College Football: UCLA highlights in-state rivalry week
By Ryan Kay
UCLA is going on the road again to play Stanford highlighting in-state rivalry week for this week’s college football games.
There are bigger rivalries in the PAC 12 conference between these two schools that reside in the state of California but still, this rivalry is a historically underrated rivalry. Stanford has dominated this rivalry for the most part over the past 15 years but UCLA has won three of the last four times they have played one another.
The Cardinals and Bruins have been competing against one another in football since 1925. The rivalry is among the oldest and most underrated in the Pac-12 Conference with UCLA leading the all-time series 48-43-3.
The rivalry has witnessed some memorable games over the years. In 1982, UCLA defeated Stanford 38-35, leading to a PAC 10 conference title for the Bruins that season. In 1998, UCLA defeated Stanford 28-24 which led to another PAC 10 championship for the Bruins as well.
In recent years, the rivalry has been more lopsided than usual. Starting in 2009, Stanford won an impressive 11 straight games against UCLA. However, starting in 2019, the Bruins have done very well against the Cardinals.
The Stanford-UCLA football rivalry historically speaking is one of the most under that radar and competitive rivalries in college football. The games are usually close and hard-fought contests against these in-conference and in-state rivals. The rivalry is also a big source of pride for the students and alumni of both schools especially as this may be the last game between these schools for a while as the Bruins will play in the Big Ten and Stanford is going to the ACC for the 2024 season.
Last 15 games of this rivalry: The Cardinals have won 11 times during the past 15 games these two in-state rivals had played against each other.
The last 10 games of this rivalry: Stanford has won seven times during the past 10 games that these two schools have played one another.
The last five games of this rivalry: UCLA has won three of the last five games that they have played against Stanford.
Distance between schools: 352 miles
The best game between these two schools over the length of this rivalry: The 2012 PAC 12 Championship Game in which Stanford defeated UCLA by only three points after they defeated the Bruins a week before by 18.
Current Win Streak: UCLA has won the last game between the two schools having a one-game winning streak.
Last meeting between both schools: The Bruins defeated the Cardinals at home by a final score of 38-13.
Prediction: UCLA 28 Stanford 21