... based on bill connelly's "SP+" metric scheme.
Ucla is 13th or 14th in the first two charts in the article.
Last year, we saw Ucla struggle early, but get better mid-year and then plateau as the team found its level (as all the other teams found their level, too)
I won't be surprised if this 2025 Ucla team experiences something similar, which is:
1. Struggle out of the gate, because these guys just haven't faced a lot of live fire together as a unit. Some guys have played a lot. But few guys have played a lot with the specific guys to their left and right. The fog of war will be a problem
2. Eventually, smart, talented, hard working guys will figure it out and produce some games where they put it all together.
3. Extraordinary teams get better and better in the last quarter of the season, like tOSU did last year. I don't expect this Ucla team to trajectory like that. Maybe next year's team will, if 95% of the key players return and 100% of the critical players return and Ucla is able to have another good portal season.