This post was updated July 21 at 7:22 a.m.

UCLA is just weeks away from starting its second season in the Big Ten. After capturing seven Big Ten championships during their first year in the conference, the Bruins will look to build upon their inaugural year. Prior to the start of UCLA’s second Big Ten campaign, Daily Bruin sports will preview football, basketball and other top programs from each school.

Football

2024 record: 6-7, 4-5 Big Ten, Sun Bowl defeat

Coach: Jedd Fisch

Player to watch: Demond Williams Jr.

Success is often temporary.

College football exemplifies this, particularly with the transfer portal causing increased roster turnover.

And the loss of an esteemed head coach can accelerate this process.

Washington football experienced a roster exodus after former coach Kalen DeBoer departed for Alabama in 2024, with 18 players leaving the team alongside him.

The roster that helped the Huskies secure their 2024 national championship appearance seemed unrecognizable with newly hired coach Jedd Fisch at the helm of last year’s squad.

Fisch and Washington excelled at home but struggled on the road – the squad achieved an undefeated record at Husky Stadium but didn’t muster a single away victory.

The high-powered passing attack that helped drive the Huskies’ postseason success in 2024 faltered in the subsequent season – especially with the loss of quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and wide receiver Rome Odunze, who were both selected in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

Washington’s passing arsenal sported 343.7 yards per contest in 2023, the second-highest mark in the nation. However, the unit dipped to just 261.7 passing yards per game in 2024.

Quarterback Will Rogers led the air attack with a team-high 2,458 passing yards.

But Fisch also relied on quarterback Demond Williams Jr. to complement Rogers’ stable pocket presence.

The four-star recruit’s dual-threat ability forced opposing defenses to focus on limiting his downfield rushes, opening up passing lanes in the middle of the field.

Williams racked up 944 passing yards on a 78% completion percentage while boasting 282 rushing yards last season.

And the Huskies’ offense has multiple weapons returning next season that Williams can use in his inaugural campaign as the team’s lead signal caller.

On the outside, wide receiver Denzel Boston sported a team-high nine receiving touchdowns and recorded 834 receiving yards, becoming a formidable red-zone and deep threat for the passing attack.

But the rushing attack is what controls the pace of the game.

Running back Jonah Coleman will enter his second season at Washington after he transferred from Arizona in 2023. The Stockton, California, local eclipsed 1,000 yards on the ground and reached paydirt 10 times in 2024.

Despite the departure of running back Dillon Johnson in 2024, Washington boasted a more efficient ground attack during the 2024 season, averaging over 10 more rushing yards per game than the year prior.

And with the leaps the Huskies took during a rebuilding season, the trio of Williams, Boston and Coleman may be on track to reflect the prowess of Penix, Odunze and Johnson.

Another playoff appearance may lie on the horizon if Washington can rediscover the offensive motor that revved its rise to the 2024 national championship.

Men’s Basketball

2024 record: 13-18, Big Ten 4-16

Coach: Danny Sprinkle

Player to watch: Zoom Diallo

Reaching rock bottom often kickstarts change.

You can only move up.

Right now, that is where Washington men’s basketball lies.

Washington hired Danny Sprinkle as the team’s head coach before the 2024 season after he helped lead Utah State to a Mountain West regular-season title and an NCAA Tournament first round victory in 2023 – the program’s first since 2001 – in his debut campaign there.

But Sprinkle didn’t achieve the same immediate success with the Huskies.

Washington struggled on both sides of the ball, scoring just 71.6 points per game – the second-least in the Big Ten – while allowing 75.5 points per game – the third-most in the conference.

The Huskies were particularly exposed on the perimeter, making only seven three-pointers per game.

And with former Husky guards Tyler Harris and Mekhi Mason – the only players who shot above 40% from three last season – transferring to Vanderbilt and Wake Forest, respectively, the Huskies’ backcourt seemed broken ahead of the 2025-2026 season.

But Sprinkle addressed those needs, landing former USC guards Desmond Claude and Wesley Yates III – the team’s two leading scorers last season – through the transfer portal in early April.

While Claude uses his slashing and mid-range skillset to drive his scoring production, Yates exerts his will on the perimeter.

The Beaumont, Texas, local shot 43.9% from long range on 3.7 attempts per contest and has the physical tools to stifle opposing guards on defense with his wingspan that stretches over seven feet.

The former Trojan duo will join guard Zoom Diallo, who sported 11.1 points per game on a .473 clip from the field.

Diallo – a four-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American selection – boasts a playmaking skillset suitable for facilitating the ball to the Huskies’ primary scoring options. His 2.7 assists per game ranked second on the squad in 2024, and the Tacoma, Washington, local may now have a more well-rounded scoring arsenal surrounding him with the addition of the Trojan transfers.

Washington has made the NCAA tournament just once in the last 14 years, reaching the second round in 2019.

But the revamped backcourt may have enough two-way production to spearhead a surprise March Madness run.

Women’s Basketball

2024 record: 19-14, Big Ten 9-9, First Four defeat in NCAA tournament

Coach: Tina Langley

Player to watch: Elle Ladine

A sustainable core is a requisite for championship contention.

And Washington women’s basketball may have enough continuity from its 2024 campaign to remain competitive in the Big Ten next season.

The backcourt is returning both of its starters in Sayvia Sellers and Elle Ladine.

Sellers displayed a multifaceted offensive approach last season, when she cemented herself as the squad’s second-leading scorer and a premier facilitator. The All-Big Ten Honorable Mention selection recorded 15.3 points per game and a team-high 3.9 assists per affair. She also contributed defensively, sporting 1.8 steals per contest.

But superstars elevate teams.

And Ladine is Washington’s crown jewel.

The San Francisco, California, local scored at all levels last season, shooting 47.3% from the field and 39.3% from beyond the arc to spearhead her team-high 17.0 points per game.

Ladine flashed her scoring volume with her 40-point performance in Washington’s 90-71 victory against Northwestern Dec. 28. Alongside Sellers and Ladine, four additional Husky guards are returning for the 2025 campaign, with Hannah Stines, Teagan Brown, Chloe Briggs and Devin Coppinger bolstering the backcourt’s depth.

Coach Tina Langley also added former USC guard Avery Howell through the transfer portal. The rising sophomore excels from beyond the arc, hitting 39.9% of her three-point attempts last season.

Although three frontcourt pieces graduated, Langley addressed the departures with the Huskies’ incoming recruiting class, which includes forwards Brynn McGaughy and Nina Cain.

McGaughy is Washington’s highest-ranked recruit ever, and Cain was the 69th-ranked prospect in the 2025 class.

Washington’s 2025 recruiting class ranks 14th in the nation – the third-straight year that Langley has fielded a top 15 group.

And the talent that Langley has acquired in the last four years may spur the program’s continued improvement. The former Rice coach helped the squad reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017 last season.

Chemistry often brews success, and if Washington relies on continuity and experience to challenge Big Ten frontrunners, it could advance deeper into postseason play.

Cross Country

2024 record: Big Ten Runner-Ups, men 16th at NCAA championships, women 13th at NCAA championships

Coach: Andy Powell and Maurica Powell

Runner to watch: Tyrone Gorze

Rock icon Huey Lewis gushes over the “power of love.”

But the mantra doesn’t just apply to Marty McFly soaring back to the future.

It also applies to Washington cross country.

Married couple Andy and Maurica Powell began their Washington coaching stints together in 2018 and have transformed the program since.

The Powells have accrued three Pac-12 Coach of the Year awards, with both receiving the honor in 2023 and Andy Powell earning another in 2024.

The men’s and women’s teams were both runners-up at the Big Ten championships last season after the men’s squad captured back-to-back Pac-12 championship trophies in 2023 and 2024, while the women’s squad collected one in 2023. Julia David-Smith, India Weir and Nathan Green finished top 10 in their respective races at the 2024 conference championship meet.

Green boasted the highest collective finish at the NCAA championships, finishing 54th with a time of 29:34.50 in the 10k.

The now-graduate helped establish Seattle as the “Mile City” alongside former Huskies Joe Waskom and Luke Houser, who combined to capture five consecutive mile and 1500-meter national titles.

The men’s program will return four of its seven 2024 NCAA championships starters in Tyrone Gorze, Evan Jenkins, Jamar Distel and Nathan Neil. Each averaged a sub-five-minute mile throughout their national championship performances.

The incoming Husky distance class includes Owen Powell and Josiah Tostenson, who each sport sub-4:05 mile and sub-8:45 3200-meter times.

The women’s team is also retaining depth, with four out of the seven athletes on the championship roster returning this fall. Maeve Stiles, Julia David-Smith, Chloe Foerster and Ella Borsheim bring extensive championship experience that will likely spearhead conference and national championship bids in 2025.

And the Powells seem poised to lead top-ranked programs together yet again.