Go Joe Bruin
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UCLA Baseball: Go Joe Bruin’s 2019 season preview

By Nathan Eberhardt

OMAHA, NE - JUNE 29: Head coach John Savage of the UCLA Bruins watches batting practice before game 2 of the men's 2010 NCAA College Baseball World Series against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Rosenblatt Stadium on June 29, 2010 in Omaha, Nebraska. The Gamecocks defeated the Bruins 2-1 in eleven innings to win the National Championship. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
OMAHA, NE - JUNE 29: Head coach John Savage of the UCLA Bruins watches batting practice before game 2 of the men's 2010 NCAA College Baseball World Series against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Rosenblatt Stadium on June 29, 2010 in Omaha, Nebraska. The Gamecocks defeated the Bruins 2-1 in eleven innings to win the National Championship. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Expectations

Nationally, Vanderbilt, LSU, and Texas Tech are getting national title buzz. Florida and North Carolina are also perennial contenders.

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Most observers actually think that the top twelve teams in the country all have a realistic shot to win the national championship. This is a wide open year in college baseball with an unusual number of very talented teams.

This UCLA team can reasonably set a top eight finish as a goal, being in a position to host a super regional. Anything in the top 16, really, and hosting a regional at the end of the year has to be considered a worthy accomplishment, just because of how many other good teams there are. Short of that, and I think we’re talking about missed opportunities.

If the season goes well, the Bruins have at least a one-in-three chance of making it to Omaha, and you have to consider them no less likely than any other contender to finish with the trophy.

Either way, this will be a fun year because this is a good team with a great offense. Good teams are fun to watch regardless, but good offensive teams are that much more so.

* Special thanks to Ryan Rosenblatt, from whose interview on the UCLA B-Team Podcast most of this insight is taken. Click HERE to listen to the UCLA Baseball Preview episode.