This Saturday at the Rose Bowl, the UCLA Bruins, suffering from a dismal 4-7 season where little has gone right, will face a No. 5 ranked USC Trojan squad which has the top-rated defense in the nation.
Everyone is predicting an absolute massacre, as the Trojans are a 33-point favorite.
But no matter how bad SC beats down UCLA, the Bruin Nation can take comfort—there are several ways the Bruins are better than their private school counterparts.
As a Bruin alum (class of '91), I feel it's my duty to list those advantages which transcend football and makes UCLA the better institution, starting with...
ACADEMICS/ADMISSION STANDARDS: UCLA has been long known for its extremely high standards in academics and admission standards. It is rated higher than USC in every magazine and poll, including U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review.
While USC had admittedly made recent strides in this area and has strong film and business departments, the Bruins are still the champ here.
After all, getting an education is the reason one goes to college, not merely rooting for the football team.
And I feel that's more important.
NEIGHBORHOOD: This is an area where it's not even close.
UCLA is located in Westwood, on the southern edge of Bel-Air, Los Angeles' most affluent area. Multi-million dollar homes surround the campus, and Westwood Village is one of America's great college towns.
USC, on the other hand, is located just south of downtown Los Angeles on the edge of South Central L.A., an area plagued with crime, drugs, and gangs.
Trojan students are warned to be extremely careful when venturing outside the immediate campus area; a student was tragically killed on a neighboring street earlier this year.
COST: Again, an area where UCLA is SO much better:
UCLA yearly tuition and fees: $7,500
USC yearly tuition and fees: $47,000
That's six times the cost of the Trojans' Westwood counterparts, which makes the Bruins SIX TIMES better in this stead.
I'm sure parents feel the same way.
SC students will counter this statement by saying they get scholarships and financial aid, but there are only so many scholarships to go around, and financial aid has to be paid back.
As a friend of mine once said, "Why pay all that money when you don't have to?"
OVERALL ATHLETICS: Yes, USC has 11 national championships in football, and has been clearly better than UCLA this decade, however...
I know that Trojans don't want to hear this, but athletic departments are much more than just football, even though they provide most of the revenue.
Let's take a look at the number of NCAA championships won:
UCLA: 103 (and counting), the first school to reach that mark.
USC: 86, and not even in second place. Stanford, with 97, has more!
I should add the Bruins offer more sports than their Trojan counterparts; two of their most successful programs, women's softball and gymnastics, are sports where USC doesn't even field a team.
Which makes them far out of compliance to Title IX, much farther than UCLA.
16 comments Last one added 5 months ago — Leave a Comment
Ryan Jelley 7 months ago
Nice try to make them sound greater but it just doesn't work. I try the same thing with Michigan compared to Ohio State but in the end football seems to trump all. I will admit UCLA is the better school athletically and academically but what people will think of first is football.
Edit Comment Cancel
Lisa Horne 7 months ago
Believe it or not, the USC campus has a lower crime rate than Westwood's and you forgot to add that in there. Hard to believe, I know. Yes, the neighborhood around USC is ugly, but it's in the inner city.
As far as academics, USC was named school of the year by the Princeton Review this decade. Has UCLA been awarded that?
And how is paying only 7k a year a better thing? You get what you pay for. That's like saying Harvard is poop because San Diego State is cheaper. There's a reason why it's cheaper. You are comparing a private school, versus a public school.
Finally, this is kind of a sad attempt to make yourself feel better during rivalry week. This is a sports blog, not a place to compare the merits of two schools. If you want to compare the merits between teams, I'm all ears.
You guys could actually win, you never know. And I guarantee if you did win, you'd be writing about how great of a game it was. You can't have it both ways, can you?
Notre Dame fans are spouting off about their graduation rates again...of course they are, their team stinks and they're trying to make themselves feel better. You're doing the same thing, and it's pretty transparent.
Good luck. I like your Dream Team of Neuheisel, Chow and Walker. Next year you should have more experience on the offense.
Edit Comment Cancel
Keeven Kuate 7 months ago
IF you at least had mentioned UCLA basketball...but that was no where to be found.
Edit Comment Cancel
Derek Hart 7 months ago
Lisa - a few things you've neglected:
UCLA & USC are COLLEGES. They are SCHOOLS! NOT FOOTBALL TEAMS!!
And like I said in my piece, you attend college to GET AN EDUCATION, NOT just so you can root for a football or a basketball team. Believe it or not, there are some things more important than sports. EDUCATION IS PERMANENT!
You apparently didn't read my entire article. Time is only ONE source. If you don't believe what I stated, pick up a US News & World Report, The Princeton Review, and even an overseas source that ranked all the colleges in the world - UCLA is ranked #13, while SC didn't make the top 100.
We have a saying in Westwood - "USC is a good school to go to to get into UCLA."
Also, how do you know about Westwood's crime rate? Do you live there? Did you look at all the police blotters? And how many gangs are in Westwood? If there's any crime there, it's because the gangs from SC's neighborhood go into there. And unlike SC, we haven't had any of our students killed outside our campus.
And paying $7K for a better education, in a better neighborhood, IS a better deal! Like my friend said, why pay all that $$$ when you don't have to?
BTW, you forgot the point where I mentioned our superior sports program - 103 NCs!
You know, I'll bet you went to SC. Otherwise you wouldn't be defending it so. If you did, I'll give you credit - at least you're not a bandwaggoner.
Edit Comment Cancel
Derek Hart 7 months ago
Lisa - one more thing:
At least OUR athletes don't get away with double murder or commit armed robbery and kidnapping, like SC's OJ did. Or knock out students at parties and crow, "I Own The Police!", like current LB Rey Maulaluga did.
Our athletes do things like break the color barrier in baseball, like Jackie Robinson did.
That alone is a reason why UCLA will ALWAYS be better.
Having said that, you certainly have a right to your opinion. Just like I have a right to mine!
Edit Comment Cancel
Ralphmeister Beige 7 months ago
In case you forgot, USC's first All-American football player was an African-American named Brice Taylor. And that was in 1925. I forget how racist USC the private school has always been.
And I think most will agree that although OJ was a great football player (which almost no one will disagree with), most USC fans don't see him as our greatest athlete in school history. I seem to remember Randy Johnson and Tom Seaver playing at USC as well as quite a few other well known football, baseball, track and field, water polo, etc. players.
Someone email me when this website goes back to being about sports.
Edit Comment Cancel
Ralphmeister Beige 7 months ago
Oh, Derek, by the way, just remember how much crap UCLA football players have pulled over the years. Off the top of my head, I can remember a coach getting arrested for assault and numerous players, including the great Cade McNown getting in trouble for using forged documents to acquire handicap parking passes. I'm pretty sure Lisa and I have found fault in all of your arguments. Keep running your mouth and be happy basketball season is here.
Edit Comment Cancel
Derek Hart 7 months ago
OK Trojan (I guess you went there, too),I'll keep running my mouth - anything for the Bruin Nation.
If your Trojan fans don't see OJ as your greatest athlete, then they don't know their history. Randy Johnson and Tom Seaver only played/excelled in ONE sport, as did all those other players you mentioned.
OJ excelled in TWO sports - a Heisman Trophy in 1 and an All-American in track. If you can find any other Trojan who did that, please tell me, & I'll stop calling OJ your greatest athlete. Until then,I will.
BTW, he gets sentenced in Vegas today. Faces at least 6 years. How does that feel?
You mentioned Brice Taylor- he was an exception. Ray Bartlett, Jackie Robinson's best friend & UCLA teammate, said that in their day black athletes MUCH preferred UCLA because it was MUCH more welcoming toward blacks.
And Taylor didn't break baseball's color line. Jackie did. A Bruin.
Like I said, I'll go ahead & run my mouth when it comes to UCLA. 1st amendment, you know.
P.S. - murder/armed robbery/assault/rape (Frostee Rucker)/ is MUCH,MUCH worse than faking some parking passes. If I was disabled, I'd rather be inconvenienced with someone in my parking spot than be murdered, robbed, assaulted, or raped. If you would, then I don't know what to say to you.
Looking forward to beating you in basketball - twice!
Edit Comment Cancel
Ralphmeister Beige 7 months ago
Nice. OJ was a great athlete. But like I said, I'm sure plenty of people can and will find other athletes who were just as great at USC. OJ graduated from USC in 1968. I guess that means that in 1994 and 2008 he and everything he did directly relate to USC. I don't recall him killing anyone in 1967 or 1968.
The Frostee Rucker reference was nice. What's the point? Anyone on both sides could probably find many players who have been arrested (cough, cough, C.J. Niusulu, Ricky Manning, Jr.) for plenty of things.
But the Brice Taylor argument is crap. Yes, we all know Jackie broke the color barrier. He played football, ran track and played baseball at UCLA (I'm sure he also lettered in soccer and water polo). But if we're going to argue petty crap like this, then why not bring up that UCLA's first All-American was an African-American too? Because it was 14 years after Brice Taylor.
And you're right. Go ahead and stick with basketball. We'll take care of the football.
p.s. Is the Willed Bodies program still around at UCLA...oh wait...
Edit Comment Cancel
Derek Hart 6 months ago
You know, you must REALLY HATE UCLA - and REALLY HATE ME - to write the stuff you've been writing, and to attack me and what I've wrote the way you have.
What other explanation is there? Particualrly since all I tried to do is write the truth about the differences between 'SC & UCLA. I've never read such hate of a school as you have to mine.
People have told me since I was little to ignore this hate, so I will.
Merry Christmas, & peace to you.
Edit Comment Cancel
Derek Hart 6 months ago
You know, you must REALLY HATE UCLA - and REALLY HATE ME - to write the things you've written in the comments here. Why do you hate UCLA & me so?
I can't think of any other explanation for it. I've never seen such hatred of a school in print from anyone, when all I did was write about the differences between 'sc & UCLA.
People have told me to ignore hatred form anyone, so that's what I'll do in this case.
Merry Christmas, and peace to you.
Edit Comment Cancel
Derek Hart 6 months ago
You know, you must REALLY HATE UCLA - and REALLY HATE ME - to write the things you've written in the comments here. Why do you hate UCLA & me so?
I can't think of any other explanation for it. I've never seen such hatred of a school in print from anyone, when all I did was write about the differences between 'sc & UCLA.
People have told me to ignore hatred form anyone, so that's what I'll do in this case.
Merry Christmas, and peace to you.
Edit Comment Cancel
Derek Hart 6 months ago
You know, you must REALLY HATE UCLA - and REALLY HATE ME - to write the things you've written in the comments here. Why do you hate UCLA & me so?
I can't think of any other explanation for it. I've never seen such hatred of a school in print from anyone, when all I did was write about the differences between 'sc & UCLA.
People have told me to ignore hatred form anyone, so that's what I'll do in this case.
Merry Christmas, and peace to you.
Edit Comment Cancel
Joe Rodriguez 5 months ago
Derek, one thing that is always apparent on threads like these is that you can never win against a trojan. You can wave as much evidence in their face but they will always say things like, "well most people know usc is..." or "we all know that usc is much superior." But who are these mythical people they mention? You can tell them the sky is blue and that it is that color because of rayleigh scattering, then show them data to back up your claim but they will come back and say that "at usc everyone knows the sky is really red." They never make a logical argument with facts to back up *their* claims. Just have pride in the fact that UCLA is the better school and that *our* alma mater has accomplished prestigious merit in academics and athletics is less time than usc (since UCLA was established after). There is no need to argue this since you and the rest of the world--sans usc--know this.
Edit Comment Cancel
Joe Rodriguez 5 months ago
Btw, let me give you guys an analogy of what Derek was alluding to in terms of tuition. Would you rather pay $47,000 for a 2009 Toyota Camry or $7,500 for a 2009 BMW. Obviously you would take the BMW at $7,500, right? Well that is exactly what you get from UCLA vs. USC. UCLA is better academically, both nationally and worldwide. While it is true that USC is very recognizable in Los Angeles, it would be a big mistake to equate that to national recognition--much less worldwide. In the US you would be confused with the other USC on the other side of the country if it were not for football. One last thing to throw out for all you trojans to think about: Aside from football, what is your school truly known for? How many NCAA championships does your school have? How many Rhodes scholars? How many Nobel Prize winners? I can go on, but you get the point. In this case, paying less gets you more and that is what Derek was saying.
Edit Comment Cancel
Derek Hart 5 months ago
Bravo, Joe!
It's SO good to see that there's another Bruin on my side here.
Oh BTW 'sc bandwaggoners, did you see that beat down that we gave you guys in basketball last week?
We swept you guys - just like I had predicted.
Hopefully that will give all trojan fans a bit of something that they've tragically never had - humility. They always seem to forget that everything they are in football, UCLA is on the hardwood.
Edit Comment Cancel
Leave a Comment
You must register to post a comment.