UCLA Football: FBS teams the Bruins have never played
By Ryan Kay
Believe it or not, UCLA football has never played various FBS teams.
There are a few reasons why UCLA has not played certain teams in its long storied football history.
Geography: Some teams are simply too far away to make a regular-season game feasible, especially when traveling far distances for football games were not as financially responsible for programs like it is today. For example, UCLA has never played against some Big Ten and ACC teams, as they are all located in the Midwest or East Coast.
Conference affiliation: UCLA has been a member of the Pac-12 Conference since 1959, and the conference has a scheduling agreement where each team plays nine conference games as opposed to eight like some other conferences. That equates to three non-conference games instead of four.
Scheduling conflicts: Sometimes, scheduling conflicts can prevent two teams from playing each other. For example, UCLA and some power five conference teams have never played each other, even though they are both major college football programs. This is because the two schools have often had overlapping schedules, and it has been difficult to find a mutually agreeable date to play.
Rivalry history: Some teams have a long-standing rivalry with UCLA, and play each other often which does not allow room in their non-conference schedule.
In addition to these reasons, there are also some factors that can prevent two teams from playing each other. For example, UCLA has not played against two of the three major military academies, such as Army and Navy for example.
Travel: Some schools have chosen not to play each other because of the high cost of travel as alluded to in the geography reasoning.
Ultimately, there are a variety of reasons why UCLA has not played certain teams in its long football history. These reasons can vary from team to team, and they can be complex and nuanced.
There are currently 58 FBS football teams that UCLA has never played. Now, we will rank the teams from 58 to one in terms of teams Bruin fans would possibly want to see UCLA play more than others in the future.