Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated is writing interesting articles these days … and they get talked about. Remember Mandel was the one who said Dorrell was one of the 5 worst coaches in college football and that the West Coast Offense was too complicated and not right for college. Yesterday, Mandel divided Div 1A teams into a class structure, based on power and prestige, and it’s generating talk. He used Kings for the top class, Barons as second tier class, and then Knights and Peasants to round out the pecking order. He puts UCLA football in the Baron class along with Auburn, Clemson, Colorado, Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, Washington and Wisconsin. In the top tier King class he has, Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas and USC. Interesting read. We can do better.

We have been chronicling the releases of 2007 college football pre-season rankings by various services since the beginning of the year. Now that most have come in, we summarize them for you here along with other notable prognostications and public comments about Dorrell and the season. We are going to just list rankings by source, descending from the highest ranking on down and then bullet the other items of note following that. If you see anything you think we should add let us know.

10 - Sporting News - "UCLA gave Dorrell another year on the new deal he signed a year ago, guaranteeing him through 2011. But that doesn't mean his seat won't warm up if the Bruins sputter."

11 - College Football News - "If everything comes together this might be one of the 5 best teams in America."

11 - MSNBC - "The Bruins are on the upswing - finally - with 20 returning starters and a realistic shot at earning a BCS bowl bid."

11 - Washington Post - "With a national-best 20 starters returning for this season, became a chic preseason selection."

13 - CBS Sportsline - "Karl Dorrell needs to go to shells and shorts in August. Twenty starters are back. Why risk injury?"

14 - Associated Press - UCLA ranked #14 behind #12 California and #1 SuC.

15 - Athlon Sports - "The arrival of DeWayne Walker from the NFL coaching ranks as defensive coordinator was just what the doctor ordered."

17 - USA Today - UCLA ranked #17 nationally, behind #11 Cal and #1 SuC.

17 - Street & Smith - UCLA ranked #17 nationally, behind #11 Cal and #1 SuC.

20 - Dallas Star Telegram - "UCLA should have enough talent to stay near the top of the Pac-10."

20 - ESPN - "This will be a very important season for coach Karl Dorrell, who seemed to be on his way out until UCLA upset rival USC."

21 - Phil Steele - UCLA ranked #21 nationally, behind #18 Oregon and #1 SuC.

22 - Lindy Sports - "If the Bruins could be trusted to be more consistent, the ranking would be even higher."

23 - Vegas Oddsmakers - Tied for #23 with Tennesse, Texas A&M and the Field (any other team)

24 - Sports Illustrated - "Now, 20 starters return. It's time for Karl Dorell's team to take it to the next level."

28 - Jim Feist - "There are high hopes for 2007 with 10 starters back on both sides of the ball."

Unranked - Rivals - UCLA among "others receiving votes." Cal ranked #15, SuC #1.

Unranked - Blue Ribbon Yearbook - "The Bruins look a lot like a six- or seven-win team that finishes anywhere from fourth to sixth in the conference."

Other prognostications, rankings and comments worth noting: read more

Hope you weren't taking a swig of your cold one while reading that headline. Bruce Pascoe of the Sporting News believes that UCLA is the #10 team in the country and that Dorrell is a future NFL coach.  That has been our evil plan for a long time now.  To get there Dorrell, as we have said, has to win at least 10 games … safer if he wins 11, which would have the added benefit of making everyone happy.  Now that Bruce Pascoe is making Dorrell's NFL leap a done deal our evil genius plan may end up accounting for some good in the world after all.  Pascoe:

The Showdown: vs. California This is a matchup between what figures to be two future NFL head coaches. Win here, and the Bruins will reclaim their throne as one of the top two teams in the Pac-10.

Lost in that hard to swallow bit of analysis is one big ugly fact … we haven't been close to being one of the top two teams in the Pac-10 under Dorrell.  It's hard to get Pascoe's reasoning here that Dorrell is at once an obvious future NFL coach AND he hasn't returned UCLA to our "throne."   But he does note that if Dorrell doesn't get it done this year his job is not secure:

But that doesn't mean his seat won't warm up if the Bruins sputter.

One other point in Pascoe's report to note is the now solidly entrenched talking point in the media regarding Dorrell - coaching turnover.  Dorrell's management instability and inability to hire good talent is now widely known and reported:

Continuity has been an annual concern for Karl Dorrell, who replaced three assistants in the offseason. Only secondary coach Gary DeLoach remains from Dorrell's original UCLA staff in 2003.

No scapegoating this year.  No excuses. Go Bruins!!

Athlon Sports has a solid reputation for analysis of college football. In their season preview of UCLA, the folks at Athlon hit on two major points we have been saying for a long time: That we should get to a BCS bowl with this team and that our schedule is favorable (unlike some who think it's one of the toughest in the nation).

FINAL ANALYSIS

Dorrell is hoping to catch lightning in a bottle for a second straight season with the hiring of offensive coordinator Jay Norvell. Dorrell looked great in coaxing Walker from the NFL to be the defensive coordinator for the 2006 season; now Norvell gets the reins of an offense returning 10 starters. Defensively, UCLA also returns 10 starters. What it lacks in size, it makes up for in speed. The tackling should be better than 2006, and knowledge of Walker's scheme and approach should be a big benefit. Add in UCLA's favorable schedule "the Bruins Pac-10 road games are Stanford, Oregon State, Washington State, Arizona and USC” and this team could be contending for a BCS berth.

And there's more. Athlon qoutes Dorrell as saying it's time … well you read it:

Such a topsy-turvy season should not appear to be an issue for the Bruins in 2007 as fifth-year coach Karl Dorrell looks to make the biggest, and most important, leap of his career. UCLA returns 20 starters, and a favorable schedule adds to the lofty goals.  "We have a good deal of experience back, a lot of guys that have played a lot of football, and now it's time to make a move." Dorrell says.

No Excuses!!! Go Bruins!!

MSNBC “contributor” Joey Johnston has his top 25 preseason college football rankings out today and he has UCLA at #11. As we have said this is par for the course, some great expectations are in store for Dorrell this year, along with some less than stellar predictions.  What’s odd about this ranking is that Johnston simultaneously notes that Dorrell close to being on the hot seat.  Johnston:

Coaching: Karl Dorrell has grown into the job, but he never seems to stray far away from a potential hotseat. He clearly has the Bruins moving in the right direction, and should be set up for a successful season. There are three new assistants, including first-year offensive coordinator Jay Norvell.

Aside from the now usual mistake of misstating the correct number of new assistants (there are 4) Johnston has got the general picture of Dorrell … a coach who has “grown into the job” (now that Dorrell’s been on the job for almost 5 years it’s finally safe for reporters to say he was too inexperienced to get the job in the first place, something we have said since day 1) and who “never seems to stray from a potential hot seat.” He is buying some of Dorrell’s lines, “Bruins moving in the right direction” - how many times have we heard that??  If we have a losing streak we will hear it again you can count on it … along with another “3 game season.”  Most importantly though is his assessment that we are “set up for a successful season.”  So despite Dorrell’s attempt to deflate expectations to save his job should he falter, the expectations for this team are now fully understood by the media.  No excuses.

Johnston does get something wrong in our opinion … we don’t believe that coming in 2nd place in the conference means Dorrell has “finally realized expectations,” unless we are 11-1 and BCS bound:

Overview: The Bruins are on the upswing — finally — with 20 returning starters and a realistic shot at earning a BCS bowl bid. The problem, as always, is living in the same neighborhood as dynastic USC. Second place in the Pac-10 wouldn’t mean failure. It would mean the Bruins have realized expectations, an occurrence that never has come easily in Westwood.

From a DD reader, reporter Wendell Barnhouse of the Dallas Star Telegram is naming his pre-season picks with a lengthy analysis of each team. Coming in at #20 is Dorrell’s team. Just another heads up on see-saw picture of predictions of how this team will do this year. The expectations we have will not change, Pac-10 title + BCS bowl.

One thing does stand out in Barnhouse’s analysis: our pass defense ranked #87 last year. Did we miss that?? That is item #2 that Walker must address (#1 is coming up with a strategy to beat the spread offense). Here is Barnhouse’s overall analysis: read more

Pre-season rankings continue to pour in and as we have mentioned before they remain inconsistent and inconclusive regarding how UCLA will do this season - an indictment of Dorrell’s coaching abilities. Still, some outlets such as Southern College Sports see Dorrell taking this year’s special team and schedule to an 11-0 record into the Coliseum and coming out with a loss and an 11-1 regular season record. Not bad, and should be what everyone should EXPECT this year’s team to accomplish. Here is Southern College Sports conference predictions: read more

Editor’s Note: We will have a roundup of Media Day either later today or tomorrow.

Well this about says it all for us football loving Bruin fans: ESPN’s Mark Schlabach ranks our football program as the #27 best program over the last 10 years, just ahead of powerhouse Utah but behind juggernaut Georgia Tech. Coded into this simple and ubiquitous tool, his ranking, lies all our frustrations and torture over the last decade. In the 80s we were a top 10 team. Where did it all go wrong? Two words: Peter Dalis! Thank you Petey for enshrining your special brand of mediocrity into our marquee sports, leaving a legacy of Dorrell and Lavin for us to remember you by. Why is it enemies of Bruin Nation are named Pete?? Here is Schlabach:

The Bruins came within one victory of playing for the national championship in 1998 — UCLA lost to Miami 49-45 in the regular-season finale and then lost to Wisconsin 38-31 in the Rose Bowl. UCLA has struggled to find that level of excellence ever since, with only one 10-win campaign in the ensuing eight seasons. The Bruins’ biggest obstacle has been crosstown rival USC, which has a 7-1 record against UCLA since 1999.

One of the traditions of Media Day is the pre-season rankings by the conference beat press. Today, the results of the rankings were released. As was pretty much expected, Dorrell’s special season is viewed by the beat press as being good for third in the conference. Nice job Karl. Way to deflate expectations! No one gives Dorrell respect, and why should they? What has he proven he can do?? Anyway, here are the rankings:

1.	USC (39) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 	390
2.	California . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	323
3.	UCLA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	305
4.	Arizona State . . . . . . . . . . .	242
5.	Oregon State  . . . . . . . . . . .	237
6.	Oregon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	226
7.	Arizona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	162
8.	Washington State . . . . . . .	. . . . 115
9.	Washington . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 	98
10.	Stanford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  47

Oddsmakers have come out with their futures bets on winning the BCS championship. Some of you might remember our weekly feature on Vegas odds before each game. We’re not interested in having you bet … but its good info. Below is the current Vegas line on winning the BCS championship game (as is our policy, we will not provide links to Vegas bookmakers - you’re gonna have to trust us on this one). You will note that we are ranked in a tie for 23rd with Tennessee, Texas A&M and the Field (any other team) at 50-1, behind Cal (45-1) and SuC (5-2) among others.  Here are the odds by school:

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