UCLA will be hoping to bring the (G)-funk to the Big Ten come 2024, with the Bruins slated to join the Midwest-based conference and help usher in the super-league era of college football.
They may not have quite the gridiron history of their crosstown rivals but make no mistake: UCLA can hang with the big boys. The Bruins have notched 17 conference titles during their time in the Pac-12, tied with Washington for second-most in conference history (USC has the most, 37). Chip Kelly's side will hope to add to its resume in what looks certain to be a more competitive conference.
On Thursday, the Big Ten announced what teams UCLA would face in its first two years of conference play. Unsurprisingly, the Bruins will continue to dance with the Trojans; the league cemented that rivalry in place as one of its 11 "protected" matchups, meaning the Bruins and men of Troy will see each other once a year for the foreseeable future.
Bruins fans should also rack up plenty of air travel mileage in 2024 and 2025, with journeys as far away as Rutgers on the docket. Talk about a change of scenery.
BENDER: Big Ten schedule shows USC, UCLA must earn rivalries with Ohio State, Michigan
Here's what you need to know about who UCLA will meet in its first two years under the Big Ten banner.
UCLA football schedule 2024
Home
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- Northwestern
- Ohio State
- USC
UCLA's initial Big Ten slate will be spotlighted by home matchups against Ohio State and USC, two teams that will be expecting to compete for the conference title in 2024.
Away
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Michigan
- Rutgers
UCLA's road schedule lags when compared with its star-studded home slate, but a trip to Ann Arbor should draw plenty of attention from the college football world.
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UCLA football schedule 2025
Home
- Maryland
- Purdue
- Rutgers
- Wisconsin
The Bruins get a slightly calmer home schedule in 2025 with matchups against Maryland, Purdue, Rutgers and Wisconsin, although three of those school were bowl-eligible in 2022.
Away
- Illinois
- Michigan State
- Nebraska
- Penn State
- USC
UCLA will travel to rival USC for the first time since joining the Big Ten. That should only raise the stakes in one of college football's most contentious cross-city matchups.
What is a two-play opponent?
UCLA and USC are rivals on the field, but they moved in lockstep when making the leap from Pac-12 comfort to the uncertainty of Middle America.
The Big Ten did little to quell that relationship. Instead, college football's newest superconference embraced it, scheduling the Bruins and Trojans every season as one of the conference's 11 "protected" matchups. But the schools' conference schedules will also include so-called "two-play" opponents — pairs of teams that will match up home and home in successive seasons. Those duos will rotate every two years.
UCLA's initial two-play opponents in the Big Ten are Nebraska and Rutgers.
The Bruins and Cornhuskers have a short, albeit interesting, history. They've met 13 times, with Nebraska holding a 7-6 advantage. The majority of their matchups have been one-sided, although their last battle was a 37-29 victory for the Huskers in the 2015 Fosters Farm Bowl. Nebraska roared back from 21-7 down, scoring 30 consecutive points.
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The Bruins and Scarlet Knights, meanwhile, share no history at all. They have never played against one another. They also sit on opposite ends of the college football landscape, and not just geographically: Rutgers has just one conference title while struggling to measure up in the Big Ten and, before that, the Big East. UCLA, meanwhile, has the 36th-best winning percentage among Division I programs (.579) and has appeared in 37 bowl games, 26 more than their counterparts from New Jersey.
