Well, if you can't win a conference title for 25 years, maybe it is time to switch leagues. So it goes for UCLA, which probably won't do worse when it moves to the Big Ten next year than it has across the past quarter-century in the Pac-12, which it hasn't won or represented in the Rose Bowl since the 1998 campaign. It was brief break into daylight back then for the Bruins and head coach Bob Toledo, who would string together an improbable 20-game win streak across two seasons before the wheels came off just before the Bruins were about to qualify for a title game appearance vs. Tennessee.
There's been nothing remotely resembling that streak of success since, though UCLA has finally begun to make some headway for Chip Kelly. His Westwood tenure got off to a very slow start before picking up some steam over the past two seasons, during which he's recorded combined 17-8 mark. Though it hasn't been quite as easy as it was for Kelly a decade-plus ago at Oregon, he seems to have finally figured out the modern landscape, embracing the portal and yearly roster churn as a way of life in present-day college football. That's not the easiest thing to do with the Bruins, whose entrance requirements have caused various staffs to jump through many recruiting hoops for a generation. But it's been a steady improvement for Kelly, to the point his offense a year ago began to resemble some of his high-octane engines in Eugene...
Bruce Marshall's full breakdown of UCLA's 2023 outlook, which includes how he's playing their win total, can be found below as part of SportsLine's preview of the Pac-12 season.
Pac-12 preview: Conference winner | Arizona | Arizona State | California | Colorado | Oregon | Oregon State | Stanford | UCLA | USC | Utah | Washington | Washington State
What do you need to know about UCLA before locking in your Pac-12 futures bets? And which side of their win total makes for the best play? ... Join SportsLine right now to see Pac-12 futures betting strategy from a veteran college football expert!
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