The majority of southern Californians look at the rivalry between UCLA and USC on two levels.
Football and basketball … that’s it.
I’m sure that very few understand that there is more than bragging rights on the line when these two face off.
There’s a trophy involved.
The Lexus Gauntlet is an annual contest, which began in 2001, that awards either UCLA or USC the Lexus Gauntlet Trophy at the end of the school year.
The winner is decided depending on which school performs better over the course of the year in a variety of sports. Eighteen to be exact.
Those sports include men’s and women’s water polo, men’s and women’s track, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s volleyball, women’s soccer, women’s swimming, women’s cross country, women’s rowing, baseball and football.
The Gauntlet is based on an overall scale of 110 points; a win in each sport is worth a specified number of points.
For the first six seasons, the Bruins and the Trojans went back and forth on who claimed the trophy, but USC became the first of the two schools to win the trophy back-to-back. The Trojans captured the trophy in 2007-2008 and 2008-2009.
USC leads the current tally 5-3.
Now that the history lesson is out of the way, here are my predictions regarding eight sports that could make or break either school’s trophy chances.
Women’s Basketball ““ 10 points:
UCLA and USC split their two meetings from a year ago, each winning at home. The Bruins return a solid core group including Jasmine Dixon, who was forced to sit out last year after transferring from Rutgers. But the Women of Troy return three players who earned All-Pac-10 honors, and they have a new coach in Michael Cooper, the former Los Angeles Sparks coach who led them to two WNBA Championships. He figures to make a significant impact in this rivalry. That said, I think the two teams will split once again, each winning at home. They each win five points.
Women’s Volleyball ““ 10 points:
The Bruins got off to a blazing start this season with an upset victory over the No. 6 Nebraska Cornhuskers, a women’s volleyball powerhouse. With the win, the No. 14 Bruins ended Nebraska’s 90-match home winning streak. However, after an 8-1 start, the Bruins have cooled down significantly as of late. They are 2-2 in their last four matches, while the Trojans have made a jump to No. 13 in the polls, one spot ahead of the Bruins. A safe assumption would be that the Bruins and Trojans both win on their respective home courts, each winning five points.
Men’s and Women’s Water Polo ““ 5 points each:
Women’s water polo is something of a perplexing issue. The Women of Troy defeated UCLA twice in last year’s regular season. But in last year’s national championship, the then-No. 3 Bruins slipped past the then-No. 1 Trojans to win their fifth straight National Championship. This season, each squad will boast World Championship gold medalists, but there will be two major differences for UCLA. Last year’s Player of the Year Tanya Gandy graduated, and Adam Krikorian, the architect of the UCLA water polo program, is now coach of USA National Team, meaning he will no longer be poolside for the Bruins. That alone urges me to give the Trojans the edge. Nothing against new head coach Brandon Brooks, but this year will serve as an adjustment period in Westwood. Five points to USC.
As for men’s water polo, it looked as if it was going to be a tough year for the Bruins with the Trojans coming off of a 29-0 season and a National Championship. However, the Bruins proved they are indeed a viable national title contender this past weekend, when they defeated the No. 1 ranked Trojans 5-4 at the NorCal Water Polo Tournament. Although UCLA lost to Stanford in the tournament final, it was still able to jump ahead of USC in this week’s polls, now sitting at No. 2 in the rankings while the Trojans occupy the No. 3 spot. The two teams split their two meetings, each receiving two-and-a-half points.
Men’s and Women’s Tennis ““ 5 points each:
The Bruin men defeated the Trojans twice last season, but the Trojans eventually went on to win the NCAA Championship. The Bruins came up short in the NCAA semifinals, but they return five key players from last year’s run and will undoubtedly be in the national title picture once again. However, the Trojans return six key members from last year’s championship run, including senior Robert Farah, who begins this season as the No. 3 singles player in the country. It’s close, but I can’t go against the strong returning class for the Trojans. They get five points.
In women’s tennis, UCLA and USC should split their two season meetings. They split their matches last season, and each squad returns two Top-40 singles players. Key to the Bruins success will be the play of senior Yasmin Schnack, who begins the season as the No. 11 singles player in the country. Give each two-and-a-half points.
Football ““ 10 points:
The Bruins haven’t defeated the Trojans since that miracle victory in 2006. That was only three short years ago, but the Trojans still appear to be superior to the Bruins on the gridiron. UCLA is 1-9 against USC in the last 10 years and it doesn’t help that this year’s game will take place at the Coliseum. Give 10 points to the Trojans.
Men’s Basketball ““ 10 points:
This should serve as an interesting year for the Bruin-Trojan rivalry when it comes to basketball. Both schools lost at least three of their top players with the conclusion of last season. Darren Collison, Josh Shipp and Jrue Holiday are gone for the Bruins, and Taj Gibson, Daniel Hackett and Demar Derozan are no longer Trojans. But the key factor is that Tim Floyd, the Trojan’s former head coach, is no longer in the mix, causing the Trojans to lose several new recruits. This could end up being a rebuilding year for USC. The Bruins take men’s basketball, earning 10 points.
These eight sports represent 60 out of the 110 possible points. UCLA claims 25 of these points, 10 fewer than the 35 gained by the Trojans.
Besides women’s soccer, which the Bruins usually dominate, each of the nine remaining sports will be up for grabs.
If we calculate last year’s points from the nine remaining sports, which are men’s and women’s track, men’s and women’s golf, women’s swimming, women’s rowing, women’s cross country, baseball and men’s volleyball, USC tallied 32.5 points and UCLA only gained 17.5.
If we go by these numbers, USC will win the Gauntlet trophy for a third year in a row, 67.5 to 42.5.
But it’s hard to say if last year’s results will translate to this year. For instance, 2008 was the first year in which both the Bruins men’s and women’s track teams lost their respective meets against USC in the same year.
It’s impossible to predict who will earn this year’s Gauntlet trophy, but one certainty is that UCLA needs to bounce back.
If the Trojans take the Gauntlet for a third season in a row, it will be hard for the UCLA community to deny that USC may have passed the Bruins on the sports front.
We shall see.
If you think UCLA will win the Lexus Gauntlet 110-0, e-mail Watson at bwatson@media.ucla.edu.