Cal's Long Tradition of Playing Both USC and UCLA Ends in 2020

The Bears might still face one of the L.A. schools this season, but Cal could end up playing neither for the first time since 1925

For the first time since 1933, Cal will not play both USC and UCLA in the same season. And the 2020 season might be the first time since 1925 that Cal does not play either USC or UCLA.

The last time Cal did not play either of its southern California rivals, Andy Smith was Cal's head coach, and the Bears played the likes of the Olympic Club, Santa Clara and Pomona, with the Olympic Club ending the Bears' 50-game unbeaten streak that season. It was the Bears' final season under Smith, who died of pneumonia six weeks after the final game.

Cal had played USC 10 times over the preceding 10 seasons, including twice in 1915, and has played the Trojans every year since that 1925 vacancy. The Bears added UCLA in 1933, five years after the Bruins began playing football, and have played them every year since.

Cal made a point of extending the rivalries with USC and UCLA when the conference expanded.

When the Pac-10 became the Pac-12 in 2010, it became apparent that the conferences would be split into two divisions based on regional proximity. The Los Angeles schools figured to be in the Pac-12 South with Stanford and Cal destined for the Pac-12 North. But one of the concessions made to Cal to get Cal to agree to this division setup was to have the Pac-12 mandate that the Bears would still play USC and UCLA every year even though North teams would play only four South teams each season.

The rivalry with the southern California schools is vital to Cal because of the interest by Golden Bears' supporters in the games against USC and UCLA.

But the revised seven-game schedule released Saturday morning indicated that Cal would play its five North Division opponents with its only cross-division game this season being against Arizona State. Cal could still play USC or UCLA the weekend of Dec. 18-19 in the conference title game or another cross-division game yet to be scheduled that weekend, but it is not a certainty.

It would indeed be odd for Cal to go through a season without playing either USC or UCLA.  But Cal athletic director Jim Knowlton warned that might be the case last week when he discussed the intracies of scheduling that one cross-division opponent.

“Obviously, we love the rivalry games against the other California schools,” Knowlton said. “But this is such a crazy year there’s nothing that is really normal.

“As we work through options, a couple of the options I looked at with some of the things you’re talking about would have forced three other teams to have to play either away or at home against the same team three years in a row."

From a competitive standpoint, it's probably an advantage not to have to face USC, which is favored to win the Pac-12 South, although Cal would probably be favored against UCLA.

Arizona State is one of the prime contenders to challenge USC for the South Division title, so the Bears are not getting any breaks.

But the games against USC and UCLA always had a special place for Cal fans.

The Bears' 2003 triple-overtime upset of a USC team that would wind up with a share of the national title is one of Cal's most significant wins in history.  The 2004 game won by No. 1 USC 23-17 when Aaron Rodgers was unable to put the Bears ahead after getting a first down at the Trojans' 9-yard line with 1:47 left was just as memorable.  And the Bears' 2018 victory that ended their 14-game losing streak to USC was a big deal.

Cal's dramatic 38-31 victory over UCLA in 1990 ended the Bruins 18-game winning streak over the Bears and lives in the minds of Cal faithful. The game started with the Cal players coming down to the field through the crowd in the stands and ended with the crowd on the field.

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Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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