Less than four weeks after UCLA's biggest victory of the Coach Karl Dorrell era, the Bruins will get a chance to make a statement for next season with Wednesday night's game against Florida State in the Emerald Bowl at AT&T Park.

A victory would give UCLA an 8-5 record and a four-game winning streak to finish the year. But more important, a win probably would land the Bruins a spot in the top 25 heading into the 2007 season.

"If we win this game, with a number of guys coming back next year, we should be looked upon favorably in the conference as being a factor next year," said Dorrell of the Bruins, who gained national attention with their upset win Dec. 2 over Rose Bowl-bound USC.

But a loss against the 6-6 Seminoles also would make a statement for the Bruins, who have struggled with consistency since Dorrell took over the program four years ago.

"If we lose this game, then the SC game meant nothing," UCLA junior middle linebacker Christian Taylor said. "To me, that's the biggest thing. We've won our last few games, but if we lose our last game of the season, we're not going in the right direction heading into the off-season.

"It can be a wake-up call, but it's not what you want. It's not good for anything. ... It's not good for notoriety. It's not good for preseason rankings. It's not good for recruiting. It's not good for the overall mentality of your program."