This upcoming weekend has to be one of the biggest sports
weekends ever at UCLA, and definitely the biggest in my four years
here.
In football, UCLA has the chance to pull off one of the biggest
upsets in college football this season in front of a national
television audience and its hometown fans.
Yes, it has only been five wins in a row for hated cross-town
rival USC, but the streak has a Red Sox-like 86-year feel to it.
Many Bruin fans will have a hard time believing that just five
years ago, it was UCLA that was the superior football program in
Los Angeles.
But this weekend means more than just football to the hardcore
UCLA fan.
There will be two Bruin teams in the Final Fours of their
respective sports ““ men’s water polo and women’s
soccer.
The UCLA men’s water polo team will be heavily favored
against Princeton in its national semifinal on Saturday, and will
likely get a rematch with Stanford in Sunday’s final. UCLA
has beaten Stanford twice already this year.
As a No. 14 seed, the Bruin women’s soccer team would
seemingly be a huge underdog in the upcoming College Cup, but think
again. There have already been numerous upsets in this year’s
tournament bracket, including perennial powerhouse North Carolina,
leaving No. 4 Notre Dame as the highest seed remaining. The Bruins
have been at their best during the postseason and clearly
established themselves as the superior team in their quarterfinal
match at No. 6 Ohio State.
But wait, this weekend gets bigger. The UCLA women’s
volleyball team will likely be hosting a second round playoff match
in Pauley Pavilion.
And, oh yeah, the men’s basketball team will be playing in
the prestigious Wooden Classic, where it will likely encounter its
first serious test of the season against Boston College.
All of this happens between Friday and Sunday. All of it.
But the football game against USC is what can and will be the
determining factor in how UCLA fans remember this weekend. About
70,000 more fans will show up to the football game than at the
other sporting events combined.
If the Bruins somehow manage to upset the Trojans, fans will be
in a much more celebratory mood and more likely to take time out of
their lives to celebrate victories or championships in the other
sports.
If the devils, I mean Trojans, beat UCLA again, any loss by
those other teams would just be another stab in the heart.
It’s kind of sad that the historic value of this weekend
rests on an inconsistent UCLA football team facing a powerhouse
(and evil) USC squad that has won 22 games in a row.
But better that this year’s team be inconsistent instead
of mediocre or bad. At least there’s a chance they can come
out and play a great enough game to upend an incredibly strong
Trojan team.
Besides, this year’s UCLA-USC game represents more than
just a rivalry game with national championship implications.
USC is just plain evil, did I mention that?
Calling for a fake punt when leading 34-10 against Notre Dame on
Saturday was classless and stupid. If the Trojans were smarter,
they would have saved the play until they really needed it against
UCLA or in their bowl game and not waste it in a blowout. The
element of surprise is gone, and that play alone should immediately
end all talk of Pete Carroll being classy.
And wouldn’t we all love to see Trojan fans dejected after
being one win away from going to a real national championship game?
(Last year’s game doesn’t count.)
Imagine seeing that and UCLA win two national championships all
in a 24-hour period. What an incredible weekend that would be.
Yes, Quiñonez is really saying last year’s
“national championship” for USC doesn’t count.
E-mail him at gquinonez@media.ucla.edu.