with the ground game, gets just enough from the passing game to get by, and then it relies on the defense to take care of everything else.
It starts with third down stops. Only Nebraska – at least before the loss to Illinois – is better at defensively on third downs than the Bruins. That allows UCLA to dominate the time of possession battle, the rested defense forces a ton of takeaways, the offense capitalizes … repeat. However …
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Why Minnesota Will Win
UCLA runs well, Minnesota doesn’t. Minnesota can throw well, UCLA doesn’t. Other than that, these two do almost all of the same things.
You want third down defense? Minnesota is sixth in the nation, allowing teams to convert just 28% of their chances.
Time of possession? The Gophers aren’t as good as UCLA, but they’re fine, usually keeping the ball for close to 32 minutes per game. And then there are the takeaways – Minnesota is good at that, too.
UCLA vs Minnesota Prediction, Betting Lines
The whole Big Noon Kickoff aspect to this is a problem for UCLA.
The Bruins have to be ready to rumble at 9:00 am Los Angeles time. And then there’s the other issue. When the ball gets kicked off in Minneapolis, it will be around 71 degrees in LA.
The temperature should hover around 40 degrees and feel more like 32ish for the entire game in Huntington Bank.
UCLA will be pushed and tested, and Minnesota will take advantage of that early, but the score will be kept low throughout, and the Bruins will still be alive in the second half, when the ground game starts to take over.
It’ll be another tremendously entertaining Minnesota game to kick off a whale of a Saturday.
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UCLA 20, Minnesota 16
Latest Consensus Line: UCLA -3.5, o/u: 38.5
ATS Confidence (out of 5): 3
Must See Rating (out of 5): 4
Consensus line based on BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, and FanDuel. Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
