2008 UCLA Bruins College Football Predictions Courtesy of Alex Smart, An Expert College Football Handicapper featured on Touthouse.com. If you are betting college football this year, be sure to buy Alex Smart’s college football predictions each week and guarantee a winning season!!

UCLA Bruins (6-7, 5-4 in 2007, 4th place in Pac 10)
After Karl Dorrell’s fourth mediocre season in his five years at coaching UCLA, he was let go and will be replaced by new HC Rick Neuheisel, who boasts a 66-30 coaching record that has been overshadowed by scandals at both Colorado and Washington. 2007 however did see some success as UCLA beat two schools ranked in the Top 10 when they met in California and Oregon.

Offensive Outlook: This offense suffered a devastating blow during spring practice when both QB’s from 2007, Patrick Cowan and Ben Olson, got hurt on the same day. Cowan’s season is sadly done as he tore his ACL, while Olson is still a question mark after breaking a bone in his foot. Only one starter from 2007 returns to the offensive line, G Micah Reed, and a projected starter got hurt in a freak ATV accident and will miss the 2008 season. The good news is that Neuheisel was able to get one of the best offensive minds in the game to be his OC in Norm Chow.

Defensive Outlook: The Bruins only return five starters to a defense that gave up 22.3 PPG last season. This group also loses their three top tacklers from last season in Dennis Keyes, Chris Horton, and Christian Taylor. In 2008, the brother tandem of DE Korey Bosworth and LB Kyle Bosworth will be asked to lead the way for the Bruins defense.

2008 Outlook: The Bruins have a formidable non-conference schedule with home games against Tennessee and Fresno State and a road date at BYU. Interestingly, the Bruins are one of a handful of teams that will not play back-to-back road games in 2008 and this will help keep legs fresh for games. New coach Rick Neuheisel is already playing an interesting game of cat and mouse with USC HC Pete Carroll and their meeting on December 6 should be more interesting than usual. 

2008 will be a success if: The Bruins can overcome only returning nine starters and find someone to give them stability at the quarterback position and lead the team to a bowl appearance and a winning record.

Prediction: 5-7, 7th place in Pac-10