Big Ten Expansion: Nebraska Cornhuskers versus UCLA Bruins

In just under two years from now the Big Ten Conference is officially expanding once again when the UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans join the league in August of 2024. That surprise and shocking announcement broke on June 30.

With the latest expansion of the traditionally midwestern conference, Nebraska Cornhuskers fans might be interested to know what the new members bring to the table in terms of history specifically against the Huskers.

With that interest in mind I have taken a deep dive into the record books to see what the University of Nebraska-Lincoln holds on the fields and courts versus the University of California, Los Angeles in select team sports.

Football

Nebraska is 7-6 in football versus UCLA. The series dates all the way to 1946, but features long stretches of not meeting for more than a decade, including between 1948-1972 and 1994-2012. Additionally, UNL features a four-game win streak from 1973-1987, while the Bruins hold a three-game win streak from 1946-1972. The Huskers currently hold an active one-game win streak.

The margin of victory edges to the Huskers who won 42-3 in a road matchup in Pasadena, California in 1984, while UCLA defeated Nebraska 41-21 in Lincoln in 2013.

Compared to the rest of the Big Ten, UNL holds the record for most games played against UCLA at 13, while Michigan holds the highest win percentage in the league against the Bruins at 72 percent (11-8). Neither Rutgers nor Indiana have ever played UCLA, while Purdue is 0-3-2 all-time against them.

Illinois (6-6); Ohio State (4-4-1); Michigan State & Northwestern (3-3) all hold a .500 record against the Bruins. Alongside Nebraska and Michigan, Minnesota is the only other program with a winning record against UCLA (2-1).

The full series history of Nebraska versus UCLA is below:

Besides the head-to-head competition, UCLA claims the following program achievements:

• 613-444-37 All-time record (38th in FBS)
• 1 National Championship
• 17 Conference Championships
• 36 Bowl game appearances (16-19-1 record)
• 41 Consensus All-Americans
• 1 Heisman winner
• 333 NFL Draft picks (15th in FBS)
• 537 Weeks in AP Poll (seven at No. 1)

By comparison, Nebraska claims the following:

• 908-409-40 All-time record (10th in FBS)
• 5 National Championships
• 46 Conference Championships
• 53 Bowl game appearances (26-27-0 record)
• 54 Consensus All-Americans
• 3 Heisman winners
• 366 NFL Draft picks (10th in FBS)
• 730 Weeks in AP Poll (70 at No. 1)

Men’s Basketball

The Bruins are one of the blueblood programs in college basketball and the Huskers are the only Power-Six program to not have won a single NCAA Tournament game. It should come as no surprise then that UNL has a losing record all-time against UCLA, but perhaps still of interest that the Huskers are 2-6 all-time.

All but one matchup have came in the regular season, and that lone post-season matchup was in the 1985 NIT that gave UCLA a homecourt advantage in an 82-63 rout that had a less than kind write-up of the Huskers by the LA Times.

Of other worthwhile notes in the series include a 35-30 win in the first ever matchup by Nebraska on the road at UCLA Dec. 29, 1938. At the NU Coliseum, Nebraska is also 1-1, having defeated UCLA 71-65 on Dec. 16, 1955 after falling to the Bruins 42-36 on Dec. 20, 1941. Currently, Nebraska is riding a four game losing streak dating to 1956 that has seen three road games and a neutral court. The series has been mostly in a break since a 1985 matchup at UCLA, meeting just once on Nov. 25, 2016 in Fullerton, California on a neutral court.

You can find the full series history below:

As for the two storied programs all-time achievements and how they stack up against one another, here you have it.

UCLA

• 11 National Championships (seven consecutive from 1963-1973)
• 18 Final Four appearances (10 consecutive from 1967-1976)
• 49 NCAA Tournament appearances
• 37 Conference Championships
• 4 Conference Tournament Championships

Nebraska:

• 7 NCAA Tournament appearances (0 wins)
• 6 Conference Championships (None since 1950)
• 1 Conference Tournament Championship

Women’s Basketball

The Husker women have had more success against the Bruins than the men, holding a 3-4 record overall. Not only that, Nebraska holds a three-game win streak in the series as well. That win streak started with a NCAA Tournament second round victory in the 2010 Tournament which led to the first ever Sweet 16 appearance for the program.

You can find the full history here:

Volleyball

The volleyball team has a 13-5 record all-time against the Bruins, including a four-game active win streak. The series dates back to 1979 and includes four games in the past decade and 11 since 2000.

Exactly half of the matches in the series have been home matchups for the Huskers, while another three were in Omaha. Just two have been played at UCLA. Another of the matchups was in Stockton, CA which is approximately five hours from UCLA’s campus by car compared, and another was in South Bend, Indiana which is just over nine hours drive from the Devaney Center.

Baseball

The Nebraska baseball team is 2-6 all-time against UCLA. The series dates to just 1997 and is evenly balanced with two neutral field games, three games at UCLA, and three games at UNL.

The full series can be found here:

Softball

The Huskers’ softball team is 0-9 all-time against the Bruins in a series dating to 2001. The programs have never once played against one another on the other’s home field.

The full series history is here:

Women’s Soccer

The women’s soccer team at Nebraska is 0-3 all-time against UCLA. Those include losses of 0-1 in double-overtime at UCLA on Oct. 29, 1995, a 1-5 loss at UCLA on Sept. 18, 1998, and a neutral 0-2 loss in the second round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia on Nov. 18, 2016.