Nico Iamaleava's decision to transfer from the Tennessee Volunteers to the UCLA Bruins was the biggest headline during the ongoing college football offseason.
Now, less than 100 days separate Iamaleava from taking his first-ever Big Ten snap. College football pundits, too, are beginning to gripe with the reality of his possible career-altering decision.
Without having seen the field under coach DeShaun Foster yet, CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli predicts Iamaleava can make an immediate impact for the Bruins and guide them toward bowl eligibility.
"He certainly generated the most headlines this offseason," Fornelli wrote. "If you'd have told a UCLA fan in December that Nico Iamaleava would be their starting QB in 2025, they'd have called the cops because they'd assume you'd escaped from a mental institution. But it happened, and while there are many different opinions on why it happened and who the winners are in this situation, there's no questioning Iamaleava's talent."
Talent is one thing, but can Iamaleava's athletic ability transition the Bruins into a perennial Big Ten powerhouse? Fornelli isn't ruling it out.
"If Iamaleava builds off his first season as a starter and begins living up to it, there's no question the Bruins offense will take a leap forward," he added. "The program suddenly finds itself in a world where it could have the best QB in the conference."
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The following teams, if noted as such, should be listening: Oregon, Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, and Illinois. Even if not every team plays UCLA this season, there is something to be said for a bold prediction for a quarterback who has only ever experienced what the SEC is like.
Come August, the Bruins will have a chance to prove that their investment was a worthy one. If not, it will likely go down as one of college football's most overhyped stories in recent memory.