In Reply to: Rothstein has us #4 posted by mh on April 26, 2025 at 09:21:25
Last year, UCLA started on Torvik at #25 and ended up #18. Similarly, on kenpom.com, the Bruins started at #28 and ended #20. Except for 2024, Cronin's Bruin teams have improved on their preseason computer rankings every year.
If you count Brandon Williams, UCLA has 4 returning starters (14 games in 2024). He showed a lot of promise. I'm very interested to see what the redshirt year did for him.
Still, I think a top-10 ranking is pretty optimistic at this point, just on the strength of Donovan Dent. OTOH, Dent averaged 20 points last year, while Dylan Andrews averaged 7 and Mara averaged 6. It seems reasonable to suggest the Bruins could average 4 more points per game on offense, which would put them in the kenpom.com top-10 based on last years results, so it's not wildly out of the question.
B1G teams:
#2 Purdue
#5 Michigan
#7 UCLA
#11 Michigan State
#18 Ohio State
#19 Illinois
#21 USC
#25 Wisconsin
#28 Iowa
#33 Indiana
#37 Maryland
#38 Nebraska
#48 Washington
#53 Oregon
#62 Northwestern
#81 Penn State
#89 Minnesota
#96 Rutgers
I doubt our cross-town rival ends up anywhere near #21 (and I doubt Arenas will play, unfortunately). I also doubt Oregon is anywhere near as bad as #53.