The UCLA Bruins finished the 1997 season with a national rank of.....
#5 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll
#5 in the ESPN/USA Today College Football Coaches Top 25 Poll
UCLA went virtually unnoticed in the pre-season. The Bruins were unranked and not talked about. After an 0-2 start, the Bruins fought their way to a present standing of #5 in both polls. This is UCLA's highest final ranking since 1982, when they also placed fifth on both polls. Way to go Bruins!
Here is UCLA's climb up the national polls:
Date |
AP |
ESPN/USA Today |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-season | NR |
NR |
| 8/31 | NR |
NR |
| 9/7 | NR |
NR |
| 9/14 | 24 |
NR |
| 9/21 | 24 |
NR |
| 9/28 | 22 |
25 |
| 10/5 | 18 |
19 |
| 10/12 | 17 |
18 |
| 10/19 | 13 |
16 |
| 10/26 | 12 |
13 |
| 11/2 | 10 |
11 |
| 11/9 | 9 |
10 |
| 11/16 | 7 |
9 |
| 11/23 | 6 |
7 |
| 11/30 | 5 |
6 |
| 12/7 | 5 |
6 |
| 1/3 | 5 |
5 |
AP = Associated Press NR = Not Ranked in Top 25
Conference Overall
W L PF PA W L PF PA
WASHINGTON ST* 7 1 297 246 10 1 467 275
UCLA* 7 1 292 181 9 2 448 224
ARIZONA ST 6 2 233 168 8 3 307 203
WASHINGTON 5 3 277 186 7 4 369 236
ARIZONA 4 4 222 232 6 5 297 298
USC 4 4 171 181 6 5 233 233
OREGON 3 5 241 264 6 5 339 337
STANFORD 3 5 198 262 5 6 276 317
CALIFORNIA 1 7 186 259 3 8 295 339
OREGON ST 0 8 112 250 3 8 195 285
* denotes Pac-10 Co-Champion