ESPN has chosen UCLA football to win the Pac-12 South, one of the toughest division in the nation.

So close yet so far! College football is only 40 days away from returning and just six weeks away from UCLA football taking on Virginia at the Rose Bowl. With many sports outlets and critics giving their predictions about the upcoming season, in a bit of a shocker, today ESPN has chosen the Bruins to win the Pac-12 South Division.

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40 days to CFB kickoff: Per FPI, UCLA has 40% chance to win Pac-12 South, best in the division #CountdownToKickoff pic.twitter.com/HBSSFhtlv3 — ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 25, 2015

Why is this a shock? For starters, many critics have been very favorable to the USC football team and have predicted the the Trojans to not only win the division and conference, but contend for the National Championship, including ESPN. Some of their college football analysts favor USC to be in a major bowl and have positioned them very high in their way-too-early Top 25 rankings.

According to ESPN’s FPI (Football Power Index) projections, UCLA football has a 40% chance of winning the Pac-12 South. That barely edges out the Trojans at 34% and puts them way ahead of both Arizona State and Arizona at 15% and 7%, respectively.

As we saw last season, the Pac-12 South is full of several very good teams and gave us a lot of surprises, like Arizona winning the division on the last day of the regular season.

This year, the UCLA Football team looks to win the South Division for the first time since 2012, head coach Jim Mora‘s first season in Westwood.

With the Bruins returning 17 starters from a 2014 team that finished 10-3, which includes the Pac-12 leading rusher Paul Perkins and the multi-talented Myles Jack, UCLA Football should very well be in the conversation to win the division. With all this experience and especially a lot of depth, the Bruin’s goal this season is to win the Pac-12 Championship, get to the Rose Bowl and possibly the College Football Playoffs.