Humani Stevens an offensive linemen from Helmet (California) committed to the Bruins today.  Stevens is 6-2, 290 lbs.  Stevens is going to play guard or center for UCLA.  Stevens right now is a three star prospect according to Scout (4 star on Rivals, 11th ranked G nationally), but he has a good chance to move up in the rankings, because he has started gaining a lot more attention.  USC is supposedly going to offer him soon and many thought he was going to go there, but he decided to be a Bruin.  It is always great to grab a recruit from Petey.  Stevens is known for his aggressive style of play and is a real mauler.  He probably the most talented offensive line recruit so far in UCLA's 08' class.  

UCLA now has 19 commitments and they will probably take one more offensive linemen.  LB Donovan Carter is close to making a decision and he is a heavy UCLA lean.  Nelson Rosario (WR) is another top target that UCLA has a good chance of picking up a commitment from this summer.  Rosario is a huge get for us, literally and figuratively.  6-5 wide receivers with speed and good route running ability do not come around often.  We will need to add a DT and a star RB (to go with Dean) and we should have a potential top 5 recruiting class.  Let's finish this thing strong!!

UCLA has 12 players in the newly released Rivals top 250.  Each one of our players is given a 4 star rating.  Rahim Moore is the #1 ranked safety in the entire class and EJ Woods is #3.

The list:
Kemonte Bateman WR
Nick Crissman QB
Aundre Dean RB
Anthony Dye CB
Aaron Hester CB
Damien Holmes DE
Jerry Johnson WR
Datone Jones DE
Uona Kavienga LB
Rahim Moore S
Antwon Moutra WR
EJ Woods S

12 of our now 15 recruits (we just added offensive linemen Jonathan Martin) are 4 star recruits.  Right now we probably have the second best class in the country and we definitely should have a top 10 class for next year.  We are still in it with a few top notch players and according to Tracy Pierson at Bruin Report Online, we are doing very well with running back Darrell Scott, the #2 ranked player in the entire class.

I have been very critical of Karl Dorrell on the field, but he has really improved off the field when it comes to recruiting.  Our assistant coaches are extremely good recruiters and if we have the success on the field that we should have, it will only get better.  Have to give credit when credit is due.

Karl Dorrell just announced to Bruin Report Online that Olson is going to be the starting quarterback. He said Olson has performed better than Cowan in practice so far and the coaches felt now was the right time to announce the starter so everyone will know where they stand.  He says he expects them both to get a lot of snaps in practice.

This is the decision that had to be made and thankfully it was.  I am happy Dorrell named Olson the starter already, because I could not frankly handle the thought of Cowan opening as our starter. I think Olson would have been insulted if he had to go through another QB competition this spring. Obviously, Olson is the more talented passer and I think he is going to have a good season for us. Cowan is a decent backup quarterback, but I do not think many of us want to see him get on the field this upcoming season. I am hearing really good things about Norvell's offense so far and I think we will take advantage of Olson's good arm this year. Karl reiterated that expectations are high for this season. The offense needs to be sharper, but they are getting there day by day. The defense is already looking top notch and I expect them to one of the top defensive units in the country next year. It is time to start meeting expectations. No more excuses. And it will be up to Ben Olson to steer the ship.

Rivals.com's Bob McClellan released the Rivals Preseason Top 25:

1. USC
   
2. Michigan
   
3. LSU
   
4. West Virginia
   
5. Florida
   
6. Ohio State
   
7. Virginia Tech
   
8. Oklahoma
   
9. Texas
   
10. Wisconsin
    
11. Louisville
    
12. Georgia
    
13. Nebraska
    
14. Auburn
    
15. California
    
16. Arkansas
    
17. Tennessee
    
18. Penn State
    
19. Rutgers
    
20. Florida State
    
21. Texas A&M
    
22. Notre Dame
    
23. Hawaii
    
24. Boston College
    
25. Clemson

Others receiving votes:
Wake Forest, UCLA, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Oklahoma State, Maryland, South Florida, South Carolina, Oregon, Alabama, Miami (FL), TCU, Boise State, Missouri

NationalChamps.net also had their annual "Early Bird" Top 25, which is released around Thanksgiving day.

Their poll looked like this:

1. USC
   
2. Michigan
   
3. Ohio State
   
4. LSU
   
5. Oklahoma
   
6. Florida
   
7. West Virginia
   
8. Louisville
   
9. Virginia Tech
   
10. Texas
    
11. Arkansas
    
12. Wisconsin
    
13. Nebraska
    
14. Tennessee
    
15. UCLA
    
16. Auburn
    
17. Wake Forest
    
18. Texas A&M
    
19. California
    
20. Boston College
    
21. Notre Dame
    
22. South Carolina
    
23. Georgia
    
24. Penn State
    
25. South Florida

Others Receiving votes:
Arizona State, Boise State, BYU, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Miami (FL), Oregon State, Rutgers, TCU

As a whole I agree with the Rivals rankings more.  I think OK and Ohio St are going to definitely drop down a bit next season.  
Ranking UCLA at #15 is far too high for me.  I would have them in the #23-25 range or off the list completely.  This does gives a good idea of where UCLA is in regards to the national media.  UCLA is expected to finish the season a ranked team and for some it should finish in the top half of the poll.  That one ESPN article even suggested UCLA as a darkhorse national championship contender, which I think is really pushing it.  The offense is going to need to show a lot of improvement to meet any lofty expectations like that.  The defense has some issues, but I think another year in Coach Walker's system is going to make a big difference.  The defense usually was a problem when they stopped being aggressive and would play a more prevent style of defense, which did not work at all.  Hopefully Coach Walker can learn from those mistakes.  We know Coach Dorrell does not seem to.  If Karl Dorrell does end up being the coach/offensive coordinator then there are frankly no more excuses and UCLA has to produce.