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Most of us UCLA fans dread this time of year. Baseball has reverted to its pre-Savage form and didn't qualify for postseason play. Yes, the women's team brought home a tennis championship, which is fantastic. Other teams came oh-so-close but couldn't get it done (we have finished second waaay too many times lately). But for Football, ironically, it is a time of hope and excitement. The attention is at a level not seen in over a decade, and the team had better capitalize on it because the media is as fickle as a high school recruit. Here are the latest news and notes on UCLA Football.
Let's start with none other than our QB extraordinaire, who got to sit down with Kirk Herbstreit at Spaulding for a chat:
ESPN in the house. @KirkHerbstreit interviewing @BrettHundley17 at Spaulding Field today #Hundley4Heisman pic.twitter.com/nI8m5Shfzt
— UCLA Athletics (@UCLAAthletics) May 28, 2014
I guess Pete Carroll was not available. Oh well, looking forward to seeing that segment.
Moving on to our QB of the future, 2015 recruit Josh Rosen is making some noise. After an impressive spring, Rosen has risen (heh heh heh) to become the No.1 QB in the country, according to Scout. Future Trojan ballroom dancer Ricky Town, the former No.1, has been downgraded after a so-so spring. I hope he gets used to the feeling.
We don't condone betting here, but the Vegas odds are a good gauge of a team's prospects (and are often eerily accurate). Jack Wang takes a look at one of the betting sites, which gives UCLA the 8th best chance to make it to the 4-team playoffs. Sounds reasonable but I hope it's wrong! Chris Dufresne at the LA Times also comments on this but he couldn't resist taking a jab at UCLA so he won't get a link.
Carrying on with predictions, here is one site that tries to predict where College Game Day will be held. UCLA could be on the docket twice, with games at the Rose Bowl against Oregon and against Southern Cal. The prognosticator seems to think that the game against the Trogans could have "significant implications on the post-season". I think he forgot to say "for UCLA only".
The guys over at the ESPN blog have a power ranking for the Pac-12 football teams, following all the spring camps and other developments. UCLA checks in at no. 2 behind Oregon, with Stanford on our tail.
On the other hand, their colleagues don't seem to think much of UCLA when they made their way-too-early bowl projections. They've got Oregon getting into the playoffs, Stanford going to the Fiesta Bowl, and UCLA to the Alamo Bowl. That would be interesting, since in their view that would mean that going to the Pac-12 championship game and losing relegates you to the Alamo Bowl, while not making it there gets you to the Fiesta Bowl. Whatever!
Meanwhile, if you have the stomach for it, you can head over to the always awesome blog Every Day Should Be Saturday, to take a look at their worst case scenarios for the Pac-12. When they say worst case, they really mean apocalyptic, end of humanity worst case. It'll give you shivers...
Finally, a great article from SI.com on one of our favorite Bruins, Rahim Moore. If you don't know the story yet, this will give you goose bumps. Let's just say that we are all fortunate to still be able to watch Rahim play football, and he is grateful for a lot more than that.
Carry on, brothers and sisters. Go Bruins!