UCLA Football: Stanford opens up as favorites against the Bruins

It is once again time for one of the toughest games on the UCLA Football team’s schedule as the Bruins prepare for Stanford and as expected, the Cardinal is favored to win.

Well here we go again. The UCLA Football team is in a tough portion of their schedule and it does not get any easier as they next travel to Stanford.

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If you know about the recent UCLA-Stanford battles, then you know that the Cardinal have dominated for the last nine games. It seems like many believe they will continue their win streak over the Bruins this weekend as Stanford has opened as a -9.5 point favorite.

UCLA had momentum going in against Memphis, but mistakes from Josh Rosen and the defense allowed the Tigers to outlast the Bruins in a 48-45 victory. With this loss, UCLA has deflated in the eyes of the national media a bit and is no longer the NCAA darlings they were the last two weeks.

Even the voters in the AP Poll lost faith in UCLA. Not only did they drop from the Top 25, but they did not receive a single vote. The Bruins had collected votes in the weeks before all three of their games this season.

Stanford is also having a rough start to the 2017 season as they are 1-2 after losses to USC and San Diego State the last two weekends.

This is the most interesting game in a while for the Bruins and Cardinal. Not only are neither teams ranked, but both have a lot of problems they have to solve. That means their could be a little bit of fire inside both teams, making this a key Pac-12 matchup.

Next: Bruins drop out of Top 25

Still there is a reason why the Cardinal is being given -9.5 to open. Until UCLA and Jim Mora can actually beat Stanford, they will most likely enter every game against the Cardinal as an underdog.