Through 2023, the UCLA Bruins have played in 38 bowl games, compiling a record of .
After California's third straight Rose Bowl loss in 1951, the Pacific Coast Conference disallowed consecutive appearances. The first PCC program adversely affected was UCLA; the undefeated and second-ranked 1954 team was ineligible for the 1955 Rose Bowl; it would have been the second of three consecutive. The rule was dropped by the succeeding AAWU (Big Five) in 1959 (Washington won in 1960 and 1961), but the Big Ten kept it from the late 1940s until the early 1970s.
The Pac-8 (and Big Ten) did not allow multiple bowl teams until the 1975 season, in which the Bruins won the Rose Bowl. In twelve Rose Bowl appearances, UCLA has won five (), with three streaks: five losses, five wins, and currently two losses. The last victory was in January 1986 (third in four years), and the most recent appearance was in 1999.
Key +General Bowl game record attendance Former bowl game record attendance * Denotes national championship game
+ Results W Win L Loss T Tie
Bowl games + List of bowl games showing bowl played in, date, winning team, score, losing team, stadium, location, attendance, head coach, and MVP#BowlDateWinning teamScoreLosing teamStadiumLocationAttendanceHead coachMVP1Rose BowlGeorgiaUCLARose BowlPasadena, California93,000 (Georgia)2Rose BowlIllinoisUCLARose BowlPasadena, California93,000 (Illinois)Julius Rykovich (Illinois)3Rose BowlMichigan StateUCLARose BowlPasadena, California100,500 (MSU)4Rose BowlMichigan StateUCLARose BowlPasadena, California100,809 (MSU)5Rose BowlMinnesotaUCLARose BowlPasadena, California98,214 (Minnesota)6Rose BowlUCLAMichigan StateRose BowlPasadena, California100,087 (UCLA)7Rose BowlUCLAOhio StateRose BowlPasadena, California105,464 (UCLA)8Liberty BowlAlabamaUCLAMemphis Memorial StadiumMemphis, Tennessee52,736 (Alabama)9Fiesta BowlUCLAArkansasSun Devil StadiumTempe, Arizona55,227 (UCLA)Jimmy Walker (Arkansas)10Bluebonnet BowlMichiganUCLAHouston AstrodomeHouston, Texas50,107 (Michigan)11Rose BowlUCLAMichiganRose BowlPasadena, California104,991 (UCLA)Don Rogers (UCLA)12Rose BowlUCLAIllinoisRose BowlPasadena, California103,217 (UCLA)13Fiesta BowlUCLAMiamiSun Devil StadiumTempe, Arizona60,310 (UCLA)James Washington (UCLA)14Rose BowlUCLAIowaRose BowlPasadena, California103,292 (UCLA)15Freedom BowlUCLABrigham YoungAnaheim StadiumAnaheim, California55,422 (UCLA)16Aloha BowlUCLAFloridaAloha StadiumHonolulu, HI24,839 (UCLA)Emmit Smith (Florida)17Cotton BowlUCLAArkansasCotton BowlDallas74,304 (UCLA)LaSalle Harber (Arkansas)18Sun BowlUCLAIllinoisSun Bowl StadiumEl Paso, Texas42,281 (UCLA)19Rose BowlWisconsinUCLARose BowlPasadena, California101,237 (Wisconsin)20Aloha BowlKansasUCLAAloha StadiumHonolulu, HI41,112 (UCLA)Mark Williams (Kansas)21Cotton BowlUCLATexas A&MCotton BowlDallas59,215 (UCLA)Dat Nguyen (Texas A&M)22Rose BowlWisconsinUCLARose BowlPasadena, California93,872 (Wisconsin)23Sun BowlWisconsinUCLASun Bowl StadiumEl Paso, Texas49,093 (UCLA)24Las Vegas BowlUCLANew MexicoSam Boyd StadiumWhitney, Nevada30,324 (UCLA)25Silicon Valley BowlFresno StateUCLASpartan StadiumSan Jose, California20,126 (FSU)Rodney Davis (FSU)26Las Vegas BowlWyomingUCLASam Boyd StadiumWhitney, Nevada29,062 (Wyoming)27Sun BowlUCLANorthwesternSun Bowl StadiumEl Paso, Texas50,426 (UCLA)Chris Markey (UCLA)28Emerald BowlFlorida StateUCLAAT&T ParkSan Francisco40,331 (FSU)Tony Carter (FSU)29Las Vegas BowlBrigham YoungUCLASam Boyd StadiumWhitney, Nevada40,712 (BYU)30EagleBank BowlUCLATempleRFK StadiumWashington, D.C.23,072 (UCLA)31Kraft Fight Hunger BowlIllinoisUCLAAT&T ParkSan Francisco29,878 (Illinois)Nathan Scheelhaase (Illinois)32Holiday BowlBaylorNo. 17 UCLAQualcomm StadiumSan Diego55,507 (Baylor)Chris McAllister (Baylor)33Sun BowlNo. 17 UCLAVirginia TechSun Bowl StadiumEl Paso, Texas47,912 (UCLA)Jordan Zumwalt (UCLA)34Alamo BowlNo. 14 UCLANo. 11 Kansas StateAlamodomeSan Antonio, Texas60,517 (UCLA)Eric Kendricks (UCLA)Tyler Lockett (Kansas State)35Foster Farms BowlNebraskaUCLALevi's StadiumSanta Clara, California33,257 Tommy Armstrong, Jr. (Nebraska)Jaleel Wadood (UCLA)36Cactus BowlKansas StateUCLAChase FieldPhoenix, Arizona32,859Alex Delton (Kansas State)Denzel Goolsby (Kansas State)37Sun BowlPittsburghUCLASun Bowl StadiumEl Paso, Texas 41,104Rodney Hammond Jr. (Pittsburgh)38LA BowlUCLABoise StateSoFi StadiumInglewood, California 32,780 Ethan Garbers (UCLA)Darius Muasau (UCLA)
Note: UCLA also played in the 1939 Pineapple Bowl, beating Hawaii W 32–7. However, the NCAA does not consider it a Major Bowl, and therefore does not count it towards a team's bowl record as it was a pre-scheduled game.
Game notes
1943 Rose Bowl
1st quarter scoring: No score
2nd quarter scoring: No score
3rd quarter scoring: No score
4th quarter scoring: Georgia – Willard "Red" Boyd blocks Bob Waterfield's punt out of bounds for an automatic safety; Georgia – Frank Sinkwich, one-yard run (Leo Costa converts)
1947 Rose Bowl
The 33rd Rose Bowl featured the 10-0 UCLA Bruins, led by head coach Ray Eliot, and the 7-2 Illinois Fighting Illini, led by head coach Bert LaBrucherie. UCLA lost the game, 14-45, they were favored to win by 14 points. Illinois rushed for a combined 320 yards, a then Rose Bowl record (Harrison 2018). UCLA Bruins kick returner, and member of the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame, Al Hoisch, returned a kickoff 103 yards for a touchdown, a current Rose Bowl record (Bowman). First quarter scoring:
Illinois - Julius Rykovich, one-yard run. (Kick failed).
UCLA - Ernie Case, one-yard quarterback sneak. (Case converts).
Second quarter scoring:
Illinois - Buddy Young, two-yard run. (Maechtle converts). Illinois - Paul Patterson four yard run. (Kick failed). Illinois - Perry Moss one-yard sneak. (Kick blocked). UCLA - Al Hoisch returns Maechtle's kickoff 103. (Case converts).
Third quarter scoring:
No scoring.
Fourth quarter scoring:
Illinois - Young, one-yard run. (Maechtle converts). Illinois - Russ Steger, 68-yard interception return. (Kick failed). Illinois - Stan Green, 20 yard interception return. (Maechtle converts).
1954 Rose Bowl In the fourth quarter, the Bruins recovered another Spartan fumble and scored to make the score 21–20. But the extra point kick failed. Billy Wells of Michigan State returned a punt 62 yards for a touchdown with 4:51 left in the game.
1956 Rose Bowl
1962 Rose Bowl
1966 Rose Bowl
1976 Rose Bowl
1983 Rose Bowl
1984 Rose Bowl
1985 Fiesta Bowl
1986 Rose Bowl
The 72nd Rose Bowl Game played on January 1, 1986. Between The UCLA Bruins upset the Iowa Hawkeyes. The UCLA Bruins upset the Iowa Hawkeyes 45–28. UCLA tailback Eric Ball was named the Player Of The Game. He ran for a Rose Bowl record four touchdowns and was MVP of the game. The game Attendance was 103,292.
+ Box Score Team 1st Q 2nd Q 3rd Q 4th Q Total UCLA 10 14 7 14 45 Iowa 7 3 7 11 28
1994 Rose Bowl
The weather was 73 degrees and hazy. UCLA receiver J. J. Stokes set Rose Bowl records for receptions (14) and receiving yards (176). Brent Moss gashed the UCLA defense for 158 rushing yards and 2 TDs.
First quarter scoring: UCLA — Bjorn Merten 27-yard field goal; Wisconsin — Brent Moss three-yard run (Rick Schnetzky kick)
Second quarter scoring: Wisconsin — Moss one-yard run (Schnetzky kick)
Third quarter scoring: No Scoring
Fourth quarter scoring: UCLA — Ricky Davis 12-yard run (Merten kick); Wisconsin — Darrell Bevell 21-yard run (Schnetzky kick); UCLA — Mike Nguyen five-yard pass from Wayne Cook (2-point conversion pass failed)
Statistics Team stats Wisconsin UCLA First downs 21 31 Net yards rushing 250 212 Net yards passing 96 288 Total yards 346 500 PC–PA–Int. 10–20–1 28–43–1 Punts–Avg. 6–38.2 2–35.0 Fumbles–Lost 2–0 5–5 Penalties–Yards 12–89 9–95
1995 Aloha Bowl
First quarter scoring: KU—Jim Moore, nine-yard pass from Mark Williams. Jeff McCord converts.
Second quarter scoring: KU—June Henley, 49-yard run. McCord converts; KU—McCord, 27-yard field goal.
Third quarter scoring KU—Henley, two-yard run. McCord kick fails; UCLA—Brad Melsby, eight-yard pass from Cade McNown (Bjorn Merten kick); KU—Isaac Byrd, 77-yard pass from Williams (McCord converts); KU—Andre Carter, 27-yard pass from Williams (McCord converts)
Fourth quarter scoring UCLA—Kevin Jordan, eight-yard pass from McNown (Merten kick); UCLA — Karim Abdul-Jabbar five-yard run (Melsby pass from McNown); KU—Williams, six-yard run (McCord converts); UCLA—Melsby, seven-yard pass from McNown (Abdul-Jabbar run); KU—Eric Vann, 67-yard run (McCord converts)
1998 Cotton Bowl Classic
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1999 Rose Bowl
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2000 Sun Bowl
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2002 Las Vegas Bowl
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2003 Silicon Valley Bowl
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2004 Las Vegas Bowl
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2005 Sun Bowl
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2006 Emerald Bowl
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On February 8, 2010, Florida State University agreed to accept NCAA sanctions against its athletic programs, and agreed to vacate 12 football victories, including the 2006 Emerald Bowl victory over UCLA. Florida State has stated their intention to return the championship trophy.
2007 Las Vegas Bowl
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2009 EagleBank Bowl
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2011 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl
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2012 Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl
Baylor (8–5) vs No. 17 UCLA (9–5)
2013 80th Hyundai Sun Bowl
Virginia Tech (8–5,5–3) vs. No. 17 UCLA (10–3,6–3)
2015 22nd Valero Alamo Bowl
#11 Kansas State (9–3,7–2) vs. No. 14 UCLA (9–3,6–3)
2017 Cactus Bowl
Kansas State Wildcats (7–5) vs. UCLA Bruins (6–6)
2021 Holiday Bowl
No. 18 NC State Wolfpack (9–3) vs. UCLA Bruins (8–4)
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