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NCAA Football Colleges
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2008 UCLA-USC rivalry game in L.A. Memorial Stadium (image cropped). Photo by Bobak Ha'Eri at Wikimedia Commons. Used by permission, CC-By-SA-3.0.

NCAA Division I Football Colleges

School NCAA Subdivision Location Nickname Conference Colors Average Home Game Attendance
UCLA FBS* Los Angeles Bruins Big Ten Blue-Gold 46,805
USC FBS* Los Angeles Trojans Big Ten Cardinal-Gold 71,571

* Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
† NCAA 2024 FBS Average Football Attendence
‡ USC and UCLA had been members of what is now the Pac-12 Conference since 1922 and 1928 respectively. As of September 2024, both had joined the Big Ten Conference, joining fellow former Pac-12 members, University of Washington and University of Oregon, which had joined the Big Ten earlier in the year.

NCAA Division III Football Colleges

School Location Nickname Conference Colors Average Home Game Attendance**
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Claremont Stags SCIAC†† Maroon-Gold 604
La Verne La Verne Leopards SCIAC†† Green-Orange 1,024
Pomona-Pitzer Claremont Sagehens SCIAC†† Blue-White-Orange 562

** 2024 game attendance (regular season, within league games) provided by colleges: Claremont-Mudd-Scripps; La Verne; Pomona Pitzer
†† Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference


After its 2022 season, the Whittier College Poets became the latest college football program in Los Angeles County to be discontinued. The college cited cost as a key factor for retiring its football program and concerns about player safety. Whittier College's football program had been active since 1907. Occidental College retired its football program, active since 1894, after its 2019 season. Cal Tech retired its football program, active since 1893, after its 1993 season.


The CSU Northridge Matadors football team played in the former NCAA Division I-AA (now Football Championship Subdivision), from 1993 through the 2001 season. The team was disbanded in 2001 for budgetary reasons.


The Long Beach State 49ers football team played in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, Pacific Coast Athletic Association and independently from 1955 to 1991.


The Pepperdine University Waves football team played in the California Collegiate Athletic Association and independently from 1946 to 1991.


The Cal Poly Pomona Broncos football team played in the California Collegiate Athletic Association from 1967 to 1982.


The Los Angeles State/CSU Los Angeles Diablos football team played in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, Pacific Coast Athletic Association and independently from 1951 to 1977.