Texas Tech vs. ACU Among Other In-State College Football Games for Week 0 and 1
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Northern Arizona University at the University of Arizona in a week's one college football matchup.
The distance between the two schools: 144 miles, separates these two Arizona schools
The beginning of these two schools playing: They first played each other in football back in 1931 when Arizona won, 19-12.
The last games of this series: In 2024, the Wildcats defeated the Lumberjacks by a final score of 22-10.
The overall series leader: Arizona, has a 17-2 lead in this series.
The current winning streak in this in-state series: Arizona only has a two-game winning streak in this series because they were upset by the Lumberjacks in 2021, when the Wildcats lost 21-19.
The game prediction: Arizona 37, Northern Arizona 10
UCLA at Cal in this former Pac-12 in-state rivalry.
Another lesser-known college football rivalry nationally, especially since both schools left the Pac-12, is the California-UCLA football rivalry. The California Golden Bears and UCLA Bruins have agreed to restart playing one another. The two schools are located in California, with Cal in the San Francisco Bay Area and UCLA in the Greater Los Angeles Area (where it plays home games in Pasadena), roughly 350 miles apart.
The schools have faced each other 94 times, with UCLA holding a 57-36-1 series edge all-time. The rivalry dates back to 1933, when the two sides played out a 0-0 draw in their first ever meeting. The Bruins have won eight of the last eleven meetings, including a 35-28 victory in 2022.
If you don't know, the football rivalry between Cal and UCLA is one of the most intense and least publicized in college football. The two teams are known for verbal sparring before games, but sportsmanship is a hallmark of the rivalry, and the sparring very rarely crosses the line in comparison to other in-state rivalries. The two schools have a long history of collaboration and have supported each other through difficult times, such as when they helped each other during the Covid pandemic.
This is the first time these two schools have met in football as UCLA moved to the Big Ten and Cal to the ACC. In the last 20 Cal vs. UCLA matchups, the Bruins have won 11 of those games, as this rivalry has been balanced in who wins the last twenty times they have played each other on the football field.
Cal and UCLA also compete in other sports throughout the season beyond their regular rivalry and hold festivals celebrating the achievements of the UC System. They call the rivalry All-University Weekend, and fans of both schools commonly refer to it as the Bear Bowl.
UCLA has won three of the last four meetings in this series, but Cal has a one-game winning streak in this rivalry. The last time these two teams met on the football field, the Golden Bears won by a final score of 33-7 over the Bruins in 2023.
The game prediction: UCLA 33, Cal 30
Washington State at Washington in this long-storied rivalry.
The distance between the two schools: 290 separates these two schools.
The beginning of these two schools playing: The Washington Huskies and the Washington State Cougars began their Apple Cup rivalry way back in 1900, which resulted in a low-scoring, 5–5 tie.
The last games of this series: These two football teams played each other last season when Washington won by a final score of 59-24.
The overall series leader: Washington leads the all-time series with a 77-34-6 record over Washington State.
The current winning streak in this in-state series: The Huskies have a one-game winning streak in this in-state rivalry.
The game prediction: Washington 38, Washington State 21.
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Ryan Kay is a journalist who graduated from Michigan State in 2003 and is passionate about covering college sports and enjoys writing features and articles covering various collegiate teams. He has worked as an editor at Go Joe Bruin and has been a contributor for Longhorns Wire and Busting Brackets. He is a contributor for Texas Tech On SI.