Pittsburgh vs. UCLA

Pittsburgh and UCLA have 15 meetings on file, the first in 1958; UCLA leads the series 9–⁠6 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s UCLA 7–⁠3.

Pittsburgh wins
6
UCLA wins
9
Ties
0
Earliest on file
1958
Longest streak
6 UCLA
Current streak
1 Pittsburgh
Last 10 meetings
UCLA 7–⁠3
Most recent
2022

The series at a glance

Every meeting by decade, colored by the winner
’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1950s2–⁠0
1960s2–⁠7
1970s1–⁠2
2020s1–⁠0
Average margin
17.1 points; 6 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Pittsburgh
2–⁠4 Pittsburgh’s record at home
At UCLA
5–⁠3 UCLA’s record at home
Neutral sites
1–⁠0 Pittsburgh first
Shutouts
1

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

  1. Pittsburgh’s biggest win1958: Pittsburgh 27, UCLA 6by 21 points
  2. UCLA’s biggest win1968: UCLA 63, Pittsburgh 7by 56 points
  3. Upset1964: UCLA 17, Pittsburgh 12UCLA had a 20% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Upset1971: Pittsburgh 29, UCLA 25Pittsburgh had a 27% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  5. Upset1958: Pittsburgh 27, UCLA 6Pittsburgh had a 32% chance, by our ratings before kickoff

Coach against coach

YearsPittsburghSeriesUCLA
1959–⁠1964John Michelosen3–⁠3Bill Barnes
1966–⁠1968Dave Hart0–⁠3Tommy Prothro

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Pittsburgh’s side (Michelosen 3–⁠3 against Barnes). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Pittsburgh and UCLA, 1958 on1300150017001960197019801990200020102020

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

Stars of the series

Named most valuable

Rodney Hammond Jr. Pittsburgh2022

Most valuable: as the games’ Wikipedia articles name them (CC BY-SA).

From the newspapers

  • The Evening star's story of the 1958 game: Interception by Toncic Spurs Pitt to Victory

    1958 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Sep 21, 1958

  • The Evening star's story of the 1961 game

    1961 · Evening star, Oct 25, 1961

  • The Evening star's story of the 1962 game: 4eads-Up Redskins Defy Law Of Averages WIN LOSE OR DRAW West Coasts F football Muscles Are for Real

    1962 · Evening star, Washington, D.C., Oct 22, 1962

Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.

Every game

Dec 30, 2022Pittsburgh 37, 18UCLA 35Sun BowlSun Bowl
Sep 16, 19728UCLA 38, Pittsburgh 28at Pittsburgh
Sep 11, 1971Pittsburgh 29, 15UCLA 25at UCLA
Sep 19, 197016UCLA 24, Pittsburgh 15at Pittsburgh
Sep 20, 196917UCLA 42, Pittsburgh 8at UCLA
Sep 21, 196816UCLA 63, Pittsburgh 7at UCLA
Sep 23, 19676UCLA 40, Pittsburgh 8at Pittsburgh
Sep 17, 19664UCLA 57, Pittsburgh 14at UCLA
Sep 12, 1964UCLA 17, Pittsburgh 12at Pittsburgh
Sep 20, 1963Pittsburgh 20, UCLA 0at UCLA
Oct 20, 1962Pittsburgh 8, UCLA 6at Pittsburgh
Oct 21, 1961UCLA 20, Pittsburgh 6at UCLA
Sep 17, 1960UCLA 8, 7Pittsburgh 7at UCLA
Oct 3, 1959Pittsburgh 25, UCLA 21at Pittsburgh
Sep 20, 195819Pittsburgh 27, UCLA 6at UCLA

Every game is listed as played on the field.