UCLA vs. Wisconsin

UCLA and Wisconsin have 12 meetings on file, the first in 1938; UCLA leads the series 8–⁠4 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s UCLA 7–⁠3.

Scheduled 2027 at Wisconsin. As the programs’ Wikipedia articles list them (CC BY-SA).

UCLA wins
8
Wisconsin wins
4
Ties
0
Earliest on file
1938
Longest streak
7 UCLA
Current streak
1 UCLA
Last 10 meetings
UCLA 7–⁠3
Most recent
2026

The series at a glance

Every meeting by decade, colored by the winner
’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1930s0–⁠1
1950s2–⁠0
1960s1–⁠0
1970s1–⁠0
1980s3–⁠0
1990s0–⁠2
2000s0–⁠1
2020s1–⁠0
Both ranked
4 meetings: UCLA 2, Wisconsin 2; 2 both in the top 10
Average margin
14.2 points; 4 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At UCLA
3–⁠1 UCLA’s record at home
At Wisconsin
0–⁠5 Wisconsin’s record at home
Neutral sites
0–⁠3 UCLA first
Shutouts
2

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

Games that tell the story

  1. UCLA’s biggest win1980: UCLA 35, Wisconsin 0by 35 points
  2. Wisconsin’s biggest win1998: Wisconsin 38, UCLA 31by 7 points
  3. Ranked showdown1998: Wisconsin 38, UCLA 31No. 9 Wisconsin at No. 6 UCLA
  4. Ranked showdown1952: UCLA 20, Wisconsin 7No. 8 UCLA at No. 10 Wisconsin
  5. Ranked showdown1993: Wisconsin 21, UCLA 16No. 9 Wisconsin at No. 14 UCLA
  6. Ranked showdown1981: UCLA 31, Wisconsin 13No. 9 UCLA at No. 20 Wisconsin

Coach against coach

YearsUCLASeriesWisconsin
1979–⁠1982Terry Donahue4–⁠0Dave McClain

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from UCLA’s side (Donahue 4–⁠0 against McClain). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of UCLA and Wisconsin, 1938 on130015001700194019501960197019801990200020102020

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

Freddie Mitchell UCLA2000
Ron Dayne Wisconsin1998
Brent Moss Wisconsin1993

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

From the newspapers

  • The Evening star's story of the 1952 game: |UClA Scores on Interceptions Il ToHond Wisconsin 2O-7Defeot

    1952 · Evening star, Oct 26, 1952

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.

Photos

From the rivalry’s and its games’ categories on Wikimedia Commons (free licenses only, each credited).

Every game

Oct 17, 202612UCLA 17, Wisconsin 7at UCLA
Dec 29, 2000Wisconsin 21, UCLA 20Neutral siteSun Bowl
Jan 1, 19999Wisconsin 38, 6UCLA 31Neutral siteRose Bowl
Jan 1, 19949Wisconsin 21, 14UCLA 16Neutral siteRose Bowl
Sep 18, 198214UCLA 51, Wisconsin 26at Wisconsin
Sep 19, 19819UCLA 31, 20Wisconsin 13at Wisconsin
Sep 27, 198016UCLA 35, Wisconsin 0at UCLA
Sep 22, 197920UCLA 37, Wisconsin 12at Wisconsin
Sep 27, 196914UCLA 34, Wisconsin 23at Wisconsin
Oct 9, 19536UCLA 13, Wisconsin 0at UCLA
Oct 25, 19528UCLA 20, 10Wisconsin 7at Wisconsin
Nov 12, 193815Wisconsin 14, UCLA 7at UCLA

Every game is listed as played on the field.