Unless you’ve been living under a very large rock, you’ve probably noticed that the Big Ten is expanding this upcoming season. The additions of USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon will drastically change the landscape of college football and continue to cement the Big Ten alongside the SEC as the nation’s premier conferences. While all four teams will pose unique challenges for their new conferences foes, they won’t join the Big Ten — officially official later this summer — without challenges of their own to overcome.
Today we’re tackling UCLA. You can also check out our introductions on USC and Washington.
Last 10 Years: Since 1996 — for those not great at math, a span greater than 10 years — UCLA has won 10 games on five occasions, wallowing in a lot of mediocre football the rest of the way. Coming off a six-year tenure with now Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, the Bruins will look to find an extra gear as a program under new head coach DeShaun Foster. It will be a challenge for a program that has largely been overlooked in favor of the trio of other newly minted Big Ten schools, but it will be interesting to see if the Bruins can surprise people out of the gates. Then again, UCLA has won three bowl games since 2013 and been to the postseason just seven times over that span (one game was canceled due to COVID-19). The Bruins have won fewer than eight games on five occasions since 2016.
Series History: UCLA actually holds a 4-2 advantage in this series, but the two teams haven’t faced off since a Nittany Lion victory in 1968, when Penn State won in Los Angeles 21-6. Interestingly enough, this series saw all six games played in the span of 1963 to 1968, with Penn State only winning the first and last games. In total, these teams played three times in LA and three times in State College. The Bruins own the biggest win of the series with a 49-11 win in LA in 1966.
Offseason Stories: If there’s one thing that UCLA shares with many of its new Big Ten addition counterparts, it’s trying to overcome change. USC and Oregon will look to replace a quarterback, Washington will look to replace just about everything and UCLA will look to start anew under a new head coach. There’s no real reason to think that DeShaun Foster can’t find some degree of success at UCLA, but it’s going to be a tough road to travel pretty much right out of the gates.
This Year: UCLA has LSU, Oregon and Penn State in three straight weeks before a slightly easier middle of the season. Add in trips to Hawaii, Rutgers and Nebraska and the Bruins are going to be earning their miles. UCLA avoids both Michigan and Ohio State, but it’s hard to say that the teams that were swapped in are going to make life any easier. The Bruins will need to secure wins where they can find them, but there aren’t many weeks on this schedule ripe for the picking. Home games against Indiana, Minnesota and Iowa will give the LA region quite the midwestern flare.
Known Future Meetings: Penn State will host UCLA in 2024 before heading on the road to take on the Bruins in 2025. That trip will be a unique one for Penn State as UCLA calls the Rose Bowl home. Penn State won’t face UCLA again until 2028 when it hosts the Bruins in State College, making a regular season trip to the Rose Bowl in 2025 something of a novelty, even with UCLA now under the Big Ten umbrella. Stands to reason that whenever the series picks back up after 2028, the Nittany Lions will be making the travel plans back to Pasadena.
Overall: With so many big name brands entering the Big Ten it’s sometimes hard to remember that UCLA is entering the picture as well. That might prove to be less true in different sports, but when it comes to football, the Bruins will have a steep hill to climb to stay above water in a deep and talented conference. No reason they can’t do it, but plenty of reasons why they might not. At least not right away.
