BRUINS NOT OUT OF EN-TITLE-MENTS DESPITE SLIDE IN BCS POLL, UCLA HAS PLENTY TO PLAY FOR.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

When UCLA coach Bob Toledo opened his weekly news conference Monday afternoon, it was hard to tell if he was talking about the weather or his Bruins.

``The sun came in Westwood today,'' he said, ``though it is a little overcast.''

Though the sun didn't shine much, the outlook amongst the Bruins wasn't quite as gloomy as it had been 48 hours earlier, when a 38-28 loss to Stanford knocked them from the unbeaten ranks and seemingly out of the national picture.

Monday they returned to school with something to look forward to - they remain in the thick of the Pacific-10 Conference race and, while they'd been knocked down quite a few pegs in the BCS rankings, they haven't necessarily been knocked out.

In the Pac-10, the Bruins are tied for first place in the loss column with Stanford, Washington, Oregon and Washington State. In the BCS rankings that were released Monday, they were ninth with 18.83 points. But they're only 4 1/2 points behind fifth-place Texas and have a lot of ground available to be made up in the coaches' and writer's polls - they're 11th and ninth, respectively - and a chance to pick up bonus points with wins over Oregon and Washington.

``We still feel like we're a damn good team,'' tight end Mike Seidman said. ``We just need to step up the next couple of weeks because you never know.''

In a sense, the Bruins are in the same position as the other Pac-10 contenders. Nobody controls their own destiny. If the Bruins win out, they'd eliminate Washington State and Oregon, but then they'd need Stanford to lose since they lost to the Cardinal.

If Washington wins out, it needs the Bruins to lose. If Stanford wins out, it needs Washington State to lose. And if Oregon wins out, it needs Stanford to lose.

Got that?

As for the Rose Bowl, here's what the Bruins need to happen to the teams in front of them:

1. Nebraska: A loss in the Big 12 Conference championship game probably won't be enough for UCLA to hurdle the Cornhuskers. Their toughest test will be Nov. 23 when they travel to Boulder to play Colorado. What the Bruins need to do is place a call to their former teammate, Lovell Houston, who transferred to Colorado, and ask for a favor.

2. Oklahoma: The Sooners might have to play Nebraska again, but their toughest regular-season test is two weeks from now against Texas A&M. If R.C. Slocum really wants to prove there's no hard feelings about firing Toledo as offensive coordinator, the Aggies will win this one.

3. Miami: Washington can help the Pac-10, if not itself, by winning in Miami in late November. The Huskies are the last team to beat the 'Canes, but the team with the best chance is Virginia Tech on Dec. 1 in Blacksburg.

4. Michigan: The Wolverines might be this year's Washington - a team that ends up 10-1 and not looking very good doing it. Michigan plays nemesis Michigan State this weekend in East Lansing. Then there's a trip to Wisconsin in three weeks and home to Ohio State on Nov. 24. Maybe without John Cooper, the Buckeyes have a chance.

5. Texas. There's not much hope of the Longhorns losing - they won't get to the Big 12 Title Game unless Oklahoma loses - but it might not matter. The Bruins are within 4 1/2 BCS points and likely would leapfrog the 'Horns if they keep winning.

6. Stanford. The Brainiacs love computers and the computers love Stanford. If the pollsters fall for them, too, the Cardinal can make up a lot of ground. Stanford has two big tests - at Washington on Saturday, where it hasn't won since 1975, and Dec. 1 at San Jose State. That's no joke. The Spartans have won three in a row from Stanford, including when the Cardinal went to the Rose Bowl in 1999.

7. Tennessee. The Vols might not lose to Notre Dame, but can anyone see them beating Florida on Dec. 1 in the Swamp?

8. Florida. A month ago, a season-ending gauntlet of South Carolina, Florida State, Tennessee and the SEC championship game looked like a BCS booster. If the Gators win out, they could end up No. 1 in the polls and out of the championship game.

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