UCLA Football: 5 bold predictions for the Bruins in 2017

No. 3 – UCLA goes winless on the road in conference play

The Bruins went 0-5 on the road against PAC-12 team sin 2016. That included questionable losses at Arizona State and Cal. It’s hard to compete for a divisional title when you aren’t winning at least a handful of games on the road. Unfortunately for the Bruins the schedule does them no favors this year.

Their first road game of the year comes against a strong Memphis team. That game could go either way, but ESPN FPI gives the Bruins a slight nod. Even if they win that game, that won’t count towards their win total in conference play.

Here’s how the PAC-12 road slate sets up for UCLA in 2017:

Sep. 23 @ Stanford
Oct. 14 @ Arizona
Oct. 28 @ Washington
Nov. 3 @ Utah
Nov. 17 @ USC

It would be more than excusable for the Bruins to drop road contests to Stanford, Washington and USC. All three of those teams were ranked in the top 15 of preseason polls. That leaves two contests to make this predictions come true: at Arizona and at Utah.

Arizona finds itself at a crossroad as a program. Their defense was, at best, inadequate last year and head coach Rich Rodriguez finds himself squarely on the hot seat. He needs a handful of major wins to keep his job. Winning a shootout with the Bruins is well within the realm of possibility.

Then comes the Utah. The Utes beat the Bruins last season and have historically been a tough out on their home turf. A winless season on the road is sounds more and more plausible.