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

Total Lexus Gauntlet Victories: USC 4 - 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.