UCLA Football: The Bruins Are Given a Surprising Ranking in the Preseason AP Poll
The inaugural AP Poll has been released and the UCLA Football team is ranked 16th in the nation.
With the college football season two weeks away, the preseason AP Poll has been released and for UCLA Football, it is a vote of confidence for a team that went 8-5 last season.
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The Bruins will be heading into their season opener on September 16 at Texas A&M (who was not ranked, though did receive enough votes to be two spots out of the Top 25), as the 16th ranked team in the nation.
This is in stark contrast to the USA Today Coaches Poll (which seems to have become obsolete in the age of the College Football Playoffs) which has the Bruins at the #24 in the nation. In reality, none of these polls matter as they are subjective in terms of what the voters think of the top teams in the FBS.
Still, it should definitely act as a confidence booster for the Bruins who ended the 2015 season on a two-game losing streak.
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Despite the late season stumble, the UCLA Football team is expected to be much improved this season and even predicted to win the Pac-12 South Division.
Though there are parts of the game that worry fans (a thin offensive line, penalties, a switch to a new offensive system), there are a lot of positives going into the new season.
The Bruins return QB Josh Rosen who had a record-breaking year in 2015, they get back one-man defensive powerhouse DT Eddie Vanderdoes, they return one of the top secondaries in the Pac-12 (possibly the nation) and have a ton of talent at running back with Soso Jamabo, Nate Starks and Bolu Olorunfunmi.
Regardless of what happened last season, it is in the past. Looking forward, the upcoming season looks to be a good one for the Bruins.
The Pac-12 was also well represented in the AP Poll as four other teams made the Top 25: #8 Stanford, #14 Washington, #20 USC and #24 Oregon.
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The Top 5 is as follows:#1 Alabama, #2 Clemson, #3 Oklahoma, #4 Florida State and #5 LSU.