UCLA is set to enter its third season in the Big Ten, following a sophomore campaign in which the program captured three NCAA championships – the most of any Big Ten school. The conference as a whole earned 10 different national titles in the most recent cycle. Daily Bruin Sports has broken down the top programs of UCLA’s Big Ten rivals.
Football
2025 record: 7-6, 3-6 Big Ten, Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl victory
Coach: Matt Campbell
Player to watch: Rocco Becht
The Nittany Lions entered the 2025 season ranked No. 2 in the nation with confidence they could bring a national championship to Happy Valley.
Roughly two months later, the squad had dropped six straight games, sat unranked and was searching for a new head coach.
The team opened the year in dominant fashion, outscoring its opponents 132-17 en route to an early 3-0 start. Quarterback Drew Allar threw for 200-plus yards in all three outings, and running back Kaytron Allen garnered 273 total ground yards as the group looked unstoppable on both ends of the ball.
But a week five matchup against then-No. 6 Oregon was the beginning of the end and may have confirmed doubts surrounding former head honcho James Franklin’s ability to deliver in big games.
After mounting a 14-point comeback in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime, the Nittany Lions opened the extra period with a strong drive that consisted of three plays and ended with a four-yard rushing touchdown from Allen. The Ducks then found the end zone in two straight possessions, putting Penn State down by six in the second overtime stanza with one drive to save the game.
Yet, in front of more than 111,000 fans draped in white from head to toe, Allar’s pass was intercepted by defensive back Dillon Thieneman, securing Oregon the 30-24 victory.
And it was all downhill from there.
Penn State traveled to the Rose Bowl the next week to face an 0-4 UCLA squad with all signs pointing to a low-stress, bounce-back win. But when the Bruins took a 27-7 halftime lead, the narrative quickly shifted.
Then-redshirt sophomore quarterback Nico Iamaleava raked in 294 total yards and five touchdowns in the game, leading the Bruins with 128 rushing yards. UCLA came out strong with scores on its first five possessions and never let its foot off the gas, leading to a 42-37 victory. With that win, UCLA became just the fifth squad to be 0-4 or worse and beat a top-10 team.
[Related: UCLA football claims first season win in matchup against No. 7 Penn State]
Franklin’s 12-season tenure with the Nittany Lions came to an end after a one-point loss to Northwestern in week seven – the same game where Allar suffered a season-ending ankle injury.
After winning the final three games of the regular season, Penn State hired former Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell on Dec. 5. In his ten years with the Cyclones, Campbell became the winningest coach in program history – with a 72-55 overall record and a program-best 50 conference wins.
Twenty-four former Cyclones followed Campbell to Happy Valley – many of whom will play pivotal roles with the Nittany Lions in the coming campaign.
Rocco Becht will be the starting signal-caller after Allar was selected in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft. The redshirt senior threw for 2,584 yards on a 60.5% completion rate in 2025 at Iowa State, totaling 16 touchdowns. Becht recorded seven 200-yard passing games throughout the season, and some of his most frequent targets will also be making the move to Happy Valley.
The Cyclones’ top four leaders in receiving yards from last season will be joining Becht, including wide receivers Brett Eskildsen and Chase Sowell. Eskildsen brought in 30 receptions for 526 yards and five touchdowns, ranking fourth in the Big 12 with 17.53 yards per reception. Sowell added 32 receptions and 500 yards of his own in just six starts across the year.
Tight ends Benjamin Brahmer and Gabe Burkle are also making the move after combining for 63 receptions and 748 yards in 2025.
Rounding out the notable offensive additions from Iowa State is running back Carson Hansen, who tallied 952 yards on 188 carries last season for six touchdowns. Hansen finished the year with five consecutive 100-plus-yard rushing games and had two games with multiple rushing scores.
In what seems to be a repeated pattern, Campbell will also be joined by his top four leaders in total tackles from last year.
Safety Marcus Neal Jr. and linebacker Kooper Ebel each tallied 77 total tackles and combined for 76 assist tackles, with Neal Jr. placing sixth in the Big 12 in tackles-for-loss per game. They will line up with safety Jamison Patton and linebacker Caleb Bacon.
The Nittany Lions still have key returners on their 2026 roster, including linebacker Tony Rojas. The redshirt junior started in four games and recorded 25 tackles last season before missing the rest of the year due to injury – a likely contributor to the squad’s downfall.
Offensive tackle Anthony Donkoh will also return as a redshirt junior. Donkoh helped the Penn State offense tally a season-high 509 yards – including 300 on the ground – in the regular season finale against Rutgers.
In addition, cornerbacks Audavion Collins and Zion Tracy will support the secondary after combining for 79 total tackles last season.
While Campbell may face some adjustments with his new squad after spending a decade in Ames, Iowa, he will also have a plethora of familiar faces to support the Nittany Lions’ rebound from last season.
Men’s basketball
2025-26 record: 12-20, 3-17 Big Ten, Big Ten tournament first-round loss
Coach: Mike Rhoades
Player to watch: Ivan Jurić
Experience often translates to success.
So it may not come as a surprise that the youngest team in the Big Ten this past season placed last in the conference.
The Nittany Lions began the season strong, bouncing back from an opening loss to Dayton with a six-game winning streak. The offense was firing on all cylinders throughout, with the squad scoring an average of 82.7 points per game and winning each outing by an average margin of 16.3 points.
Yet it was conference play that became the team’s Achilles heel as the season progressed.
Losing its first ten conference games, Penn State did not get into the Big Ten win column until Feb. 1 with a two-point victory over Minnesota. The team went 3-17 in conference play through the year, with the three victories coming by a combined seven points.
[Related: Bruins tame Nittany Lions with 30-point performance from Trent Perry]
This hindered the team’s ability to gain momentum for the rest of the season. It finished the year with three straight double-digit losses, including a 32-point stomping by Ohio State and a first-round exit in the Big Ten tournament to Northwestern.
And while coach Mike Rhoades’ roster will undergo significant reconstruction ahead of next season, he will also be losing some vital pieces.
Penn State’s top two leading scorers from last season will be taking their talents elsewhere.
Guard Freddie Dilione V transferred to Georgia for the upcoming campaign after leading the Nittany Lions with 14 points per game last season, along with 3.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists. Dilione was the group’s most consistent offensive presence, scoring in double figures in 25 games and posting six 20-plus point performances.
In addition, guard Kayden Mingo will be joining his younger brother Dylan – a five-star recruit in the class of 2026 – at Baylor next season. In his freshman campaign with the Nittany Lions, Kayden averaged 13.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and team-highs of 4.3 assists and 2.1 steals per game. After coming in as the highest-ranked recruit in program history, Mingo’s absence leaves a hole to be filled.
Among the three returners, forward Ivan Jurić seems poised to take a leap in his second season with the Nittany Lions. Jurić posted 10.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game last year, shooting a team-best 57.7% from the field. With more prominent shooters joining the team next season, the 7-footer will likely be a consistent force in the paint when utilized at center.
The Nittany Lions will welcome six transfers ahead of the coming campaign – all upperclassmen. The squad will gain experience ahead of next season, and some new names look poised to make an immediate impact.
The starting backcourt will likely consist of point guard Jay Rodgers – who played four seasons at Central Connecticut State – and shooting guard Roberts Blums from Davidson. Rodgers averaged 11 points and 6.9 assists per game last season with the Blue Devils – the latter ranking eighth overall in Division I. Meanwhile, Blums led the Wildcats in scoring with 12.4 points per contest, shooting 40.7% from beyond the arc.
Also joining Rhoades’ roster is guard/forward Brant Byers from Miami University. Byers was the second-leading scorer – averaging 14.2 points – for a RedHawk squad that went a perfect 31-0 in the regular season and became the first Division I program to do so since 2021. He shot 39.2% from downtown last season in Oxford, averaging 5.2 attempts per game.
Capitalizing on a sharp-shooting incoming transfer class may be the key for the Nittany Lions to turn things around in the coming year.
Women’s basketball
2025-26 record: 11-18, 4-14 Big Ten
Coach: Tanisha Wright
Player to watch: Skylar Durley
No successful rebuild is possible without a proven leader at the helm.
And Tanisha Wright may be exactly who this Lady Lions squad needs.
Wright succeeds former head coach Carolyn Kieger, who spent seven seasons with the squad and compiled an overall record of 84-123. In the team’s most recent campaign, it began conference play with 11 straight losses – nine of which came by more than 15 points.
[Related: UCLA women’s basketball beats Penn State in 3rd Big Ten game of the season]
Wright – a Penn State alumnus – was named the seventh coach in program history March 19 and boasts extensive experience both as a player and a coach. She played in Happy Valley from 2001 to 2005, leading the squad to back-to-back Big Ten regular season titles and four NCAA tournament appearances. Named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year three times, Wright collected 621 rebounds, 267 steals and 61 blocks with the Lady Lions.
Drafted No. 12 overall by the Seattle Storm in the 2005 WNBA Draft, the West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, local earned WNBA All-Defensive first team honors on five occasions with the Storm and led the squad to the 2010 title.
After retiring from the league in 2019, Wright served as the head coach of the Atlanta Dream from 2021 to 2024 and most recently as an assistant coach with the Chicago Sky in 2025. As an accomplished player and seasoned coach, she will look to lead her former squad to just its third winning season since the 2016-17 campaign.
And it has been no small task so far, as Wright has had to construct her roster from scratch after every player from last season departed.
The Lady Lions were led by the duo of guard Kiyomi McMiller and center Gracie Merkle, who have transferred to Florida and Minnesota, respectively. McMiller posted 21.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game last season, and became the first Division I women’s player since Iowa’s Caitlin Clark in 2023-24 to post six straight 30-point performances. Meanwhile, Merkle added 19.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per outing, shooting an efficient 72.5% from the floor.
Wright’s revamped roster for next season currently consists of 10 players, including three incoming freshmen and seven transfers.
One notable name is guard Skylar Durley, who played her first season of collegiate ball at Nevada. Named Mountain West Freshman of the Year, Durley averaged 11.8 points, 6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game for the Wolf Pack. Scoring in double figures on 19 occasions and averaging 31.9 minutes per contest, Durley will likely spearhead the scoring next season.
Guard Enjulina Gonzalez will look to return to form with the Lady Lions after her numbers took a dip last season. Gonzalez averaged 16.8 points per game and earned All-MAC honors with Miami University as a junior in the 2024-25 season, but produced just 3.2 points per contest and made only one start across her senior campaign at Georgia.
Forward/guard Savannah White heads to Happy Valley after spending her senior season at Xavier, where she tallied 7.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game – including an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double against St. John’s in the Big East tournament. She is joined by fellow guard Devyn Quigley, who will look to up her production after logging 62 appearances at North Carolina State across her freshman and sophomore seasons.
In addition and bringing height to Wright’s roster are forwards Cristen Carter and Petra Božan, who both stand at 6-foot-4. The two have the potential to step up as consistent pieces down below and collect offensive rebounds for the perimeter shooters.
Wright is building a roster from the ground up, but not without a plethora of experience in her toolkit.
Women’s volleyball
2025 record: 19-13, 12-8 Big Ten, NCAA tournament second-round loss
Coach: Katie Schumacher-Cawley
Player to watch: Kennedy Martin
Finishing seventh in the conference and making the second round of the NCAA tournament would likely seem to be a successful season for most programs.
But for the Nittany Lions, it was an off year.
Boasting eight national championships and being the only program with a postseason appearance every year since the tournament’s inception in 1981, Penn State recently compiled a dominant 35-2 record two seasons ago to capture the national title. The squad wasn’t able to carry that momentum into 2025, though, and was swept by No. 3 seed Texas to finish the year.
[Related: UCLA women’s volleyball starts Big Ten play 2-0, upsetting national champions]
Ranked No. 10 in the 2026 AVCA preseason poll, the Nittany Lions enter the upcoming campaign with their sights set on a return to the top.
Spearheading the effort will be right-side hitter and back-to-back AVCA First Team All-American Kennedy Martin. The Fort Mill, South Carolina, local tallied a team-best 634 kills last season on a .319 hitting percentage, good for first in the Big Ten in total kills and third in the nation in kills per set.
Ahead of the coming season, Martin was named to the AVCA Player of the Year Watch List and made the Preseason All-Big Ten Team alongside fellow Nittany Lion setter Alexis Stucky. Entering her first season in Happy Valley after four years with Florida, Stucky will look to facilitate scoring opportunities for her teammates after posting 10.31 assists per set last season.
The Nittany Lions have a total of nine returners for the 2026 campaign, including some of their vital offensive pieces.
Outside hitters Emmi Sellman and Caroline Jurevicius are back after tallying 257 and 195 kills, respectively, last year. The two placed in the top four on the team in points per set, each averaging over 2.30.
Returning at middle blocker will be Gabrielle Nichols, who tallied 49 total blocks last season and placed fourth on the team with 0.70 blocks per set. Anchoring the defensive end alongside Nichols will be libero/defensive specialist Ava Falduto, who made 14 starts in the back row in 2025. Falduto – part of the title-winning 2024 squad – made 238 digs last season and averaged 1.98 per set.
In addition to Stucky, coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley will welcome two transfers in middle blocker Ryla Jones from Pittsburgh and outside hitter Whitney Lauenstein from Texas. The transfers will be joined by four incoming freshmen who will look to get acquainted with a highly experienced roster.
With the talent to do so, 2026 could be the year for the Nittany Lions to reclaim the glory.
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