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NCAA Football Colleges
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Rainfall Over Downtown Los Angeles at Night

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 Pac-12 Blue-Gold 47,951
USC FBS* Los Angeles Trojans Pac-12 Cardinal-Gold 66,071

* Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
† NCAA 2023 FBS Average Football Attendence
‡ UCLA and USC move to the Big 10 Conference in September 2024

NCAA Division III Football Colleges

School Location Nickname Conference Colors Average Home Game Attendance**
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Claremont Stags SCIAC†† Maroon-Gold 844
La Verne La Verne Leopards SCIAC†† Green-Orange 971
Pomona-Pitzer Claremont Sagehens SCIAC†† Blue-White-Orange 694

** 2023 statistics 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.