Here's my sense of the quality of the teams Ucla played in 2024, ranked from best to worst:
rank team outcome
01 8 Oregon L
01a Indiana L
03 7 Penn State L
04 16 LSU L
05 Washington L
06 USC L
07 Minnesota L
08 Rutgers W
09 Fresno State W
10 Nebraska W
11 Iowa W
12 Hawai'i W
Indiana was really impressive last year. I put them just a smidge behind Oregon, which was #1 at the end of the RS. Ranking them "2" didn't put enough respect on their name given the year they had, hence...1a.
I ranked Iowa second to last because Iowa was the ONLY team in America that Ucla could run the ball on.
Looking at 2025, I think the best to worst ranks are...
rank team order
01 Ohio State 10
02 Penn State 5
03 Indiana 8
04 USC 12
05 Washington 11
06 Michigan State 6
07 Nebraska 9
08 Utah 1
09 Maryland 7
10 Northwestern 4
11 UNLV 2
12 New Mexico 3
IU is ranked so highly because of Cig. Utah is higher than its talent might dictate because of Whit.