The Westgate Las Vegas Superbook has released the odds for every Pac-12 team to win the conference in 2018 and UCLA football is not exactly a favorite.
The 2018 season will be the first for the UCLA football team and Chip Kelly, so like all coaching transitions, success will be obtainable, but it will take some time.
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That seems to be the case according to the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook who have the Bruins at 40/1 odds to win the Pac-12 this coming season, the 7th best odds among all conference teams.
Odds to win Pac-12 via @LVSuperBook:
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 8, 2018
Washington 5/9
USC 4/1
Stanford 9/2
Oregon 8/1
Arizona, Utah 15/1
UCLA 40/1
Arizona State, Colorado 50/1
Cal, Washington State 80/1
Oregon State 500/1
The favorite is Washington (5/9) who will be starting their fifth season with Chris Petersen. The Huskies return a lot guys on both sides of the ball, so if things pan out, UW could also be in the national spotlight.
USC (4/1) has the best odds to win as a team from the South Division and its not even close. Though the Trojans lose their starting QB, RB and WR, they continue to reload and should be most pundit’s choice to win the division.
The next best odds from the South were given to both Arizona and Utah (15/1). So does this mean the Wildcats and Utes will be better than the Bruins? Not exactly. This seems to be more of a safe bet than anything else.
The common thread binding everyone’s analysis of UCLA is that not a single critic can pinpoint what will unfold in Kelly’s first year. They could be good or bad. Neither would surprise a single soul.
Still, this is a transition season and one that Kelly will use to build off of as he constructs his new program.
Next: UCLA Football: 10 bold predictions for the 2018 season
Though the Bruins might not win the Pac-12 in Year 1, there is a good chance they will have better odds by the same time next year.