The UCLA Football team has been picked 3rd in the South Division in the Pac-12 Media Poll, so what does this mean for the Bruins heading into the season.
Media Polls are not always accurate, but they do give some insight into how teams will lineup at season’s end. Today, the Pac-12 Media Poll was released before Pac-12 Media Day and your UCLA Football team was picked to finish 3rd in the South Division. Is this a fair assessment?
RELATED: UCLA picked to finish 3rd in South Division
The Bruins had a disastrous season in 2016 as they lost quarterback Josh Rosen halfway through the season and ended up going 4-8 with an offense that did not fit as the Bruins tried to go to a more power-based scheme.
In the off-season, Head Coach Jim Mora ripped his system apart and started over again as he hired Jedd Fisch away from Michigan to take over his offense.
Though there is hope with the offense going forward, it does not take away the sting from last season. But there is some hope as UCLA is expected to finish better in their own division, at least according to the Pac-12 Media.
For the 33rd time in conference history, USC is predicted to win the 2017 #Pac12FB title! More: https://t.co/eDgEfgjnQ5 pic.twitter.com/nTH2y5AByY
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) July 26, 2017
The Bruins fall behind both USC and Utah in the South, two teams the Bruins play on the road this season. UCLA, for all intents and purposes, has a brutal schedule in 2017. Other away games for the Bruins will be at Washington and Stanford, which means that UCLA will be playing the top four projected teams in the Pac-12 Media Poll on their home turf. Brutal.
Luckily, the Bruins will play four teams projected to finish in the bottom half of their division at the Rose Bowl, so at least there is some kind of break.
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Still, the Bruins are going to have to have a miraculous season if they expect to win the South Division for the first time since Mora started in Westwood. Stanford and Utah will be a handful to begin with, but to try and take down the projected division winners will be nearly impossible unless the UCLA coaching staff can make a huge turnaround.