Reel talk,
@bruin - do you feel like the overall atmosphere on campus at UCLA contributes to the relatively tepid following for the footbaw team?
Something that USC alums have been lamenting over the last couple of decades now is that USC, while trying to become more competitive in the US News "Best College" rankings by ramping up their academic standards - has basically changed the flavor of what USC has historically been, which was basically a rich, white kids' party and football school. Nowadays, the USC campus looks a lot like what UCLA (and UC Irvine) looked like in the 1990s and up to now - a nerd school with a lot of International students and a lot of AZN students who largely don't care about sports and largely don't put much stock into school spirit and school pride.
I suspect a lot of high school football stars want 1)A pretty decent path to make it to the League, 2)Get paid via NIL, 3) Play in front of large, appreciative crowds, and (maybe) 4) Get a decent education. I think #3 is something that West Coast schools, with our general fair-weather fanbases, and influences #1 and #2. I believe UCLA has been down the path of "nerd school" since at least the mid 1980s, and has basically the same type of student body as Cal.
