Friday night’s meeting between the UCLA Bruins and the Illinois Fighting Illini may be the first time that the two schools are squaring off as Big Ten Conference opponents, but the two programs have faced off a dozen times over the past 79 years.
Currently, UCLA and Illinois are deadlocked at 6-6 with this week’s game set to give one program some bragging rights.
None of the UCLA-Illinois meetings have been recent, with the last one taking place in 2011 at the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl at AT&T Park (Now Oracle Park) in San Francisco. Illinois grabbed a 20-14 win against interim UCLA head coach Mike Johnson, who took over for the fired Rick Neuheisel.
The last time UCLA defeated Illinois was back in 2004 in a nonconference game where Maurice Jones-Drew,
Marcedes Lewis and Craig Bragg led the Bruin offense in a 35-17 road win. UCLA and Illinois played each other in 2003 and 2004, with the Bruins winning both games. In 2003, the Bruins held on for a 6-3 win at the Rose Bowl where UCLA won the game despite totaling just 204 yards of offense.
Before that Illinois and UCLA clashed in a pair of bowl games over the course of the 1980s and 1990s, with UCLA getting wins in the 1991 John Hancock Bowl and the 1984 Rose Bowl. It was a blowout in the Rose Bowl, with Rick Neuheisel winning MVP of the 45-9 game. Illinois kept things closer in the John Hancock Bowl, with the Bruins holding on for a 6-3 win, with linebacker Arnold Ale earning MVP in the game.
UCLA will look to stay perfect on the 2026 season and add some more recent success against Illinois Friday evening in Pasadena, with the Bruins entering the game as 10 point favorites.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: UCLA is 6-6 all-time against Illinois entering the Week 11 matchup
