Jan. 14, 2026, 2:06 p.m. PT

UCLA baseball is an impressive college baseball program. The Bruins have won only one College World Series championship 2013 along with eight regional championships but for the first time in program history, UCLA will enter the season as D1Baseball’s No. 1 team.

It’s fitting that the Bruins enter the year at No. 1, the team has the potential first overall pick in the MLB draft with shortstop Roch Cholowsky. UCLA won the Big Ten Conference regular season championship in 2025, making it as far as the College World Series before bowing out after losing to LSU and Arkansas.

D1Baseball had UCLA as high as No. 10 in their rankings last season but after the Bruins retained the talent on their roster, and managed to keep their recruits from heading to the MLB draft, UCLA is the team to beat heading into the 2026 season.

The head coach remains the same for the Bruins, with John Savage having led the program since 2005. Savage has had a record of 724-481-2 with the Bruins, with just five losing seasons in his 21 years on the job. 

The Bruins entered the 2021 season as the No. 2 team in the nation but that underperformed a bit, going just 37-20. This UCLA team returns most of their talent from their 2025 team, bringing back eight of their everyday position players and most of their pitching staff from their 48-18 squad from a season ago.

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UCLA has the talent on-hand to compete for another College World Series championship but it’ll take more than just their preseason rankings to get it done. The Bruins start their season next month, hosting UC San Diego for a three-game set beginning on February 13th.