Los Angeles has been blessed to be the home of many successful sports teams or programs but unlike the professional sport teams, the two main collegiate programs are able to capture the heart of Los Angeles fans like no other.
University of Southern California was founded in 1880 and University of California, Los Angeles. In 1919, making them two of the oldest colleges in California. In both schools, like many other colleges, are rich in their history and traditions making for an attractive choice for potential students.
“Both schools have history but when it comes down to it, USC dominates in football, which is the main sport,” said Moorpark student Jeanett Jaimerena. “I respect UCLA and what they have done but USC wins.”
In 1942, the two schools determined that the winner of the football match-up should be given a trophy thus creating the tradition of the Victory Bell. The Victory Bell is given to the winner of the game and the victorious team is allowed to hold possession of the bell for the next year and paints it the school’s color.
“As a UCLA fan, it has been nice to have the Victory Bell on own side of things the past two seasons,” said 21-year-old Moorpark student Ryan Friedman. “It’s been tough being a UCLA football fan but we can finally cheer for them again.”
Currently UCLA ranks first overall in National Collegiate Athletic Association championships with a total of 111 and became the first collegiate program to reach 100 championships in 2007. USC ranks third in the standings with 100 of their own titles trailing only UCLA and Stanford.
Historically both programs have thrived in all different sports including soccer, golf, water polo, tennis, track and field, and volleyball but the main rivalry between the programs comes from their football teams.
Over the course of the rivalry, USC leads the head to head football match ups with a record of 46-30-7, but UCLA has started to catch up and has defeated the Trojans the last two years.
USC has won 11 national championships while UCLA has only won one title which happened back in 1954. USC also leads UCLA in the number of Heisman Trophy winners, which is awarded to the most outstanding college football player in the season. The Heisman Trophy is one of, if not the the most coveted awards around all of sports.
“UCLA was the first college program to 100 championships, enough said,” said Moorpark student and UCLA fan Ryan Friedman, 21.
“We are lucky enough to have two great college programs in Southern California but in my opinion USC runs LA despite the recent struggles,” said Jeanett Jaimerena.
USC and UCLA renewed their classic rivalry on November 22 when the two teams met up in the Rose Bowl, home of the Bruins. UCLA won the matchup 38-20 after beating the Trojans on both sides of the ball. The Bruins have now beaten the Trojans three straight seasons. Both teams posted a 6-3 record within the PAC-12 conference play yet the Bruins finished with a slightly better record than the Trojans, by going 9-3 while the Trojans finished 8-4.
Despite the recent uprising of UCLA football, USC is still going to “run” Los Angeles. It’s going to take a streak of long, consistent winning seasons and possibly a few football championships in order for UCLA to surpass USC in the heart of Los Angeles. For now USC runs Los Angeles but that could change in the coming years.
