Bradford narrows down to eight

One thing that will be for sure and you can take it to the bank is that five-star linebacker Allen Bradford (6-0, 225, 4.54) from Colton, Calif., phone will be ringing off the hook today as September 1st is the first day since spring that college coaches can call recruits. Bradford however has already narrowed down his schools to eight.

Bradford's top eight schools consist of USC, UCLA, Cal, Washington, Oregon, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Nebraska. Not a bad group of schools

"I narrowed down my schools to eight," Bradford said. "I picked in my opinion the top five schools in the Pac 10 and the out of conference schools are among schools with great tradition."

Bradford will head to Nebraska this Saturday morning for his official visit.

Why these eight schools?

"Nebraska is good school with great tradition," Bradford said. "I think they are going to work hard and get back to the top."

"Oklahoma was in the national championship game against USC last year," Bradford said. "They aren't going away anytime too soon."

"Notre Dame has a great tradition and has a lot of history behind the school," Bradford said. "I think Notre Dame will get back to the top, too."

"I like USC because they are winning national championships," Bradford said. "I feel that being around other great players will make me a better player."

"Wherever I go I will be surrounded by great players," Bradford said. "But right now USC is the No. 1 team in the nation."

"I think UCLA is in a building process and I think they're going in the right direction," Bradford said. "Last year they could have won most of the games they lost. I also like UCLA's coaching staff."

"I picked Oregon because I immediately liked it when I visited there," Bradford said. "They're coaching staff is cool, too."

"With Washington it was Coach Tyrone Willingham and the players," Willingham said. "It was the way they speak to you. They make you not take things for granted about everyday life."

"Cal was the closet team for beating USC," Bradford said. "Plus Cal's education is one of the best in the country."

Bradford and his Colton teammates are working hard getting ready for their season.

They were in shells last night (Thursday August 31st) getting ready for a scrimmage on Friday with Corona (Calif.) Santiago and Compton (Calif.) Dominguez.

It wouldn't be too surprising to see Bradford narrow things down even more after his Nebraska visit.