<p>I was just thinking...how come ucla is rivals with usc and cal is rivals with stanford? I know that these are "cross town" rivalries, but realistically speaking, ucla-usc and ucla-cal are much more realistic rivalries than cal-stanford. I was just reading countless threads on websites, and to most people in the country, ucla and usc are a tier below cal and stanford, even though ucla, cal, and usc are basically ranked together (21, 24, 26) while stanford is not (4). I chose ucla over berkeley because I liked it more, but I also knew I would be having to deal with the very annoying and minute difference in prestige between ucla and cal. It's tradition, but that aside, wouldn't ucla be doing itself a favor by rivaling cal, the other UC rather than usc? To me, ucla and cal are exactly the same in terms of "goodness", but by rivaling usc, we are basically handing over the title of "best UC" over to cal.</p>
<p>(not that anything will change. Just my two cents)</p>
<p>ha I’ve seen that clip a few times on TV, it’s pretty popular. </p>
<p>I personally don’t understand why everyone is still playing this charade. I got so sick of hearing all those USC jokes at orientation and seeing vids of all the hostility. Why can’t we just get along -.-</p>
<p>The rivalries are all pretty much rooted in sports, not academics. It would not work so well to have a sports rivalry with Cal because games held at Cal would have very few UCLA fans in the audience, and vice versa…which wouldn’t promote a very fun/competitive/spirited atmosphere.</p>
<p>How is it “annoying” to deal with the difference in prestige with Cal? I never once had to deal with that “issue”.</p>
<p>Uh…because if these rivalries were based on academics they would suck (unless they were super geeky and geniuses like M.I.T./Cal Tech, then maybe). UCLA and USC are big time sports universities so that’s one of the main reasons they’d make such good rivals. The fact they’re also about 10-15 miles apart makes it an even better rivalry; both schools competing to be the dominant university in Los Angeles. And VTECaddict is right. Cal wouldn’t have many UCLA fans in the audience whilst UCLA and USC both have stadiums that are close to their respective schools. We also have a long tradition of history in our rivalry with SC. IMO, I don’t really see Cal as our “rival.” I guess they’re more of a big brother school. Just another member of the UC system.</p>
<p>“I personally don’t understand why everyone is still playing this charade. I got so sick of hearing all those USC jokes at orientation and seeing vids of all the hostility. Why can’t we just get along -.-”</p>
<p>At the same time why don’t we all just cancel everything in the world and crown everybody champions and winners and sing kum bah yah and hold hands and sing like little cute school girls?</p>
<p>The rivalry today is sure pathetic compared to what it used to be. Thanks for contributing.</p>
<p>VTECaddict and notaznguy,
I know they are based on sports, but it has grown to be moer than just that. If there was a single reference to football, or even basketball rivalry during any of the cabarets, please show me. If it was solely based on sports, I wouldn’t care if we rivaled a community college, but truth is, the rivalry is now not only sports, but also just schools. You two are poking fun at the two of us because we don’t see the point or see the logic in the current rivalry between usc and ucla. People everywhere can’t distinguish whether usc or ucla is a better school, but they can distinguish cal as a better school. ucla is as much better as usc ranking wise as cal is better than ucla. So if the line is completely blurred between usc and ucla, how come it is not, at all, for ucla and cal?
As for dealing with the difference in prestige, not everyone had a clear cut choice made between ucla and cal, because everyone knows cal is a little more prestigious, but not for real reasons. Hence, we chose “the second best”, even though many of us could’ve chosen “the best one”.</p>
<p>-_- this thread is pointless. And the comments are inane. F 'SC and get on with it. “Everyone knows” is a terrible phrase to use. Grow up and get over ‘prestige’.</p>
<p>Things are not black and white. Certain things are considered better in certain situations and it really just “depends”. Take a step back from your assumptions and thoughts and look at the ecosystem. Best for you is not the same as best for someone else, and it’s foolhardy to make those assumptions. </p>
<p>Each rivalry exists because of location and league.
All four schools play Division 1 sports and they’re all in the Pacific-10 conference, the most elite collegiate sports conference on the west coast. Each school has a minor rivalry with every other school in the Pac-10 just because they’re in the same league. Cal is probably UCLA’s #2 rival (and vice-versa) because they’re the other UC school in the Pac-10. Stanford and USC are minor rivals because they’re the only two private schools.
UCLA and USC are both in Los Angeles, Cal and Stanford are both near San Francisco. Both rivalries formed long before university rankings existed. More importantly, both rivalries existed before sporting events were televised. So like VTECaddict said,
Fans want to stomp the other local school, not some school 300 miles away.
As far as NCAA titles won, UCLA, USC, and Stanford are the top 3 in the nation, in that order.</p>
<p>Thanks, just sharing my thoughts and hoping to hear from others on why the rivalries were what they were. NOT expecting to be attacked…anyone who attends UCLA cares for prestige.</p>
<p>or maybe they’d like to attend an university for something other than prestige. something like, oh i dont know, ambience and atmosphere ?
not everything is about prestige…</p>
Perhaps to an extent…which is probably one of the reasons why we didn’t pick another “lesser” UC. But we definitely do not obsess over them as MANY students picked UCLA over Cal, Ivy’s etc, even though UCLA is less “prestigious.”</p>
<p>Rankings and prestige are not everything. What you do and what you make of your college career is much more important than going to school X that is ranked 3 spots ahead of school Y. If that is all you care about, then I think you picked the wrong school. You’re going to keep kicking yourself for picking “the second best” over “the best.”</p>
<p>Besides, Cal was the original UC, so it’s always going to have that sort of halo effect.</p>