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UCLA Baseball Multimedia 2018 Season Preview

By Nathan Eberhardt

OMAHA, NE - JUNE 25: Head coach John Savage of the UCLA Bruins stands in the dugout before playing the Mississippi State Bulldogs during game two of the College World Series Finals on June 25, 2013 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
OMAHA, NE - JUNE 25: Head coach John Savage of the UCLA Bruins stands in the dugout before playing the Mississippi State Bulldogs during game two of the College World Series Finals on June 25, 2013 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /
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OMAHA, NE – JUNE 25: Starting pitcher Nick Vander Tuig
OMAHA, NE – JUNE 25: Starting pitcher Nick Vander Tuig /

Projections

Most outlets are pre-season ranking the Bruins between 10th and 15th nationally and second in the Pac-12. The Bruins’ main conference competition is likely to be a very good Stanford team and an absolute juggernaut of an Oregon State team. Winning the conference outright would be nice, but is admittedly a tall order.

With regard to the postseason, the Bruins should absolutely expect to make a Regional – this season will be a significant disappointment if they don’t. Their goal should be to host one by finishing in the top 16. And it’s not at all unreasonable to hope they can finish in the top 8 and be in line to host a Super Regional as well.

As 2015 showed, anything can happen in an elimination tournament, so what happens after the regular season is always hard to predict. The best UCLA can do is perform in the regular season such that they give themselves the best odds of success come June. This team is equipped to do just that.