When UCLA pressed the reset button on its schemes in the offseason, it did so with an eye on Stanford. 

After eight consecutive losses to the Cardinal – the Bruins’ longest losing streak against any school since joining what is now the Pac-12 in 1928 -- there was nothing to indicate anything would change if the Bruins simply stayed the course.  The Cardinal’s physical, ball-control style of football just made for a bad matchup. 

“The fact that we changed our offense [to a more pro-style scheme] I hope would help a little bit,” said UCLA coach Jim Mora, who is 0-5 against Stanford. 

If it doesn’t, there is no reprieve in sight. 

Stanford and David Shaw are 11-2 against UCLA and USC over the past five years.  Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

Unlike other schools in the North, like Oregon and Washington, which cycle on and off the Bruins’ schedule, Stanford is a yearly fixture.  When the conference expanded to 12 teams in 2011, it opted to ensure the California schools – UCLA, Stanford, Cal and USC – would all play each other every year.  Regardless what it meant for competitive balance, it was decided those traditional matchups needed to be played annually. 

That decision effectively makes Stanford, at least currently, the team both Los Angeles schools need to be best equipped to deal with -- even more so than any team in their division.  They have to see the Cardinal during the regular season and, if either wins the South, there's a high probability Stanford will be waiting in the conference championship. 

Mora is indifferent to the scheduling quirk, but the state’s other three Pac-12 coaches are not. 

“For me, being a Stanford alum, I love it,” Stanford coach David Shaw said. “ There are a lot of people who go back and forth, ‘Well, it just makes it harder on all of us.  Other conferences don’t do that.  They cycle each other out.’  But for me, I love the fact that the California schools are going to play each other every year.  It’s hard for me to imagine that we won’t play SC and UCLA every year.” 

“[Not playing those games is] a strange concept for me growing up knowing that those are things that you can count on.  Our alumni count on those.  I think our fan bases count on those.  I think we’ve got natural built-in rivalries that I would hate to take a two-year hiatus from.” 

It’s worth considering the Cardinal’s run of success – winning three conference titles in the five years since expansion – could have played a factor in shaping Shaw’s opinion.  The Cardinal is 11-2 against UCLA and USC during that span. 

If only because across the Bay, the same could be said, from the opposite perspective, of Cal coach Sonny Dykes’ vastly different stance. 

“I understand tradition of the California schools playing each other every year; I get it,” he said. “ But if it’s done for tradition, why are we playing UCLA on every day except Saturday?  We played them last year on a non-Saturday, we playing them this year on a non-Saturday.  So there’s not a lot of tradition involved in that deal and so I don’t really understand it.  I don’t think it makes any sense at all.” 

Cal is 1-9 against UCLA and USC since expansion and as a program which has averaged 5.9 regular-season wins a year over the past decade, every game matters for bowl eligibility. 

“If they’re going to treat the games differently, like I said, make them traditional day games.  You can’t talk out of both sides of your mouth, in my opinion.  It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.  I think we need to have a normal round-robin schedule, but, hey, that’s just me you know?” 

Despite USC’s unimpressive showing against Stanford last week, Trojans coach Clay Helton is with Shaw. 

“I think it’s great for our fans.  I think it’s great for the league,” he said. “ When there are interstate rivalries, what’s better than that?  This is my seventh year here.  It would feel weird not playing Stanford and Cal every year.”