UCLA Football Rivalries: A Legacy of Competition and Collaboration

College football rivalries are deeply ingrained in the sport's culture, fueling passionate fan bases and creating unforgettable moments. For the UCLA Bruins, the gridiron is a battleground where pride, tradition, and bragging rights are fiercely contested. While the Bruins have several notable rivalries, the annual clash with the USC Trojans stands as the most prominent, defining the sporting landscape of Los Angeles. However, other rivalries with institutions like UC Berkeley and Stanford have also shaped the Bruins' athletic identity.

The USC Rivalry: A Crosstown Showdown

The UCLA-USC rivalry is the collegiate athletic rivalry between the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Southern California (USC) sports teams. Though both schools compete in various sports, the football game is often considered the most intense and widely followed rivalry match. The UCLA-USC rivalry, also known as the "Crosstown Showdown", "The Battle of L.A.", or simply the "crosstown rivalry," is the annual battle for bragging rights in Los Angeles. The winner hoists the Victory Bell trophy, an actual bell from a vintage Southern Pacific locomotive.

A Storied History

The schools have been together in the same athletic conference since 1928, when UCLA joined USC in the Pacific Coast Conference, a predecessor of the Pac-12 Conference. USC had joined the PCC in 1922. When the PCC broke up after the 1958-1959 season, USC and UCLA were charter members of the newly formed Athletic Association of Western Universities. The AAWU, with expansion, would become the Pac-8, Pac-10, and then the Pac-12 Conference.

The first USC UCLA rivalry football game was played in 1929. As of the end of the 2025 season, USC leads 53-34-7 (record excludes two vacated USC wins due to NCAA penalty for violation of NCAA rules). There has been one overtime game in the series in 1996.

Traditions and Trophies

When the football teams from these schools compete against each other, the victor is awarded the Victory Bell. The Victory Bell was originally from an old Southern Pacific railroad locomotive. It was UCLA's symbol of victory until it was stolen by a USC organization called the Trojan Knights in 1941. The bell itself is brass, and the metal mounting around it is painted blue or cardinal by the school that won the football game and earned its possession. When UCLA possesses it, the UCLA Rally Committee is responsible for its protection and care. While it is in USC's possession, the Trojan Knights are responsible for hiding, protecting, and showcasing the bell (including ringing the bell during home football games).

A number of titles have been applied to the football game such as: "The Los Angeles City Championship", "The Crosstown Showdown", "The Battle of L.A.", or simply the "crosstown rivalry". None have become the singular name for the game. At UCLA, the week before the game is known as "Beat 'SC Week" (officially dubbed "Blue and Gold Week"). Both schools host a number of activities on their respective campuses during the week to promote school spirit. Also, both schools take steps to prevent vandalism of two major landmarks on campus: USC wraps its Trojan Shrine (better known as "Tommy Trojan") in bubble wrap and duct tape, while UCLA covers its Bruin Bear statue with tarp stating "THE BRUIN BEAR IS HIBERNATING. BEAT 'SC.", and more recently a $5000 wooden puzzle box. Groups of UCLA students known as "Bruin Bear Security Force" also camp out in Bruin Plaza, ostensibly to protect the Bruin Bear in the event of a prank, while the USC Trojan Knights hold a week-long vigil guarding Tommy Trojan with the sign "Don't Bruin your life".

The Crosstown Cup, formerly the Lexus Gauntlet, the Crosstown Gauntlet, and the SoCal BMW Crosstown Cup, is the name given to a competition between UCLA and USC in the 19 NCAA-sanctioned varsity sports in which both compete. It was won by UCLA in 2015 and USC in 2016, when the sponsorship arrangement concluded. The competition has since been known simply as the Crosstown Cup.

Key Moments and Shared Glory

Quite often, the winner of the football game has won or shared the Pac-12 Conference (Pac-12) title in football. A berth in the Rose Bowl game has been on the line many times as well for both schools. Through the 2016 season, USC has appeared in the Rose Bowl 34 times and UCLA has appeared 12 times.

Before the Pac-10 expanded in 2011 and became the Pac-12, the Rose Bowl and conference championship were on the line for both teams 20 times and at least one team 37 times. Following expansion and the division of the conference into two football divisions, with UCLA and USC both in the South Division, the division title and a berth in the Pac-12 Championship Game have been on the line for at least one team twice.

A Move to the Big Ten

UCLA and USC moved together from the Pac-12 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) conference to the Big Ten conference in 2024. The two schools continue to face off annually in what’s known as the crosstown showdown football game.

Read also: Navigating Tech Breadth at UCLA

Other UCLA Rivalries

While the USC rivalry is paramount, UCLA also shares intense rivalries with other universities, adding further layers to its athletic identity.

UC Berkeley: A Clash of Academic and Athletic Titans

The UC Berkeley and UCLA rivalry encompasses not only athletics but also academic prestige. UCLA was established initially as the Southern Branch of the University of California, which was based in Berkeley, according to UCLA Alumni. The athletic rivalry between the universities, before conference realignment in 2024, was a significant in-state competition. News and World Report’s university rankings, with both universities claiming the number one spot, though on the national public universities list, UC Berkeley is ranked first place and UCLA is number two as of the 2025 rankings.

A lot of fallout stemmed from the collapse of the Pac-12, including storied rivalries that programs leaned on annually for nearly a century. One of the notable fallouts that extended beyond the football field was UCLA's football rivalry with California. Unlike their crosstown rivalry with USC, and similar to their matchup with Stanford, the Bruins can't look forward to taking on the Golden Bears every year since Cal went to the ACC along with the Cardinal and the Bruins and Trojans stepped up to the Big Ten.

Stanford: An Underappreciated In-State Battle

Since 1925, the football teams of Stanford and UCLA have faced off against one another. They were among the Pac-12 Conference's oldest and most underappreciated rivalries but with Stanford going to the ACC and UCLA to the Big Ten, this rivalry will more than likely come to an end. 49-43-3 is UCLA's all-time lead in the series.

In terms of history, the football rivalry between Stanford and UCLA had been among the most fierce and underappreciated in college football. They were in-conference and in-state rivals, so the games were typically close, competitive affairs throughout the years. Students and alumni from both schools took great pride in their rivalry, especially since their final meeting for a while took place last year.

Read also: Understanding UCLA Counselors

University of Arizona: A Basketball Rivalry

Another UCLA rivalry is between the UCLA and Arizona basketball teams. The men’s teams have played 113 games at the date of publishing, with UCLA leading in wins 64-50. The universities are no longer conference rivals since UCLA’s move to the Big Ten and Arizona’s move to the Big 12. However, the schools have decided to continue the rivalry, scheduling three games between 2024 and 2027.

Beyond the Gridiron: Collaboration and Shared Goals

Trojan and Bruin faculty and students often work together to tackle societal challenges and spark discovery in medicine, technology and more. “USC and UCLA have a long history of collaboration in researching and helping to solve the most complex problems facing our city and our world,” says Ishwar K. Puri, USC’s senior vice president of research and innovation. “Los Angeles is a city built on collaboration, where universities, scientists, researchers, doctors, engineers and artists, Bruins and Trojans intersect every day,” says Roger Wakimoto, UCLA’s vice chancellor for research and creative activities.

Examples of collaborative projects between USC and UCLA:

Bladder Transplant: Surgeons from Keck Medicine of USC and UCLA Health performed the world’s first bladder transplant in a human at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
Depression Detection: An interdisciplinary team of researchers from USC and UCLA is working to develop cognitive science tools to detect depression and suicidal ideation using neuro- and biobehavioral signals.
Wildfire Recovery: The USC Lusk Center for Real Estate partnered with the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate and the nonprofit Urban Land Institute Los Angeles to create a comprehensive plan to help guide rebuilding efforts and strengthen the region’s long-term resilience following wildfires.
Biodemography and Population Health: Researchers at the USC/UCLA Center on Biodemography and Population Health seek to answer how life circumstances and environmental exposures affect our biology and our health as we age.
Urban Cooling Strategies: ShadeLA, led by USC Dornsife Public Exchange in collaboration with UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, unites civic, academic and community partners to expand urban tree canopy and shade infrastructure in key public and community spaces.
Immersive Technologies and Cultural Heritage: The Immersive Technologies and Cultural Heritage (ITCH) Symposium features presentations of immersive digital humanities projects created by scholars from USC and UCLA.
Chronic Pain Management: Researchers in the Zhou Lab at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, teamed up with the Jun Chen Group at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering to develop a groundbreaking wireless implant for personalized chronic pain relief.
Homelessness Research: An ongoing research partnership between the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health uses mobile phone surveys to monitor the health, housing and service needs of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Los Angeles County.
Geroscience Research: The Los Angeles Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center will focus on “translational geroscience,” research that turns discoveries about the biology of aging into practical treatments that prevent disease and increase healthspan.
E-Conquest: Established in 2020, E-Conquest is an annual video game tournament hosted by USC Games, the university’s game design program, in collaboration with UCLA ESports.

A Legacy of Competition and Camaraderie

UCLA's football rivalries, particularly the one with USC, are integral to the university's athletic identity and the broader sporting culture of Los Angeles. These rivalries are characterized by intense competition, storied traditions, and memorable moments that resonate with fans and alumni alike. While the battles on the field are fierce, the collaborative efforts between UCLA and other institutions, including USC, demonstrate a commitment to addressing societal challenges and advancing knowledge, highlighting the balance between competition and camaraderie that defines the spirit of college athletics.

Historical overview

The UCLA Bruins football program represents the University of California, Los Angeles, in college football as members of the Big Ten Conference at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. The Bruins have enjoyed several periods of success in their history, having been ranked in the top ten of the AP Poll at least once in every decade since the poll began in the 1930s.

Early years

The first football team fielded by UCLA took the field in 1919. The team was coached by Fred Cozens, and compiled a 2-6 record. UCLA did not participate in an athletic conference until 1920, so the 1919 football team played a schedule full of local high schools and other assorted teams. Cozens was UCLA's athletics director from 1919 to 1942. Harry Trotter took over the young UCLA football program after Cozens stepped down after guiding the Bruins in their first season. UCLA began to play in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) in 1920, and competed against Occidental College, California Institute of Technology, University of Redlands, Whittier College, and Pomona College. Coach Trotter's two wins were against Redlands and San Diego State, which did not join the SCIAC until 1926. Trotter left UCLA with a 2-13-1 record in three seasons (1920-1922). James J. William H. Spaulding came to UCLA from Minnesota in 1925. Edwin C. Horrell was promoted to head coach following Spaulding's retirement. His 1942 UCLA Bruins team lost to Georgia in the 1943 Rose Bowl. He was the first coach to lead a UCLA team to defeat rival USC. It was the first football victory in the UCLA-USC rivalry.

Red Sanders era

The 1954 Bruins compiled a 9-0 record and climbed to the top of the Coaches' Poll, sharing the national championship with Ohio State, winner of the AP Poll's title. Due to the PCC's early "no repeat" rule, the undefeated Bruins were unable to compete in the Rose Bowl that season despite being the PCC champion. Second-place USC, who the Bruins beat 34-0, played in the 1955 Rose Bowl instead and lost to Big Ten Conference champion and eventual co-national champion Ohio State, 20-7. Henry Sanders was also known for intensifying the Bruins' rivalry with USC. His teams were always given a speech before the game against their cross-town rivals that always ended with "Beat SC!" A famous quote was attributed to Sanders regarding the rivalry, "Beating 'SC isn't a matter of life and death.

Post-Sanders

After the death of Red Sanders, assistant coach George W. Dickerson took over the Bruins on an interim basis before suffering a nervous breakdown. Then, a full-time head coach was hired. William F. Barnes was the head coach for the UCLA Bruins football team for seven seasons. He guided his teams to a 31-34-3 (.478) record. He did have two seven-win seasons in 1960 and 1961, leading the Bruins to the 1962 Rose Bowl. That year, the Bruins finished the season ranked No. 16 in the final AP poll. Barnes resigned after the 1964 season after learning that athletics director J.D.

Tommy Prothro era

On January 11, 1965, Tommy Prothro was hired away from Oregon State as head coach of the UCLA Bruins. In the 1965 football season, the Bruins lost their season opening game 13-3 at Michigan State, who then rose to become the top-ranked team in the country. The unheralded Bruins would go on a seven-game undefeated streak, surprising national powers the likes of Syracuse and Penn State. Going into the 1965 UCLA-USC rivalry football game ranked No. 7, the conference championship and 1966 Rose Bowl were on the line. No. Prothro and the Bruins went on to completed the season with a dramatic pay-back upset victory over the No. 1 ranked Michigan State Spartans in the 1966 Rose Bowl, 14-12.

Heading into the final game of the 1966 season vs. USC, UCLA was 2-1 in conference games, 8-1 overall and ranked No. 5 in the country. The Bruins, featuring a "dream backfield" of All-Americans Gary Beban and Mel Farr, lost only one game, at rainy Washington, 16-3, where Huskies' head coach Jim Owens had devoted his entire season to beating Prothro. UCLA had beaten UW the season before, 28-24, with Prothro's trick play, the Z-streak in which a receiver trots towards the sideline like he's going out of the game and then runs a streak pattern unguarded by the inattentive defender. USC was 4-0 in conference and 7-1 overall, having lost to unranked Miami. The Bruins and Trojans played a different number of conference due to uneven scheduling caused by new AAWU members Oregon and Oregon State and schedules made years in advance. It was widely assumed that only losses would be considered and the winner of the 1966 UCLA-USC game would go to the 1967 Rose Bowl. UCLA star quarterback Gary Beban broke his ankle the week before in a win over Stanford, but backup Norman Dow, making his first and only start at quarterback, led UCLA to a 14-7 win. That left USC with a 4-1 conference record (7-2 overall) and No. Due to their win over USC, it was widely assumed UCLA would get the Rose Bowl berth. However, a vote the next Monday among the AAWU conference athletic directors awarded USC the Rose Bowl berth. It was speculated that the directors believed Beban could not play for UCLA in the Rose Bowl due to the broken ankle, thereby giving the Big Ten Conference representative, Purdue, a better chance to win. As it turned out, Beban could have played. But a bigger reason was that this was to make up for 1964 when Oregon State was voted in ahead of USC. The coach of Oregon State in 1964 was Prothro. Another speculation was the vote was against UCLA out of pure jealousy by the rest of the conference, which voted 7-1 for the clearly inferior team. This vote deprived Prothro of being the first coach to earn three consecutive Rose Bowl berths and UCLA athletic director J.D. Morgan called it a "gross injustice" and the "a dark day in UCLA and AAWU Athletic history." Inflamed UCLA students who had gathered for the Rose Bowl celebration rally, took to the streets of Westwood in protest and actually blocked the 405 Freeway for a short time. Ironically, Morgan was the force behind establishing a tie-breaking method adopted by the conference one year later in which only loss column counted; the first tiebreaker was head-to-head results, followed by overall record. If there was still a tie, the Rose Bowl berth would go to the team that had not played in the Rose Bowl the longest. But it was too late for UCLA. In their final game, USC made the AAWU decision look bad by losing to No. 1 Notre Dame, 51-0.

In 1967, Prothro helped a second quarterback capture the Heisman Trophy when Gary Beban was awarded the trophy after the regular season. He would bring his No. 1 ranked UCLA Bruin team to face No. 2 USC in one of the "Games of the Century". Despite playing with cracked ribs, Beban threw for 301 yards, but UCLA lost, 21-20, on a spectacular 64-yard run by O. J. Simpson in the 1967 USC vs. UCLA football game. Another big factor was UCLA's acclaimed sophomore kicker Zenon Andusyshyn missing a chip shot field goal, and having two field goals and an extra point attempt blocked. In what was acknowledged to be a rebuilding year, the Bruins opened the 1968 season with a 63-7 defeat of Pittsburgh and a win over Washington State. The season ground to a halt at Syracuse and with the season-ending injury of quarterback Billy Bolden, and UCLA would win only one more game, over Stanford 20-17. The Bruins gave No. 1 USC and Heisman Trophy winner O. J. 1969 was the year Prothro had geared his recruiting efforts towards as he believed this was his best team and was capable of contending for the national championship. The Bruins, quarterbacked by a sensational Junior College transfer Dennis Dummit discovered by Prothro, were undefeated until they faced No. 10 Stanford in Palo Alto. Once again, Prothro was let down by now senior kicker Zenon Andrusyshyn as he missed a short field goal late in the game with the score tied 20-20. Suddenly, two long Jim Plunkett passes had Stanford in field goal range in the final seconds, but UCLA blocked Steve Horowitz's attempt to preserve the tie. Once again, the UCLA-USC game would decide the Pac-8 title and the 1970 Rose Bowl berth. UCLA was ranked 6th with a 5-0-1 record in conference and 8-0-1 overall USC was No. 5 and was 6-0 in conference and 8-0-1 overall (tied Notre Dame in South Bend, 14-14); UCLA and USC were both unbeaten coming into their rivalry game for the first time since 1952. UCLA scored midway through the fourth quarter to take a 12-7 lead (knowing he need a win and not a tie to advance to the Rose Bowl, Prothro had the Bruins go for two after each touchdown and each attempt failed). USC then drove to the winning touchdown with 1:38 to play to win 14-12. The Trojans were aided by two controversial calls; the first was a dubious pass interference call on UCLA's Danny Graham on a 4th-and-10 incompletion. Secondly, on the winning touchdown pass reception, USC receiver Sam Dickerson appeared to be either out of bounds, out of the back of the end zone, or both. In what turned out to be his final season at UCLA, Prothro's team suffered a rash of key injuries and finished 6-5, yet they were three close games from a 9-2 season and Rose Bowl berth. Before those injuries set in, UCLA took a 3-0 record into Austin to play defending national champ and top ranked Texas. Trailing 13-3 at the half, UCLA rallied and had a 17-13 lead in the final minute. But with 12 seconds left, Texas completed a long pass when their receiver caught the ball between two UCLA defenders, who then collided, allowing the receiver to score. UCLA also blew a 20-point fourth quarter lead against Oregon, when Ducks sophomore quarterback Dan Fouts rallied his team to three touchdowns and a 41-40 win. Finally, there came the showdown with Stanford; the game was expected to be a shootout between UCLA quarterback Dennis Dummit and Heisman winner Jim Plunkett. But the defenses ruled as UCLA took a 7-6 lead into the 4th quarter. Stanford took a 9-7 lead on a field goal, but UCLA was driving to a potential game-winning field goal or touchdown themselves when they completed a pass inside the Stanford 10-yard-line, only to have the receiver get sandwiched by two defenders on the tackle and fumble. This game ultimately decided the Pac-8 championship and 1971 Rose Bowl representative. The season ended on a high note however, when UCLA beat rival USC, 45-20, in a game that was not that close. This would end up being Prothro's final game at UCLA.

Pepper Rodgers and Dick Vermeil

Pepper Rodgers came to UCLA from Kansas after the departure of Prothro. In Rodgers' three seasons at the helm of the Bruins, UCLA finished 2-7-1, 8-3 and 9-2. In 1972, the Bruins began the season with a 20-17 victory over two-time defending national champion Nebraska, and finished the season ranked No. 17 and No. 15 in the final Coaches' and AP polls, respectively. In 1973, the Bruins finished ranked No. 9 and No. As head coach at UCLA, Dick Vermeil compiled a 15-5-3 record in two seasons (1974-1975), including a 9-2-1 record in 1975 when he led the Bruins to their first conference championship in 10 years, and a win in the Rose Bowl over undefeated and No.

The Donahue Era

In the 1980s and 1990s, during the tenure of Terry Donahue, the Bruins compiled a 151-74-8 record, including 13 bowl games and an NCAA record eight straight bowl wins.

tags: #ucla #football #rivals