After bringing in a whole new coaching staff this offseason, the UCLA Bruins believe that they are a college football program on the rise. Even if UCLA is on the come-up, life in the Big Ten Conference could delay the Bruins’ success.
Not only does UCLA have to battle recent national champions like Indiana, Ohio State and Michigan in the Big Ten, they also have to deal with other strong competitors like Oregon, Washington and USC.
None of those matchups are more important for UCLA than their crosstown rivalry against the Trojans. USC has won the past two meetings and are well positioned to extend that winning streak in 2026.
When might UCLA defeat the Trojans once again? Trojans Wire writer Matt Zemek thinks it might be sooner than you may imagine.
“I don't think it will be all that long until UCLA beats USC again. Look at last season. That was a bad UCLA team with an interim head coach, playing in the Coliseum, and it was still a struggle for the Trojans. Bob Chesney looks like the real meal deal as the Bruins' head coach. UCLA made a spectacular hire. It was not the news USC needed,” Zemek said. “Trojan fans will say, understandably, "We have the elite program and the top-tier reputation and the NIL resources, and look at what Chad Bowden is bringing into the program." All of that is true. Yet, Bob Chesney could be a rock star. If he is even half as good as Curt Cignetti, UCLA will beat USC within the next two tries, so by 2027 at the latest. Lincoln Riley in many ways is the coach with more to prove in the USC-UCLA rivalry than Bob Chesney, at least in 2026 and (if Riley is still employed at USC) 2027. If Chesney hasn't done anything at UCLA in his first two seasons, he will be under the gun to prove something in 2028.”
The Bruins host USC at the Rose Bowl on November 28th, in what will be Chesney’s first crack at Lincoln Riley and the Trojans.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: When will UCLA football beat USC next? Maybe sooner than you think
