Bruin Hoops is right around the corner. And, you may not be able to tell from our football heavy postings (joys of being an all around school, unlike some one dimensional football factories community colleges pretending to be institution of higher learning), we are fired up about Ben Howland and the upcoming hoops season. Anyways, we got a really nice email from Chris Dortch over at BlueRibbon, who requested us to get the word out on their Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. They have the Bruins at. No 21. Keep in mind before the football season started Blue Ribbon was one of the only national publications out there, who along with the BruinsNation, saw the potential of the talent in our football program. If you need a reminder, here is a post of mine from July 15:
Rick (Vegas):What's up with UCLA No. 2 in the Pac-10? Are they that good? Who's playing quarterback?
Chris Dortch: We liked the Bruins' schedule. They play just five road games, and host Cal and Arizona State, which finished second and third in the league last year. Drew Olson didn't participate in spring practice while rehabbing his knee, but I think the coaches are banking on his return. A couple of red-shirt freshmen, Patrick Cowan and Ben Olson, might have to be called upon if Drew Olson can't go. And then there's David Koral, a senior who did a decent job subbing for Olson in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Ryan (Tampa, FL): Who wins on Sept 17th. Oklahoma or UCLA? I figure with UCLA fielding a tough team, and the game being in LA, OU could suffer a letdown.
Chris Dortch: Ryan. We think that way, too. We've got high regard for UCLA, particularly if Drew Olson can come back strong after knee surgery.
Mike (Reno, NV): Sorry to criticize but there is no way that your Pac-10 predictions weren't done while you were drinking. UCLA is pathetic on offense. Oregon and Arizona State are notch below USC but a notch above everybody else. Cal, OSU, UCLA and WSU all have way to many question marks
Chris Dortch: Mike, I promise nary a drop of strong drink was consumed while making that pick. I can tell you that at Blue Ribbon, we do our best, with our hoops book as well as our football book, to kind of project a bit and find a team that might exceed expectations. For reasons too numerous to mention here, we think UCLA will surprise.
As always, to read up on more on Bruins' preseason hoop rankings check out JD's hoopscoop.
GO BRUINS.