UCLA’s Nico Iamaleava transfer add predicted to lead to surprising record

This will be UCLA's most scrutinized football season in years, assuming Nico Iamaleava does indeed wind up as their starting quarterback.

Following his Tennessee departure saga that seemingly centered around NIL money, Iamaleava is not everyone's favorite college football player at the moment.

But lost in a lot of the noise is the fact that Iamaleava is a gifted quarterback, and that UCLA needed someone like him.

The Bruins went just 5-7 in their first season as a Big Ten school, including 3-6 in conference play.

SI's Tom Cavanaugh recently projected what the Bruins' record will be in 2025 with Iamaleava.

Here's how he broke down the results game-by-game:

• Week 1 vs. Utah: Win
• Week 2 at UNLV: Win
• Week 3 vs. New Mexico: Win
• Week 5 at Northwestern: Win
• Week 6 vs. Penn State: Loss
• Week 7 at Michigan State: Win
• Week 8 vs. Maryland: Win
• Week 9 at Indiana: Win
• Week 10 vs. Nebraska: Loss
• Week 11 at Ohio State: Loss
• Week 12 vs. Washington: Loss
• Week 13 at USC: Win

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That's a rapid-fire 7-1 start predicted by Cavanaugh that would surely have the UCLA faithful fired up.

He also has the Bruins finishing 5-4 in Big Ten play, which would be a solid improvement, en route to an 8-4 overall mark and a much-needed bowl game appearance.

If Iamaleava can play well enough to do that, or even steal a game in an upset somewhere along the way, his journey to UCLA will feel worth it, at least for the Bruins.

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