– Cross-town Rivalry
There are many great rivalries in college football today that span decades. Ohio State-Michigan, Auburn-Alabama, Texas-Oklahoma, Army-Navy, Harvard-Yale, Stanford-Cal just to name a few. USC-Notre Dame has the best intersectional rivalry in the country. However there is only one rivalry with two teams from the same city; USC and UCLA. Both schools are located in LA and only separated by twelve miles. There is no other rivalry in the country that has so much overlap in the same geographic region, often with family members and great friends on opposing sides of the rivalry. On one day every year, the city is divided into Trojan cardinal and gold and Bruin blue and gold. It is a special rivalry and one the players and fans love to be a part of. There is a certain energy to this game that is unique to all others. As a player on game day, it is amazing to arrive to the Coliseum or Rose Bowl and see the enormous crowds with the clash in colors, and the passion of all of the fans. The rivalry against Notre Dame has a national following but there is nothing quite like USC-UCLA within the city of Los Angeles. The classic series will be renewed this coming Saturday at the Rose Bowl with a stadium half in cardinal and half in blue. The bands will be blasting their fight songs and the USC Song Girls and cheerleaders will be dancing with Traveler roaming the sidelines and UCLA will be leading their eight-clap and Sons of Westwood firing up their team. Both teams will be wearing their home jerseys and each team will be fighting for victory, respect, and redemption.
USC and UCLA, just the two names stir up contrast. USC is steeped in their tradition of cardinal & gold, black cleats, no names on the backs of their jerseys, Traveler, Tommy Trojan, the Coliseum, and the Trojan Marching Band blasting Conquest and Fight On. UCLA brings their own tradition of powder blue and gold, white cleats, names on their backs, the Bruin Bear, the Sons of Westwood, and the Rose Bowl with the Eight Clap and the Bruin Marching Band. The matchup between these two great universities has created many great games and memories.
