ranked

UCLA coach Bob Chesney dismisses the soap opera.

Forget about the weekly Associated Press top 25 poll. Forget about the College Football Playoff rankings. Forget about everything until the confetti is swept away after all the conference championship games are played. Forget about all of it until Selection Sunday when your ranking finally counts and determines your bowl fate.

“We don’t watch,” Chesney told reporters when asked about the College Football Playoff rankings after his team’s 34-20 statement win at Minnesota on Saturday.

“I told our guys, don’t worry about watching this four-week drama series. That’s gonna be this show that they’re gonna put out there. That’s not what we’re here for. We’re here to focus on getting the work and being the best that we possibly can be. No way slighted, no way honored. Just totally neutral on whatever they might say. We gotta win our football games.”

Sure, it’s essential that you all do that. Focusing on the process has worked for generations in Westwood.

But the rest of us can ask the obvious question: Why isn’t UCLA ranked higher?

The Bruins moved up from No. 5 to No. 4 in the latest Associated Press top 25 poll Sunday. They were No. 8 in the first College Football Playoff rankings revealed last week and are sure to move up at least a little bit when the next round is revealed Tuesday as others lost and the Bruins tacked on a quality Big Ten road win.

But it’s unlikely to be a leap up and it’s definitely not going to be No. 1, no matter how passionately Bill Plaschke argues that’s where the mighty Bruins belong.

A weak schedule generally has been the excuse for an undefeated Power Four team sitting on the middle to lower end of the top 10 of the polls this late in the season.

The Bruins improved to 9-0 with their win at Minnesota, but their strength of schedule ranks No. 67 nationally, according to ESPN analytics.

But then someone needs to explain Utah.

The Utes, who are led by a first-year coach just like the Bruins, are the only other undefeated team in the country and improved to 9-0 after a 28-20 win over No. 9 BYU on Saturday.

They were ranked No. 3 in the first College Football Playoff rankings without the benefit of that win over the Cougars and moved up to No. 2 in the AP poll with that rivalry victory in hand.

However, that BYU win is a bit of an outlier. The Utes’ strength of schedule ranks No. 81 nationally, according to ESPN analytics, 14 spots below UCLA.

At this point, critics typically cite the eye test. UCLA lost its starting quarterback to a season-ending injury and its offense and defense haven’t performed well at the same time most of this season. The run game looked unbeatable against weaker non-conference opponents and then slowed down significantly against Big Ten defenses. The Bruins didn’t look or feel dominant.

Chesney has noted the coaches have had a lot of mistakes to address after every win this season. And the coaching staff has dialed back on the creativity during some games that seemed to be in hand, but that allowed the Bruins to stun Minnesota with back-to-back 75-yard touchdown passes they never previously saw on tape.

And whether observers choose to believe it, his team has consistently exceeded expectations all season.

UCLA improved to 9-0 against the spread after entering the Minnesota game as a 3.5-point road favorite, according to Yahoo! Sports.

Even the bettors in Las Vegas and around the country are sleeping on the Bruins, but they probably won’t for much longer.

The final reason that fans haven’t packed the Rose Bowl and poll voters have been more skeptical of UCLA’s success than they have of other teams is probably because it’s been a long time since anyone could believe the Bruins were this good.

UCLA football has, during the last 25 years, trained fans and national audiences to expect a bit of a letdown when the calendar turns to November.

The Bruins have never won more than 10 games in a season in school history. The last time UCLA was ranked No. 4 in the AP poll was the 2001 season. The team’s final record that year was 7-4 overall and 4-4 in the Pac-12.

But it is getting harder for cynics to deny this year’s UCLA team is, in fact, for real.

Minnesota was a team that is tough to beat at home, has a record of keeping pace with the top Big Ten teams and embraces an ethos very similar to Chesney’s Bruins. UCLA’s decisive win over the Golden Gophers helped, as did Oregon’s win over Ohio State.

UCLA will be favored to win at home against Illinois on Friday and at Michigan Nov. 21 before what could be a massively important Thanksgiving week rivalry game against No. 20 USC at the Rose Bowl.

Chesney has his team focused on the first task, completing a strong week of practice while preparing to play the Illini. The Bruins are sticking to the same daily routine he has been preaching since January.

And regardless of whether everyone has hopped on the UCLA bandwagon, the Bruins are confident they everyone will eventually catch up.

“I just feel like the whole team is just keeping the belief and the faith that we could beat anybody that we play against,” UCLA linebacker Jalen Woods said.

A secret passing attack

Chesney didn’t want to answer the question.

He was asked about Ty Dieffenbach’s back-to-back 75-yard touchdown passes to Aidan Mizell after a win over Minnesota and responded with a bit of verbal dancing.

“Yeah, just I don’t want to get into it too much, to be honest with you, but there were some things we were doing early that were setting up this next thing that we could do, and that’s ultimately what we felt like we saw, and we were able to attack it just a little bit,” Chesney said.

He added a bit more description, but the coach generally made it clear that his staff saw some things on tape, exploited them on game and absolutely did not want to give away any other hints to future opponents.

The Bruins unveiled a previously dormant passing attack that shredded the Golden Gophers’ secondary and Dieffenbach’s ability to pass the ball is impossible to hide at this point.

He said he connected on deep passes with Mizell during preseason camp and they’ve continued to work on their connection this season, making it pretty natural to pick apart gaps in the Minnesota defense on Saturday.

They both took great pride in delivering daggers that seemed to crush Minnesota’s spirit.

“We hit a lull for a little bit there late in the second quarter and in the start of the second half. So it felt really good to do that and just hit some explosive plays,” Dieffenbach said.

“It felt great. I was tweaking out,” Mizell said. “I don’t really remember the second one, but, yeah, it was an amazing feeling.”

Mizell said Dieffenbach has steadily improved since taking over the starting job and their connection was strong all week in practice.

“He’s more confident, he’s more consistent in practice,” Mizell said. “I feel like how we practice is how we play. And we knew the way we practiced this week it was over with.”

Dodd sets water polo record

UCLA junior Ryder Dodd scored 12 goals during the No. 3 Bruins’ 19-9 win over No. 7 UC San Diego on Saturday at Spieker Aquatics Center, shattering the school and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation single-game goals records.

Dodd previously held a share of the school record with eight goals. The previous conference record was 10.

“Obviously, it felt really good. I think coming off of last weekend where physically and mentally I don’t think I played my best at all,” Dodd said. “Coming off a good week of training, I think that led me to have a good game, but also the teammates doing a good job of pulling each other and pulling the other guys to them, making it really easy on me.”

Bruins on deck

Here is this week’s UCLA athletics schedule. All Times are PST.

Wednesday

Men’s basketball vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 6 p.m.

Thursday

Swimming and diving at Trojan Diving Invite, All Day

Women’s volleyball vs. Washington, 11 a.m.

Women’s basketball vs. Arizona, 7:30 p.m.

Friday

Swimming and diving at Trojan Diving Invite, All Day

Cross country at NCAA regional, TBA

Football vs. Illinois, 6 p.m.

Saturday

Swimming and diving at Trojan Diving Invite, All Day

Men’s water polo vs. USC, 1 p.m.

Women’s volleyball vs. Oregon, 2 p.m.

Sunday

Women’s basketball vs. Princeton (National title banner to be raised), 3 p.m.

In case you missed it

UCLA moves up to No. 4 in latest AP top 25 poll; USC climbs to No. 15

Plaschke: Undefeated UCLA proves why it should be ranked No. 1

Bob Chesney’s Bruins keep rolling as No. 8 UCLA earns statement win at Minnesota

Nikola Kusturica shines in No. 22 UCLA’s blowout victory over North Florida

UCLA focuses on winning turnover battle, edge in trenches during key Minnesota matchup

Sienna Betts helps lead No. 11 UCLA women to victory over UC Irvine

UCLA is No. 8 in the first College Football Playoff rankings; USC is No. 20

No. 22 UCLA men open season with big upset of No. 5 Arizona

No. 11 UCLA women begin their NCAA title defense with win over Lehigh

Swanson: Championship blueprint: Why Cori Close’s people-first approach is what college sports needs

UCLA Unlocked: Mick Cronin rebuilt roster with an eye on defense

Have something Bruin?

Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email newsletters editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

This is no longer about sweet underdogs. This is no longer about smoke and mirrors.

This is as real as a Ty Dieffenbach rocket. This is as legit as a Wayne Knight rumble. This is as true as a Sammy Omosigho roar.

This is the best college football team in America.

This is UCLA.

The College Football Playoff selection committee has insulted them, their city has mostly ignored them, and few outside of the range of Bob Chesney’s wonderfully gravelly football voice has actually believed in them.

Wise up. Pay attention. This is evolving into one of the best stories in college football history, and it gets more eight-clappy by the week.

Less than a year removed from a 3-9 record, the Bruins improved to 9-0 Saturday with a dominating 34-20 victory over physical Minnesota at Huntington Bank Stadium.

Playing in a place where the Gophers had only lost once in two years, playing with a backup quarterback making his first road start — and still outgaining Minnesota by 170 yards and outscoring them 17-0 to end the game — this was the Bruins’ best win of the season.

They entered Saturday morning sitting only eighth in the initial CFP rankings, which is a joke, and one that should be corrected by next Tuesday night.

UCLA should be ranked No. 1. Right now. Period. That’s right, number one, ahead of those stinky two-loss SEC teams, ahead of those marginal one-loss SEC teams, ahead of unbeaten but untested Utah, ahead of unsettled Miami, ahead of every other team that may have better metrics but just don’t look the part.

UCLA aces the eye test. Watch this team for four quarters and marvel at the depth, the drive, the smarts and the shock.

For the last two months the Bruins’ defense has been the best in the country, their running game has been the best in the Big Ten, and they’re outscoring opponents 112-34 in the fourth quarter.

Heard enough? Just watch. Their specialty is that shock, witnessed Saturday at the start of the fourth quarter with the game locked in a 17-all tie after a Gopher touchdown dart from Drake Lindsey to a leaping George Rohl seemingly gave the home team all the momentum.

Next play from scrimmage? Dieffenbach hits sprinting Florida transfer Aidan Mizell down the middle for a 75-yard touchdown pass.

Boom, Bruins.

Minnesota used the ensuing possession to drive for a 36-yard field goal by Luke Drzewiecki to keep it close and regain some of that momentum.

Next play from scrimmage? Dieffenbach connects with an all-alone-again Mizell with another soaring downfield pass that became another 75-yard touchdown reception.

Boom, boom, Bruins

“Our guys battled,” said Chesney afterward. “They never wavered.”

They indeed never waver, a testament to this team’s experience, toughness and depth. The players have bought into this resilience such that they’re not afraid to state it as fact.

“We own the fourth quarter,” Dieffenbach said. “People can say whatever they want. We know what we have in this building.”

What they have is a team that their coach claims is guided by a single word.

“Belief, belief, belief,” Chesney said. “They believe in their coaches, and they ultimately believe in each other.”

If you close your eyes, you can hear Curt Cignetti saying all those things last season during Indiana’s miracle run to an unbeaten national title.

Chesney doesn’t particularly like being compared to Cignetti — they are two totally different coaches who don’t really know each other — but the similarity in the rise of the two programs is unmistakable.

Renowned basketball school. Forlorn football tradition. Enter dozens of veteran transfers and a culture-changing coach and — voila! — you have a title contender.

That UCLA has the best football team in the country at the moment obviously doesn’t guarantee they will win it all. They still have tough games at home against Illinois, on the road at Michigan, and back home against USC, followed by the Big Ten championship game. They will still have to earn a first-round bye and its accompanying home playoff game to have a chance.

But that chance seems charmed, as charmed as a second-string quarterback leading your team to a November road victory by completing just eight passes for an amazing 303 yards and three touchdowns.

“Every game, every play I think I’m going to keep gaining confidence, showing the guys I can play too,” Dieffenbach said.

The quarterback was complemented by the usual Knight numbers — 109 yards rushing and a touchdown — and an Omosigho-inspired defense that makes every big play.

Next up, the Illini, winners of four consecutive games, coming to the Rose Bowl Friday night in front of… who knows how many? So far the biggest Bruin skeptics appear to be their own fans, which last week led to some friendly fire from their famous former quarterback.

Speaking on Dallas radio’s The Ticket, Troy Aikman chided Bruin fans who are maintaining their recent tradition of avoiding the Rose Bowl.

“Little embarrassing that we were 7-0 going into last week’s game and, they shoot it pretty low [TV camera angles] so you can’t really tell when you’re watching the game, I’m told there was about 20-25,000 people at the game,” Aikman said of the Bruins’ win over Nevada. “So when you have a stadium at the Rose Bowl that holds over 100,000, 25,000, it may as well be empty as opposed to some other stadiums that maybe hold 40,000.

He added, “We’ve got to get people going to games, we’ve got to get them excited about it. And then you say, ‘Well, how do you get them excited? If 7-0 doesn’t get them excited, what will?’ I don’t know the answer to that.”

The Bruins drew just 24,611 to the Rose Bowl against Nevada, but it was a game held on Halloween afternoon. Wait until USC shows up two days after Thanksgiving. And give Bruin fans a break. This fast-moving bandwagon is still brand new.

“That air keeps getting thinner and thinner and thinner as you climb to the top of this mountain,” said Chesney.

Nine and oh and if Saturday is any indication, the best football team in America is just getting its second wind.

“I wanna rob.” Hip cocked, midriff bared, cigarette pressed between her lips, Emma Watson’s indelible plea to “visit” Paris (as in Hilton) encapsulates the perfect inside-baseball deadpan of Sofia Coppola’s crime saga — not least because Hilton opened up her Mulholland Estates home for scenes of the Bling Ring burglarizing it. No film crystallizes the shallow, amoral bluff of Hollywood’s high-tabloid era with such icy precision, from the flat affect of the teenage protagonists to the late Harris Savides’ minimalist digital photography. Largely misunderstood upon its release, “The Bling Ring” now registers as an incisive comedy of manners for a society of influencers just then being born.