With college football season on the horizon, ESPN Chalk's college football experts -- Phil Steele, "Stanford Steve" Coughlin and Chris Fallica -- combine to give you betting previews of the top 25 teams, according to the ESPN College Football Rankings. They break down each team's strengths and weaknesses, along with season win total bets and national title odds.
Odds from Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook as of Aug. 22.
UCLA Bruins
National title odds: 60-1 (opened 30-1)
Season win total: 8.5
FPI win total projection: 9.0
Phil Steele
Strengths: Quarterback Josh Rosen is one of the best in the country and will likely be the first player picked in the 2018 NFL draft. The Bruins' defense was hurt by injuries last year, but it gets back defensive lineman Eddie Vanderdoes and nine other returning starters. Seven of their positional units are among the top of my rankings.
Weaknesses: UCLA has only
Over/under (8.5): The Bruins are my pick to win the Pac-12 South, and they avoid Oregon and Washington out of the North. I have them favored in nine games with two tossups and a 'dog in only one game. They can suffer upsets twice and still go over the 8.5 total.
National title (60-1): The odds opened at 30-1 but have risen to 60-1. I see 30-1 as fair odds, so 60-1 is definitely worth a play. They have a great shot at being a one-loss Pac-12 champ, and that would put them in the CFB Playoff.
"Stanford Steve" Coughlin
O/U: Oh, the boys in baby blue from L.A. -- how will they let their fans down this year? They have the golden boy, Josh Rosen, coming back at QB and other teams in the conference will start first-year guys at the position, like Stanford, Oregon, USC, Arizona State and Utah to name a few. The Bruins don't have to play Oregon or Washington from the vaunted Pac-12 North, either. It's amazing how these L.A. schools have lucked out with the schedule since Utah and Colorado have joined the conference.
The issue is two of the nonconference games the Bruins play in September, opening the season against an extremely hungry Texas A&M and then playing at BYU on Sept. 17, which always seems like one of the weird vibe games. Cougars fans get all riled up when they get a school from the "Conference of Champions" to come to Provo.
Jim Mora's toughest conference road game will be at Washington State in mid-October. However, I'll say Rosen is good enough and the Bruins make the Pac-12 title game, ultimately winning the Pac-12 South and handling the over.
Chris Fallica
O/U: Only once in Jim Mora's four years have the Bruins won fewer than nine regular-season games, and that was last year when the team was decimated by injuries. Well, Eddie Vanderdoes and Fabian Moreau are back, and along with Kenny Young, should make the Bruins' defense one of the better units in the Pac-12. Expect Josh Rosen to take a big step forward in his sophomore year and lead the Bruins to the Pac-12 South title. UCLA's schedule is about as good as it could be in the Pac-12. The Bruins host USC, Utah and Stanford, and avoid Washington and Oregon from the North. There are two tough nonconference games at Texas A&M and BYU to navigate, but I will say 9-3 worst case.
CFB Playoff odds: Logic seems to indicate the Pac-12 champ might again have two losses, as there appears to be little separating the best teams in the conference. But what if the Bruins win at A&M in the season opener and make it through the Pac-12 with only one loss? The only Pac-12 game in which UCLA has less than a 65 percent chance to win is the USC game. You could do a lot worse than be holding UCLA at 60-1 with the amount of talent the Bruins have.