UCLA-Cal is an Ode to the Pac-12 — and a Showcase for Two Teams on the Rise

UCLA and California met on the gridiron every year from 1933 to 2023. Unlike some historic college football rivalries — including USC-Notre Dame — the series between the Bruins and Golden Bears continued uninterrupted through World War II. It could not, however, withstand the last round of conference realignment.

The longstanding series between UCLA and California spanned several iterations of the Pac-12 and dates back to the original Pacific Coast Conference. But all that history was tossed aside in the summer of 2023 when the Bruins left for the Big Ten and the Golden Bears joined the ACC. They have not played since.

Neither team’s tenure in its new conference has been especially successful. Cal is 13-13 and 6-10 in conference play since 2024. UCLA is even worse: 8-16 overall and 6-12 against Big Ten teams.

There are signs that better days are ahead for the Bruins and Golden Bears, who will play for the first time in three years on Saturday. UCLA hired former James Madison coach Bob Chesney in December after his Dukes earned a spot in the College Football Playoff. That was around the same time Cal tapped former Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi to return to his alma mater as head coach.

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Atop the priority list for both new coaches was to retain the talented quarterbacks they already had on campus. The Bruins hung onto Nico Iamaleava, a former five-star prospect who made the CFP in 2024 at Tennessee. And the Golden Bears brought back Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who joined Jared Goff as the second true freshman in program history to start a season opener. Those moves were enough to inspire an offseason of excitement out West, which is more than can be said of Los Angeles and Berkeley in quite some time.

Sagapolutele finished fourth in the ACC in passing yards (3,454) as a freshman. There were ups and downs, but the southpaw kept Cal in games and even led upsets of two top-25 teams down the stretch.

“With them being able to get [Sagapolutele] to return, that just shows their commitment to winning,” an anonymous ACC assistant coach told Athlon Sports. “Putting the right players around him, they can make a run in the ACC. But they’re gonna have a chance to hang around just because of the quarterback play. The guys around him will rise to his level.”

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Cal did not sit idly by in the transfer portal. With leading receiver Jacob De Jesus off to the NFL, the Golden Bears added wide receivers Ian Strong (Rutgers) and Chase Hendricks (Ohio) and tight end Dorian Thomas (New Mexico). That trio, along with Sagapolutele and running back Adam Mohammed (Washington), earned spots on Athlon’s preseason All-ACC Team.

UCLA also added around Iamaleava, who shouldered a heavy load in his first season in Westwood. Preseason All-America running back Wayne Knight, who followed Chesney from JMU, is a dangerous weapon and capable pass-catcher. Wide receiver Landon Ellis led the Dukes in receiving in 2025, and he could do the same for the Bruins this season.

As bad as UCLA’s offense was last season — it scored the second-fewest points in the conference — the defense was even worse, bringing up the rear in the 18-team Big Ten. Additions like edge rusher Sahir West, another former JMU standout, could help the Bruins trend closer to league average.

All of these transfers had to believe in Chesney to follow him across the country. And the returners had an opportunity to leave. But his energy has inspired optimism around the program.

“I’ve been in places in which you play the game and your biggest relationships are your OC [offensive coordinator] or your position coach and your head coach is just there in some way, shape or form, a figurehead,” wide receiver Leland Smith told Athlon Sports. “And somehow coach Chesney is in the middle of every drill but for every position. Not sure how he does it.”

UCLA will ultimately be graded against its Big Ten counterparts, including USC. And Cal will be compared to its ACC peers, such as Stanford. But the first test of what each program hopes can be a new era of football on campus will take place against each other.

Fittingly, this contest is set for a 10:30 p.m. ET kickoff. The Pac-12 was resurrected this season with a host of new schools, but spiritually, this is a Pac-12 after dark game.