Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The UCLA Bruins will not enter the 2013-14 college basketball season with as much hype as they entered last season, but they will still be talented enough to compete for a conference title. With that said, let’s take a look at the Bruins’ toughest non-conference schedule game.
It is a no-brainer and will be played against the Duke Blue Devils.
Duke will enter the season by being ranked in the top 10. It loses its top three leading scorers from last year, but players such as Rasheed Sulaimon will take on bigger roles. It always helps when a team gets a player as talented as Jabari Parker. Parker is ranked No. 2 in the class of 2013, according to ESPN.
As for UCLA, it brings back Kyle Anderson and Jordan Adams. Adams was the second leading scorer on the team last season. He averaged 15.3 points per game, but is capable of scoring more, especially with Shabazz Muhammad no longer on the team. Anderson put up a stat line of 9.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.
The Blue Devils will be favored in this matchup, but UCLA really does have the talent to go on a deep run in the NCAA tournament. Whether if that will happen remains to be seen, but this will be a great game played against two very storied programs in college hoops.
Other notable games on the out-of-conference schedule will be against Missouri, Northwestern and Alabama.
It is not the toughest schedule in the world, but the Duke game definitely gives it a huge boost.
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