2013 UCLA Football Opponents

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Unlike most college football teams, UCLA still has one more meaningful game in 2012 with a tilt against Stanford in rainy Palo Alto coming up on Friday.

But given the success UCLA’s had this season — ending the campaign with nine wins, bowl game and Pac-12 title game excluded — it’s easy to look ahead to next year to see how good this squad could be.

Because UCLA football will be tested in 2013. Here’s the rotation, via Ted Miller at ESPN:

HOME GAMES

Nevada

Arizona State

California

Colorado

Washington

New Mexico State

AWAY GAMES

Oregon

Arizona

USC

Stanford

Utah

Nebraska

***

Overall, this is a hell of a schedule. The home games are easy; Steve Sarkisian will be on his last leg at UW, Arizona State could fall apart under Todd Graham after a shaky first year, Nevada and New Mexico State are easy opponents, and Cal and Colorado will be under new head coaches.

It’s the road schedule that should make fans weary. Not only do the Bruins play in the Coliseum next year, but they’ll also play in loud Eugene against what should be a national title contender, again, in the Oregon Ducks. Meanwhile, a road tilt against Nebraska in Lincoln will be a serious challenge, while Stanford and Arizona will likely fight for a spot atop the upper-third of the conference. Utah seems like the easiest road contest but Rice-Eccles Stadium is no joke and it’s the loudest stadium outside of the state of Oregon.

It’ll be an interesting season in 2013, but there are still games to be played in 2012, so let’s worry about this some other time, yeah?