Southern view: UCLA 11-1, probably in the Rose Bowl

Bruinsnation.com carried a link (which they have credited to DumpDorrell.com) to a deep site on college football, basketball and other sports, SouthernCollegeSports.com. SCS is in the midst of analyzing each major conference and projecting final standings.

For the Pac-10, SCS sees USC at 12-0 and the Bruins second at 11-1, meaning UCLA would be 11-0 going into the USC game at the Coliseum! In fact, the Bruins are, in SCS’s view, the key to the whole conference in 2007:

"Key #1 is to find out if UCLA really is ready to challenge city rival USC for the conference title. The Bruins return 20 starters from the group that defeated USC in the season finale, but then fell asleep in the bowl game, falling 44-27 to Florida State. The Bruins will try their 4th offensive coordinator in 5 seasons in order to jump start an offense that ranked 71st in the nation last year."

And here’s the relevant piece of their analysis of the UCLA season:

"IF EVERYTHING GOES WELL . . . The Bruins enter the final week of the season unbeaten heading into their game versus USC with a berth in the national championship game on the line. The healthy return of Ben Olson sparks a solid offense into becoming a great offense, and the experienced offensive line allows for running back Chris Markey to have a huge season. The defense is one of the best units in the country led by an overpowering defensive line.

"IF THINGS DON'T GO SO WELL . . . The offense does not improve as expected and a potential great season quickly turns into a disappointment with the Bruins winning 7 or 8 games and heading to another mid-tier bowl appearance. A repeat of last year’s 16 touchdown and 14 interception ratio from the quarterback position constantly puts the Bruin defense in bad field position, robbing the unit of its great potential."

The site’s projections have USC at 12-0, followed by 11-1 UCLA, Oregon and Cal at 8-4, then Arizona State and Oregon State at 7-5. Projected all-conference Bruins include Shannon Tevaga on offense and Bruce Davis, Brigham Harwell and Chris Horton on defense.

SCS’s bottom line: "The teams that have the strongest defensive units can separate themselves from the rest of the conference, with USC and UCLA appearing to have the best groups, setting up a predicted conference title bout on December 1st. "

Comments

[LuvDaBlu22]

11-1? If they go 11-0, the powder blues will thump the T-men at the 'seum! 22-17! Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

[Peter]

I think UCLA will probably be 10-1 going into the Coliseum with a loss on the road, most likely at Wash St. This team should be good, but with this coach undefeated is a pipe dream.