UCLA crashed to a 2-7 record in conference play in 2010 and went just 4-8 overall, obviously missing out on an invitation to a bowl game. The Bruins finished ahead of only lowly Washington State in the Pac-10 standings last season.

Not helping the Bruins on the field last year was the mediocre play of their quarterbacks; Richard Brehaut threw for 1,296 yards with six touchdowns and seven interceptions in nine games, while Kevin Prince passed for 384 yards with three TDs and five INTs in five games.

Those two will both be back to battle for the position as juniors in 2011 for Rick Neuheisel's squad, and the oddsmakers at the Bodog Sportsbook expect a bit of improvement as they're ahead of three other teams at 18/1 to win the Pac-12.

Oregon is the leader on those NCAA football odds at 2/1 to claim the conference title, with Stanford at 3/1, Arizona State State at 11/2, and newcomer Utah at 13/2.

Arizona (8/1), Oregon State (16/1), and Washington (16/1) are also ahead of UCLA on that odds list, with California (20/1), newcomer Colorado (22/1), and Washington State (100/1) behind them to start the season.

UCLA is also at +600 to win the newly-created Pac-12 South Division, behind Arizona State (+190), Utah (+200), and Arizona (+300), and ahead of Colorado (+800).

True Bruins optimists can also get them at 200/1 on the BCS futures board to win the national championship. UCLA begins its season on the road against Houston on Saturday, September 3.

Get all your college football odds at Bodog.