Analyzing UCLA Football’s Potential Big Ten Rivals After Move From Pac-12
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UCLA’s move from the Pac-12 to the Massive Ten is formally official.
Whilst numerous of the conversations in the earlier 7 days have been about finances, media offers and even more realignment, the Bruins will ultimately have to participate in against a entire new lineup of convention opponents arrive 2024. That suggests a full new program rotation across all sporting activities and, inevitably, new rivals.
USC, building the move alongside UCLA, will obviously nevertheless continue to be general public enemy No. 1 in Westwood. As it now stands, though, Bruin admirers will have to switch Stanford, Cal, Oregon and many others when it comes to secondary rivalries on the gridiron.
Dependent on history, geography, tradition and personnel, right here are the faculties All Bruins has picked as the most likely candidates to develop into UCLA football’s up coming most significant rivals.
Michigan
All-Time Head-to-Head: Michigan 8, UCLA 3
As two of the major community colleges in the country, UCLA and Michigan will very likely beef right off the bat.
The two faculties do have a little bit of a record on the gridiron, also, consisting of quite a few dwelling-and-houses and bowl matchups. The Wolverines took the first 4 normal period conferences, moreover the 1981 Bluebonnet Bowl, but then the Bruins flipped the script in 1982.
In their 1st time taking part in household games at the Rose Bowl, UCLA finished 10-1-1. Two of those wins arrived against Michigan – 1 in Ann Arbor in front of 105,413 lovers, and the other in the Rose Bowl Recreation in front of 104,991.
The Wolverines rattled off three wins in a row versus the Bruins from the late 1980s by means of the 1990s, but UCLA intercepted Tom Brady’s first career move endeavor in 1996 and received the past meeting in 2000.
There is certainly also the extra layer of Michigan backing out of a house-and-house versus UCLA scheduled for 2022 and 2023 in favor of dwelling game titles versus Hawaii and East Carolina. As it turns out, the Wolverines would not be equipped to dodge the Bruins for a great deal lengthier, and the two teams will have to confront off regardless of just one side’s desire not to.
Ohio State will generally be Michigan’s largest rival, just as USC will often be UCLA’s, but two of the greatest models in faculty sporting activities feel destined to bump heads.
Northwestern
All-Time Head-to-Head: UCLA 3, Northwestern 3
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If Michigan is UCLA’s rivalry substitute for Cal – a best-tier public college that wears navy blue and yellow – then Northwestern can be the substitute for Stanford.
Like the Cardinal, the Wildcats are a solid program at an elite private institution with a head coach less than the age of 50 who has been around for more than a 10 years. Swap out the Bay Area for Chicago and David Shaw for Pat Fitzgerald, and you get Northwestern.
Of study course, Northwestern has not experienced approximately as a lot historical good results as Stanford, given that they will not specifically have equals to John Elway, Jim Plunkett and Andrew Luck on their record of noteworthy alumni. The Wildcats had been to just 1 bowl sport prior to 1995 – the 1948 Rose Bowl, which they received – and they are nearly 100 game titles beneath .500 all-time.
Even now, Northwestern has been very competitive beneath Fitzgerald, who has taken his workforce to 10 bowl games in the past 14 a long time. The Wildcats have performed in two Huge 10 championship games in the previous 4 seasons, and they tacked on a pair of 10-acquire seasons in the three years top up to that.
Northwestern’s closing recreation of the pre-Fitzgerald era was a decline in the 2005 Solar Bowl to UCLA. The two booked a dwelling-and-property for 2033 and 2034 in April, but this go will assurance that the Bruins and Wildcats satisfy up much faster.
Wisconsin
All-Time Head-to-Head: UCLA 7, Wisconsin 4
The Bruins have more practical experience towards the Badgers than they do in opposition to any of their new conference foes outside of Illinois, and a great deal of their bouts have held big postseason stakes.
Wisconsin won the initial-ever matchup in 1938, only for UCLA to string with each other a 7-activity profitable streak in a 30-12 months span. The two groups played four several years in a row from 1979 to 1982, and the Bruins averaged 38.3 details for every video game with a 25.5-stage ordinary margin of victory in people contests.
The moment the lights received brighter, although, the Badgers flipped the script. Wisconsin conquer UCLA by 5 factors in the 1994 Rose Bowl, then even further buried what as soon as appeared like a national championship Bruin squad in 1998 by beating them in the 1999 Rose Bowl.
Wisconsin conquer UCLA in the 2000 Sun Bowl as well, and they have designed a bowl just about every calendar year considering that 2002.
Obtaining revenge for that string of postseason failures will certainly be on the entrance of Bruin fans’ minds once UCLA arrives in the Significant 10.
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