For UCLA Athletics, the 2024-25 season was a rollercoaster ride. As UCLA moved to the Big Ten conference, some sports programs reached historic heights. The women’s basketball team advanced to its first Final Four in NCAA tournament history, and both the baseball and softball teams earned trips to the College World Series – making UCLA the only school to do so in 2025.

“Getting here and getting to experience this was super special to us,” said junior shortstop Roch Cholowsky on the conclusion of their last game in the 2025 College World Series. “It was a special year.”

But some programs also suffered challenges.

UCLA football’s first year with former head coach Deshaun Foster ended with a 5-7 overall record and finished 14th out of the 18 schools in the conference. The women’s volleyball team also struggled against volleyball powerhouses Nebraska and Penn State, losing to both in conference play. Overall, UCLA women’s volleyball finished 12th in the conference with an 8-12 record and missed the national tournament for the third consecutive year.

So, how did UCLA athletic programs fare against other Division 1 schools in the 2024-25 season?

The Stack analyzed data from the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Learfield Directors’ Cup, which awards points to schools based on the success of their athletic programs in NCAA postseason events. A national championship earns 100 points, while lower finishes receive fewer points. The scoring also factors in the number of schools participating, the format of the postseason (bracketed tournaments vs. individual or team rankings), ties in the final standings and, in the case of football, postseason media polls.

A school’s total is then added up from 19 of its teams. The school with the highest total is named the Learfield Directors’ Cup champion in the spring.

The Stack looked at UCLA’s points and Directors’ Cup finishes from 2021 to 2025.

In 2025, UCLA tallied 1149 points and placed fifth in the Directors’ Cup – securing its highest finish since 2018 when it placed second. UCLA’s top point earners were men’s water polo (100), women’s gymnastics (90), and men’s volleyball (90). The men’s basketball and women’s soccer teams, which both finished 17th in the NCAA postseason brackets, only tallied 50 points each for UCLA, while the women’s volleyball team failed to qualify for the national tournament.

2024-25 also marked the Bruins’ first year in the Big Ten conference, following their departure from the Pac-12. Along with USC, the two Big Ten newcomers topped the conference in the Directors’ Cup, with USC in first place with 1253.75 points.

In the bar chart below, the sports teams that contributed to each institution’s total in the Directors’ Cup standings are listed.

Some notable performances included UCLA baseball’s jump from failing to qualify in the 2024 postseason to a fifth-place finish at the 2025 College World Series. Men’s water polo reclaimed the national title for the first time since 2020 by beating crosstown rival USC, and the men’s tennis team achieved its best NCAA tournament finish in six years. 

“We upset some big teams during the NCAA tournament to make the final eight as a non-seeded team,” said redshirt junior tennis player Emon van Loben Sels on the team’s 2025 postseason run. “That was pretty special for me and for the team.“

In the line chart below, each sport’s Directors’ Cup points are tallied from 2021 to 2025, showing changes over time.

UCLA Baseball’s Two-Year Turnaround

In its 2024 season, UCLA baseball finished with 19 wins and 33 losses – a record that cemented it last in the Pac-12 standings and kept it from qualifying for the postseason tournament for the second consecutive year. Head coach John Savage suggested that the roster’s inexperience contributed to this outcome – which was the worst finish since 2005 – as 19 of the 43 players were first years, and some veteran players were set back due to injuries.

“It was tough going through what we did last year,” Cholowsky said. “No one really knows what it feels like besides the guys that were in it.”

In the following season, the Bruins were barred from their home ballpark – the Jackie Robinson Stadium – for a month after a federal court ruling rendered UCLA’s lease on the land illegal. Before being granted ownership for another year, the Bruins practiced in several neighboring baseball facilities during the lockout. The team bused together to intramural and high school fields.

“All the stuff that we had to deal with in the fall, like losing the field, I think that just built the team,” said junior outfielder Payton Brennan. “It built us up stronger.”

In 2024-25, they won 72% of all their games with a 48-18 overall record and ended the regular season tied for first in the Big Ten Conference. They went on to play in the championship game of the Big Ten tournament and won the Los Angeles Regional at Jackie Robinson Stadium, advancing to the Men’s College World Series for the first time since 2013.

“The turnaround that we had from last year was pretty special in a lot of ways,” Savage said after their season-ending loss to Arkansas in the 2025 College World Series. “Like I told them, it’s the team that really built this.”

Water Polo’s Battle on the West Coast

All men’s and women’s national championship titles have been awarded to California universities since the sport’s addition to the NCAA.

In the dot plot below, the history of the men’s and women’s NCAA championship winners is detailed.

Despite strong regular-season records and consistent appearances in the MPSF West Championships from 2022 to 2024 – all of which were against USC – the Bruins faltered against the Trojans each time. 

But the tide turned blue in 2024.

After defeating Stanford in the 2024 NCAA tournament semifinals, the top-seeded Bruins headed to the championship game – set for a rematch against crosstown rival USC.

The Bruins left the Avery Aquatic Center in Palo Alto, California, victorious, handing the Trojans a loss in the title match. With an 11-8 win, the men’s water polo team captured its 13th national championship – its first since 2020.

Men’s Tennis’ Surprise Ending

 

Advancing past the first round of the national tournament for the first time since 2019, UCLA men’s tennis had certain expectations ahead of its 2024-25 season.

“We had high expectations and high hopes to start the season with the recruits we had and the players we had coming back,” said redshirt junior Emon van Loben Sels.

Despite opening the season with a 4-1 win over UC Irvine, the Bruins lost six of their next seven games and racked up a four-game losing streak – its longest since May 2023.

“I think it might have been the worst start ever for the program,” van Loben Sels said. “I was getting a little worried.”

These losses also came after a number of illnesses – with the team catching the flu at the ITA Weekend Kickoff and sophomore Spencer Johnson – UCLA’s highest-ranked singles player – out of the lineup for more than a month.

“It’s really easy to just look down because we’ve had so many close losses this season,” van Loben Sels said right after their 4-3 loss to USC, their fourth consecutive loss in the season. “But I still think we can push through and have a great season.”

The Bruins went on to win 11 of their next 13 games and ended the regular season with a 13-8 overall record. As the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, they defeated Michigan, Michigan State and the top-seeded reigning champions Ohio State to capture their first conference tournament title since 2018.

“We just kept persevering,” van Loben Sels said. “And we knew that if we just kept working hard and believing in ourselves that things would turn around.”

In the NCAA tournament, UCLA men’s tennis won 4-2 against Cal and advanced to the Sweet 16 – the Bruins’ first super regional appearance in six years. There, the Bruins clinched their only victory against the Trojans in their three contests of the year – and secured a ticket to the NCAA quarterfinals in Waco, Texas. 

Transfer Portal and the Changes Coming

With the United States Supreme Court’s 2021 ruling that allowed college athletes to earn money from their name, image and likeness and the recently signed House v. NCAA settlement that allowed Division 1 schools to directly compensate their athletes, collegiate players all over the country found themselves in a sea of brand new financial opportunities.

As student athletes searched for schools with greater media exposure and better financial options, UCLA emerged at the top of that wave.

Ranked 5th overall in the Big Ten by the college sports recruitment website 247 Sports, the program welcomed former five-star Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava, the speedy Oregon cornerback Rodrick Pleasant, and Cal’s 2024 leading running back Jaivian Thomas.

Despite not having the strongest start – going winless in its first four games and parting ways with coach Deshaun Foster, offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri, and defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe – UCLA football stayed committed to the roster it built. 

In their game against Penn State last Oct. 4, the Bruins pulled off a 42-37 upset over the Nittany Lions. This unprecedented victory knocked the Lions out of the Associated Press Top 25 Rankings and marked the start of a three-game active win streak for the Bruins.

Iamaleava, who completed 17 of 24 passes for 166 yards and rushed 128 yards for two touchdowns in the game against Penn State, was named AP National Player of the Week and Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week.

Additionally, UCLA women’s volleyball, dealing with a loss of 11 players from the 2024 roster, also added five new transfers prior to the 2025 season. Part of the new additions that the volleyball team welcomed included sophomore libero Lola Schumacher from Wisconsin and graduate student setter Zayna Meyer.

“Credit to the players and the coaches,” Schumacher said on her transition into UCLA as a transfer. “I showed up, and I was immediately part of the team and part of the family, so there wasn’t really a whole integration process.”

Schumacher – named the Big Ten’s Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 29 – has anchored the team’s defense with 4.20 digs per set.

“I couldn’t be more grateful for our coaching staff and the girls that I’m with,” Schumacher said. “I get to play with my best friends every day.”