In the battle of the crosstown rivals, UCLA is the victor. The Crosstown Cup trophy is coming back to Westwood, as UCLA won the annual head-to-head all-sports competition with crosstown competitor USC, 105-85. This is the second time in three years that UCLA has claimed the trophy.
UCLA Baseball’s road sweep of USC May 4-6 gave the Bruins the required 100 points needed to clinch the Crosstown Cup. However, the Bruins’ win did not become official until this past weekend, when potential head-to-head postseason matchups in women’s tennis and women’s water polo did not occur. Although the schools could potentially still meet head-to-head in post-season play, USC could not win back enough points to claim the Crosstown Cup.
“I’m so proud of the hard work and dedication it took from our student-athletes and coaches to help us win this year’s Crosstown Cup,” said UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero. “In what has become one of the most storied rivalries in collegiate athletics, UCLA facing USC always seems to bring out the best in both teams, particularly from a competitive standpoint. For our program to have secured its second Crosstown Cup in the last three years is a terrific accomplishment.”
Each of the 19 sports in which both UCLA and USC field teams counts for 10 points. All 10 points for a sport are awarded to the winner of the most head-to-head contests in that sport (if both schools win an equal amount of matchups in a sport, the 10 points are split). For sports that do not feature a head-to-head competition between the two schools, the highest finisher in Pac-12 or MPSF Championship play will receive the 10 points.
UCLA earned 10 points from women’s volleyball, women’s soccer, women’s cross country, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s volleyball, women’s golf, men’s track and field and baseball. Five points were earned by women’s tennis, women’s water polo and men’s tennis.
While the rivalry dates back to the 1920s, the official head-to-head battle to determine an annual all-sports champion started in the 2001-02 season. With the conclusion of this year’s competition, the Bruins have now taken three of the last five showdowns with the Trojans. View a video about the Crosstown champs UCLA here.