“The Conference of Champions” captivated the college football world.
A conference anchored in deep regional ties, historic rivalries and a century of shared traditions.
Since its breakup in 2024, the old Pac-12 has become a distant memory. But fans will get a throwback to the “Pac-12 After Dark” era when UCLA and California open the season Saturday at California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley.
The battle between two new coaches, with former James Madison coach Bob Chesney leading UCLA against former Oregon defensive coordinator and Cal alum Tosh Lupoi, will mark the first time the sister schools have faced off since 2023; that matchup, coincidentally, was the old Pac-12’s final regular season game.
UCLA players congratulate kicker Mateen Bhaghani (94) after he kicked a 54-yard field goal against Penn State on Oct. 4 at the Rose Bowl.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
While just 13 Bruins remain on the roster since their 33-7 loss three seasons ago, a pair of former Golden Bears who were on the winning side — running back Jaivian Thomas and kicker Mateen Bhaghani — now wear UCLA jerseys.
The Bruins’ roster features three other former Bears — senior wide receiver Mikey Matthews, senior outside linebacker Ryan McCulloch and fifth-year defensive lineman Tyson Ford — along with linebackers coach Vic So’oto and director of player personnel Nic So’oto, both of whom spent last year at Berkeley.
For Thomas, in particular, Saturday represents not only a return to his former school, but also a homecoming for the Oakland native.
“I’m going back home, about 15 minutes away from Berkeley. It’s where I started my college career,” Thomas said. “I want to stamp that game, and once I found out we played them, it was marked on my calendar. I’m excited for that game, and I want to go down there and get this win, start off the year right.”
Thomas, who attended McClymonds High less than five miles from Memorial Stadium, said the stands will be “stacked full” of family members.
And while the return to Cal will not be a homecoming for Bhaghani, a San Diego native, the game is important to him too.
“It’s almost a dream come true to go play at the school that my career started at,” Bhaghani said. “I’m going to enter the game as any other, but it’s a significant game for me, and I definitely want to perform to my level.”
As much as Bhaghani wants to downplay the personal significance of the season opener, he acknowledged he has been counting down the minutes to his return.
And that includes talking with Thomas and Matthews about their excitement.
“I’ll go up to them almost every day and be like, ‘Hey, two weeks, three weeks,’ so they know it’s important for all of us, and with this day and age in college football, it’s important to put a lot of pride into those types of games,” Bhaghani said.
UCLA receiver Mikey Matthews runs with the ball against Washington at the Rose Bowl on Nov. 22.
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
Bhaghani is not alone in his belief in revitalizing the historic rivalry between UCLA and Cal. In an era when conferences increasingly lack regional ties, the fanfare and excitement of annual battles between old rivals is on the decline.
But Cal general manager Ron Rivera wants to bring back the Bear Bowl — and not just for this season.
“Just the fact that we are playing UCLA again, that’s huge for both universities. They’re one of our natural rivals and we are going to rekindle that and hopefully we can keep that going, kind of like what we do with Stanford,” Rivera told reporters. “It’s one of those natural things you want to see. It’s a big deal for a lot of the L.A. kids that come up here and play, that they’re playing against those guys.”
Both schools’ decision to renew the rivalry already has paid off, with Lupoi and Cal deciding Wednesday to remove the tarps off the seats in the south end zone of Memorial Stadium as a sold-out crowd is expected, potentially the largest in more than a decade.
While adversarial crowds often are a home-field advantage, Matthews understands the challenge that lies ahead but is excited to be back and playing in front of the Cal faithful.
“We definitely have to come out fast. It’s going to be pretty packed over there, so we just got to let them know that we’re going to be on that timing and everything over there,” Matthews said. “But it’s going to be cool going back to see everything, and I like that environment and atmosphere over there because they have great fans over there as well.”
Despite the excitement and anticipation surrounding potentially one of the biggest games of Week 1, not everyone is treating it as such.
Ford, for one, said he’s looking at the opener like any other game on the schedule.
“It’s the most exciting game because it’s the next game,” Ford said. “After that, the next game will be the most exciting. I’m just ready to go, whoever we play, it doesn’t really matter.”
Bhaghani is less reserved in his view of the matchup.
“I wear the blue and gold with a lot of pride and I really do believe UCLA is the best public university in the country,” Bhaghani said. “I really do put a lot on that game, and everybody on our team will, as a season opener, two schools with brand new head coaches. It’s going to be a shootout, and we’ll come out on top.”