UCLA softball has been ranked in every regular season game they have played each of the past five seasons. The majority of these games, the Bruins have been ranked in the top 10 and have never dropped lower than No. 19.
Despite its regular season dominance, UCLA hasn’t been the same team come playoff time.
The Bruins are currently experiencing their longest championship drought in program history. Their last national title came in 2010.
There does seem to be an explanation for the Bruins’ lack of postseason results though. UCLA hasn’t performed at the same level against against better competition.
The Bruins are 146-12 against unranked opponents during the past five regular seasons, a .941 win percentage. During the same span, they weren’t even a .500 team against ranked opponents, going 55-57.
Come playoff time, when they have faced a higher concentration of these ranked opponents, UCLA has faltered. The Bruins have only been able to advance past Super Regionals to the Women’s College World Series once since 2010.
A drop in wins against better opponents is natural for any team, but UCLA’s ineptitude over the past five seasons against ranked competition is truly striking.
In addition, a dichotomy exists between UCLA and other top programs. Florida and Oklahoma, have fared much more favorably against ranked teams and seen greater postseason results.
Florida, the two-time defending champions went 68-21 against ranked opponents during the regular season between 2011 and 2015, a .687 win percentage.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma has gone 48-36 versus such competition, a .571 win percentage, and has appeared in four of the last five Women’s College World Series, last winning in 2013.
UCLA is currently 1-1 against ranked opponents this season, after defeating UCF and then losing to LSU this past weekend at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
If there is a silver lining though, it is that the Bruins have been trending upward the last couple of years against ranked opponents. Over the past two seasons, they are 27-14 during the regular season against these teams.
This success against heightened competition has yielded greater results during the playoffs. Last season, UCLA made the Women’s College World Series for the first time since 2010, winning in the first round before losing to Michigan and Auburn in the second.
Winning against ranked teams moving forward will be essential for the Bruins if they hope to make a return to the Women’s College World Series in 2016. UCLA’s toughest challenge yet will come this week against a tough slate of ranked opponents in No. 1 Florida, No. 8 Georgia and No. 12 Oklahoma.
Compiled by Louie Greenwald, Bruin Sports contributor.