UCLA Basketball: Predicting the conference record for 2017-18

Week of Jan. 17-21: (2-0)

at Oregon—WIN

at Oregon State—WIN

The prevailing theme of these predictions so far is that most Pac-12 teams lost a lot of players. Oregon is no different. They went 33-5 and split the regular season title with Oregon but lose five key players from that team. Dana Altman will figure some things out but UCLA Basketball prevails here.

Week of Jan. 24-28: (2-0)

vs. Cal—WIN

vs. Stanford—WIN

Week of Jan. 31 – Feb. 4: (0-1)

vs. USC—LOSS

Coming off one of their most successful seasons in a while (26-10), USC is one of the few Pac-12 frontrunners that did not lose a key player to the NBA draft or graduation. Chimezie Metu, Bennie Boatwright, Elijah Stewart, Jordan McLaughlin, De’Anthony Melton and Jonah Matthews all came back. Charles O’Bannon Jr. committed to play in Los Angeles and Derryck Thornton transferred from Duke. The talent, depth and continuity in this team make Southern Cal the early favorites to win the Pac-12. Let’s see if Andy Enfield and company can make good on that promise.

Week of Feb. 7-11: (1-1)

at Arizona—LOSS

Arizona only plays UCLA once next season. That alone is a travesty. Factor in that UCLA Basketball will be on the road for their lone matchup and  the set up favors the Wildcats. The McKale Center is one of the toughest venues to play in and the crowd is always extra salty whenever UCLA rolls into town. Expect the Bruins’ key freshmen to struggle.

at Arizona State—WIN