Crosstown rivals in USC and UCLA face off with bowl game eligibility on the line
Longtime rivals will face off again Saturday evening when UCLA hosts the USC Trojans in the latest battle for the Victory Bell.
Neither team has been stellar thus far this season, both sitting in the bottom half of the Big 10 standings with just two weeks of regular season play remaining.
The Trojans, who had high expectations and hopes dashed after a few solid wins to start the year are currently 5-5, needing just one more win to become bowl eligible for the third straight year under Head Coach Lincoln Riley.
They started the year ranked as the nation's No. 23 team, even after losing key players like Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams, Calen Bullock and MarShawn Lloyd. By Week 5 they had climbed to No. 11 but three consecutive losses knocked them out of the top 25, where they've remained since.
As for the Bruins, the second half of the season has been far better than the first, despite winning their first-ever game under new head coach DeShaun Foster, an extremely narrow 16-13 win over the University of Hawaii.
They then lost their next five games before hitting stride in Week 7, eking out a 35-32 win over Rutgers University that started a three-game win streak, which ended last week with a loss to the Washington Huskies.
Last season's matchup saw the Bruins shock the Trojans, with quarterback Ethan Garbers tossing three touchdown passes in their 38-20 win. UCLA's standout defense, which was then coached by D'Anton Lynn, held USC to just three rushing yards and sacked Caleb Williams four times in the game. Lynn left the Bruins two weeks later to join the Trojans coaching staff as their defensive coordinator.
Both teams are just 3-4 in Big 10 play, their first season after their swap from the Pac-12 started a slew of re-conferencing across the scape of the NCAA.
The Trojans lead the overall series 50-34-7, with two wins vacated for the penalties issued by the NCAA in 2004 and 2005, relating to Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush.
Whoever wins takes home the Victory Bell, the nearly 300-pound bell turned trophy that once hung atop a Southern Pacific freight locomotive, but was gifted to the UCLA Alumni Association in 1939. After it was stolen by a group of USC students several years later, school administration for both universities agreed that the winner of each year's football game would take possession until their next matchup.
USC will face off against another bitter rival next week when they host the University of Notre Dame, who are currently ranked No. 6 in the nation at 9-1. UCLA will play host again next Saturday when the Fresno State Bulldogs come to town. They'll have to win both of their final games to earn a bowl game berth, which would mark four straight seasons for the Bruins.
