UCLA Football: DeShaun Foster Not a Fan Of Losing Old Rivalries by Entering Big Ten

Several Pac-12 rivalries are dissolving.

Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

UCLA football is preparing for a new era as they begin play in the Big Ten conference this season. It's a bittersweet beginning though as the Bruins leave behind a once-storied conference in the Pac-12.

The Bruins were part of the Pac-12 for over 60 years. The conference's origins go back to 1915, and the modern-day version of the conference was founded as the Athletic Association of Western Universities, which soon became the Pac-8.

With conference realignment and the fall of the Pac-12, one of the lasting impacts is that the Bruins, and every team from the Pac-12, will no longer face the majority of their former conference rivals every season.

UCLA has kept its rivalry with USC intact, as the two schools announced that they were leaving for the Big Ten together. The Trojans are UCLA's biggest rivals, and the two schools still plan to play annually. Along with USC, the Bruins will play both Oregon and Washington regularly as both schools joined the Big Ten a year later.

The same cannot be said for many of the Bruins' other old foes, including Cal, Stanford, Arizona, Arizona State, Washington State, Oregon State, Utah, and Colorado. Cal and Stanford have joined the ACC. Arizona State, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado have joined the Big 12, and Oregon State and Washington State entered an alliance with the Mountain West Conference.

The dissolution of these rivalries is disappointing for many across college football, including UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster.

“It’s unfortunate, it really is,” Foster said. “It’s unfortunate, just the direction of college football is going in. The more exposure and the bigger conference you’re in, the more it’s going to help your program. So it’s very unfortunate. I played in the Pac-10, I coached in the Pac-12 — it’s more than just a conference to me."

The Bruins have put in efforts to keep multiple of their old rivalries alive, particularly with Cal and Utah. In July, UCLA canceled future non-conference games against Auburn and Georgia to instead schedule games with the Bears and Utes. UCLA will face Cal from 2026-29 and see Utah in 2025 and 2030.

Still, this means that UCLA will go two whole seasons without facing Cal, who is arguably the team's biggest rival outside of USC. The Bruins will also only see Utah twice, and has no set plans to take on schools like Stanford or Arizona in football.