UCLA vs USC

The Lexus Gauntlet is a year-long all sports competition between UCLA and USC. The series began in 2001-2002.

UCLA and USC compete against one another in the following sports with the point total for each sport listed. In the event of a tie in the season series in a particular sport, both universities will split the point total for the sport equally. For those sports that do not compete head-to-head, PAC-10 and/or NCAA competition are used to determine the season series winner. For sports with multiple events, such as men's and women's track and women's swimming, the dual meet finish of the teams is used to award the points in each to the winner.

The 18 sports listed below are worth a total of 110 points. Football, women's volleyball and men's and women's basketball account for 10 points each; the 14 other sports are worth 70 points -- five points per sport. Tiebreakers are also included to settle the series.

Since the inception of the competition, USC and UCLA have traded victories, with no school winning two in a row.

2001-2002: USC
2002-2003: UCLA
2003-2004: USC
2004-2005: UCLA
2005-2006: USC
2006-2007: UCLA
2007-2008: USC
2008-2009: USC

Total Lexus Gauntlet Victories: USC 5 - UCLA 3

VS

UCLA Basketball and USC Football are the two most storied programs in their respective sports*. Each team has won 11 national titles, has been coached by legends in the sport, and is currently at the top of its game thanks to coaches Ben Howland and Pete Carroll.

For every Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton produced within UCLA's basketball program, USC's football team has developed a Marcus Allen and Ronnie Lott. But that doesn't mean one can't be more impressive than the other! Check out below for amazing records held by the UCLA Basketball and USC Football Teams.

UCLA Basketball Records

-- 11 NCAA titles
-- 7 consecutive NCAA titles (1967-1973)
-- 13 NCAA title game appearances
-- 18 Final Four appearances
-- 10 consecutive Final Four appearances (1967-1976)
-- 26 Final Four wins
-- 38 game NCAA Tournament winning streak (1964-1974)
-- 134 weeks ranked #1 in AP Top 25 Poll
-- 221 consecutive weeks ranked in AP Top 25 Poll (1966-1980)
-- 54 consecutive winning seasons (1949-2002)
-- 88 game regular season winning streak (1971-1974)

Sites for UCLA Basketball Fans:

UCLA Bruins basketball on Wikipedia
Bruin Basketball Report
Bruin Hoop Scoop

USC Football Records

-- 11 National Titles
-- 37 PAC-10 Titles
-- 32 Rose Bowl appearances
-- 23 Rose Bowl victories
-- 7 Heisman Trophy winners
-- 34 College Football Hall of Fame inductees
-- 148 Football All-Americans
-- 67 First Round NFL Draft selections
-- 162 Trojans selected to Pro Bowl

Sites for USC Football Fans:

USC Trojans football on Wikipedia
USCFootball.com
Trojan Wire

*Notre Dame, please don't be offended, we just needed a little more hyperbole here.

UCLA is known for its champions. Jackie Robinson. Lew Alcindor. Bill Walton. Evelyn Ashford. Karch Kiraly. Rafer Johnson. Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Lisa Fernandez. Arthur Ashe. Troy Aikman.

No other athletics department in the country has had as much success as UCLA. With 101 NCAA Championships, UCLA was the first school to reach the century mark. It's reached that point due to the abilities of coaches like John Wooden, Al Scates, Sue Enquist, Jim Bush, Bob Larsen, Andy Banachowski, Valorie Kondos Field, and J.D. Morgan.

UCLA's list of NCAA Championships by sport looks like this:

19 - Men's Volleyball
16 - Men's Tennis
11 - Men's Basketball
10 - Women's Softball
8 - Men's Water Polo
8 - Men's Track and Field
5 - Women's Track and Field
5 - Women's Gymnastics
6 - Women's Water Polo (2008!!)
4 - Men's Soccer
3 - Women's Volleyball
2 - Women's Golf
2 - Men's Gymnastics
1 - Men's Golf
1 - Men's Swimming
1 - Women's Tennis (2008!!)

Other amazing facts about UCLA athletics:

-- UCLA has won a nation-leading total of 121 collegiate championships -- 101 NCAA crowns and 21 other titles.

-- Over the last 36 years, UCLA has won at least two collegiate titles 28 times.

-- UCLA has placed amongst the top six schools in each of the 13 years of the Directors' Cup. In 1992-93, UCLA earned the award as the nation's top combined program, according to the annual USA Today All-Sports Survey.

-- In the 23-year history of the All-Sports Survey for men's programs (formerly conducted by the Knoxville Journal), UCLA finished first 11 times (no other school had more than six titles), second seven times, third once and fourth once and was in the top 10 each year. The Bruins won five of the last eight men's surveys and placed fifth in 1993.

-- In the women's survey (formerly sponsored by the Santa Monica Evening Outlook), UCLA won 10 titles in 18 years, including four straight (1988-1991), and finished second in 1992 and 1993.

-- Ralph Bunche, a Bruin basketball player, went on to become undersecretary-general of the U.N. and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950.

-- Five Bruins have won the prestigious Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in America: decathlete Rafer Johnson (1960), basketball player Bill Walton (1973), heptathlete Jackie Joyner Kersee (1985), Florence Griffith-Joyner (1988), and long jumper Mike Powell (1991).

-- Four Bruin women athletes have won the Honda-Broderick Cup as the top collegiate woman athlete of the year: Ann Meyers (1977-1978), Jackie Joyner (1984-1985), Lisa Fernandez (1992-1993), and Natasha Watley (2002-2003).

-- At the 2004 Athens Olympics, UCLA sent 56 athletes, more than any other university in the country.

USC is known first and foremost for it's amazing football heritage. "Tailback U" has generated no fewer than 7 Heisman Trophy winners and has won 11 national titles. It has also produced some of pro football's greatest players.

USC also has an unprecedented record in other sports, particularly track and field and baseball. The 26 national titles won by the USC track team is the most ever, as are the 12 won by the baseball team. Here is a list of every title won by a USC sports team:

26 - Men's Track and Field
16 - Men's Tennis
12 - Men's Baseball
11 - Men's Football*
9 - Men's Swimming & Diving
7 - Women's Tennis
6 - Men's Volleyball
6 - Women's Volleyball
3 - Men's Water Polo
2 - Women's Basketball
2 - Women's Water Polo
2 - Men's Indoor Track and Field
1 - Women's Golf
1 - Women's Track and Field
1 - Women's Swimming & Diving
1 - Men's Gymnastics

Other amazing facts about USC athletics:

-- Trojan teams have won more national championships, 86 men's (including a national-best 73 NCAA titles) and 20 women's, than all but 2 other schools**.

-- The Trojans won at least 1 national team title in 26 consecutive years (1959-60 to 1984-85).

-- USC won the National College All-Sports Championship - an annual ranking by USA Today (previously the Knoxville Journal) of the country's top athletic programs - 6 times since its inception in 1971.

-- Trojan men athletes have won more individual NCAA titles (301) than those from any other school in the nation (the Women of Troy have brought home another 51 individual NCAA crowns).

-- Troy has also established a stellar reputation and a long tradition of nurturing Olympic athletes. Since 1904, 362 Trojan athletes have competed in the Games, taking home 112 gold medals (with at least 1 gold in every summer Olympics since 1912), 66 silver and 58 bronze.

-- Four Trojans have won the prestigious Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in America: diver Sammy Lee (1953), shot putter Parry O'Brien (1959), swimmer John Naber (1977) and swimmer Janet Evans (1989).

-- Two Women of Troy athletes have won the Honda-Broderick Cup as the top collegiate woman athlete of the year: Cheryl Miller (1983-84) and Angela Williams (2001-02). And Trojan women have won 10 Honda Awards, as the top female athlete in their sport.

*Men's football is not counted as an official NCAA Championship, but rather a "National Title".
**including UCLA

These are the things that make the actual rivalry so memorable. They include the campuses, thestadiums, the bands, the songs, the mascots, and of course, the cheerleaders! Be sure to answer the poll below on which school has the better "intangibles"!

The Mascots

The Campuses

VS

The Football Stadiums

VS

The Basketball Arenas

VS

The Marching Bands

VS

The Cheerleaders

VS

Cowabunga! UCLA vs USC has been featured on the Cowabunga blog! Thanks Bonnie!

Argh! The Captain has approved! UCLA vs USC will be linked forevermore at The Isle of Squid! And now you can review this lens here! Thanks Captain!