It’s winter quarter and BruinWalk is populated by zombies. OK, so maybe it’s just the UCLA student population having just rolled out of bed and finding their way to class.
But with the annual knock-down, 10-week battle that is the worst quarter of them all, also comes a new year.
2011 is here and the Wooden Center is filled with New Year’s Resolution-ers. I prefer to just skip the four-day lie to myself that I’m going to get in shape this year and do something else instead: make predictions.
I don’t claim to be a fortune teller, but I’ll do my best to put on my Professor Marvel turban and give my thoughts on things that will happen by the time we ring in 2012 (hopefully without Snooki or Ke$ha).
As a disclaimer, I reserve the right to eat crow at any point during the course of 2011.
The UCLA football team will win eight games and win the Holiday Bowl
I see coach Rick Neuheisel re-imagining his team’s offensive scheme with the help of offensive coordinator Norm Chow on their way to a second-place finish in the Pac-12’s southern division.
This will be the year that Bruin fans wanted to see last season.
Recruit Brett Hundley will start and become a consistent performer at quarterback
It’s hard to imagine a UCLA football season in which the Bruins don’t have to play their third-string quarterback, but this is going to be it.
Hundley will wow the coaches in spring practice and secure the starting job early in fall camp. There will be some bumps in the road, as there are with any true freshman quarterback, but the Rose Bowl game might just be able to leave one of the endzones blue and gold in the near future.
Rick Neuheisel will remain the head football coach
Although this year’s recruiting class doesn’t quite live up to the previous classes Neuheisel has reeled in, he doesn’t need them to. There’s plenty of young, undeveloped talent on this team for Neuheisel to groom. He can do that and will keep his job and turn UCLA into a consistent winner.
UCLA basketball will make the NCAA tournament and win a game
If one thing was borne out over winter break, it was that Ben Howland’s Bruins have the potential to be a very dangerous team. With so much room for freshman center Joshua Smith to improve and sophomore forwards Reeves Nelson and Tyler Honeycutt gelling, the UCLA name will score them points with the selection committee in the newly-expanded, 68-team tournament.
The Pauley Pavilion construction project will get pushed back
Just like every other construction project at UCLA, the Pauley construction project will run into some delays, ensuring that it will not open in time for the 2012 basketball season. This will make for a big, ugly mess for the UCLA public relations crew to clean up.
UCLA baseball will get back to Omaha
Unlike the 2008 season in which the Bruins were ranked No. 1 in some polls and ended up falling to Cal State Fullerton in the NCAA regionals, this year’s highly-ranked bunch is ready for the big stage.
If you want to see some Major League caliber pitching for a bargain, head over to Jackie Robinson Stadium on a Friday or Saturday night in February to catch All-American junior righties Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer dominate the competition.
Cut this out and save it if you like and proceed to check in on the accuracy of these picks throughout 2011. Be sure to e-mail me when I get all of these wrong. I know you will.
Strong co-hosts the Daily Bruin Sports Show, which airs every Monday at 6:30 p.m. on uclaradio.com. E-mail him at sstrong@media.ucla.edu.