Welcome back to The Rival Rundown! If you’ve always wanted to give props to your school on CC, now’s your chance! Shoot us an email explaining what’s awesome and unique about your school (or what stinks about Rival U) at rivalrundown@collegecandy.com!

This week we hit up the West Coast as we examine the two hottest schools in Los Angeles- the University of Southern California and the University of California- Los Angeles. Amidst the beautiful SoCal climate and a city rife with movie sets and superstars, private USC and public UCLA compete to find out which is most elite in the City of Angels.

1. Superior Sport

USC – The Trojans are known as “the football school” and have been awarded the NCAA national title in football eleven times, including back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2004.  They are perennially ranked in the Top 10 football programs in the BCS by ESPN, USA Today, and other publications. And Trojans have taken home the Heisman Trophy seven times.
UCLA - Meanwhile, the Bruins are known as powerhouses in basketball–also earning eleven NCAA titles. Seven of these championships were won consecutively, from 1967-1973.  UCLA is also the all-time leader in total NCAA national titles across all sports.

Meanwhile, the Lexus Gauntlet is an annual all-sports competition between the two schools sponsored by Lexus. Points are awarded for every victory (particularly in head-to-head match ups)  in NCAA-sanctioned competitions, with the school with the most points declared as the winner. (There is also a separate Lexus Gauntlet awarded to the winner of the Stanford-Berkeley rivalry.)  In the eight years of Lexus Gauntlet tradition, USC has walked away with five titles.

Three credits to: TIE.  The two schools pulled a draw in NCAA titles in their respective predominant sport.  On the one hand, the Lexus Gauntlet record gives the Trojans the edge, but UCLA also has the most NCAA titles of any school. Too close to call!! Read More »

It’s Sweet Sixteen time, baby! And you know in this case there are no birthday cakes, cute presents, or super spoiled kids living it up on MTV.

We’re talking hardcore, fast and furious, make it or break it time.

Only 16 teams left. And only 8 spots remain to be filled in the Elite Eight. Who will make it? I give you my predictions below, after watching the action-packed first two rounds of the tourney.

First of all, we can finally settle the debate on which conference is the best this year, and possibly even in history. For the first time in the history of the NCAA tournament, five teams from one league advanced to the Sweet 16. The Big East is home to Connecticut, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Villanova, all of which made the cut and will play in the regional semifinals on Thursday and Friday.

The ACC, which was the other conference in the debate, only has two of its members left, although they are reputably two of the best college teams and have one of the biggest rivalries in sports history: UNC and Duke. (Sidenote: dark blue is wayyy better than that gross baby blue color. Eww.)

Anyway, do you remember last year when, surprisingly, all four #1’s made it to the Final Four? Well, this year marks the first time all the 1-, 2-, and 3-seeds are in the Sweet Sixteen. Looks like Cinderella is going to be hard to find this year.

But what a great first two rounds it’s been. Read More »

And so it begins. After 11 long, tortuous, pain-staking months of waiting… the Big Dance is finally here.

Once you get past the fact that the NCAA Selection Committee made the mistake of not including some of the best teams that could have been this year’s Cinderella (Arizona State instead of St. Mary’s? come on), the board actually came up with a pretty good draw. And for the next 2 weeks, I will be fully immersing myself in the insanity and awesomeness that is the most exciting sporting event of the year: March Madness.

The best conference in the country (and maybe in history) is hands-down the Big East. 3 out of the 4 number 1 seeds are from the Big East: UConn, Louisville, and Pitt. Even Barack Obama believes in the dominance of this conference, since his bracket that he filled out on Wednesday (live on ESPN! what a cool prez) shows it filling half of his Elite Eight. Although Obama didn’t have our lovely school in his Final Four, Coach K isn’t worried. Read More »

March Madness kicks off today with the first 16 teams competing to move ahead, and while one CollegeCandy writer isn’t into the games, everyone else in the world is.

It’s the most exciting three weeks of the year for college sports as the entire country stops everything they are doing (seriously, even President Obama is trying to squeeze some game viewings in between his NATO meetings) to see which college basketball team is the best in the country.

Not into basketball? Well, then it’s an excuse to paint your face and drink beer on a weeknight. Not that you really needed an excuse…

Everyone is buzzing about the Presidente’s NCAA picks (UNC to go all the way?). Do you agree? Who do you think will take the title this year? Let out your school pride in the comments section below!

Selection Sunday is over. The 64 college basketball teams have been chosen and March Madness has officially begun.

I’ve already received 26 invitations from guys asking me to fill out a bracket and join their pool. I’m honored that so many people thought of me, but I think it may have more to do with the fact that those 26 guys know I know absolutely nothing about basketball than the fact that they love and respect my opinion.

Don’t get me wrong – I love part of March Madness. I love anything that involves hanging out with a bunch of guys talking sports and drinking beer. There is something so cute about boys and sports – the excitement, the high fives, the school spirit.

But… I hate basketball.

No, it’s not because Michigan’s basketball program has been less than fantastic over the course of my stay on campus. It’s just that I find the game to be boring to watch. It’s just a game of back and forth to me. My team scores, their team scores, my team scores, their team scores…. over and over again.  Unlike football where each successful play could be the winning play, basketball games only really matter for 5 minutes. The last 5. The rest of the game just doesn’t matter to me.

Oh, and it doesn’t help that this entire March Madness situation totally trumps my March 21st birthday.

I’m pretty sure I’m alone in this seeing how many Facebook status updates include “NCAA” and a lot of exclamation points this morning. Everyone seems to be basketball crazy. Yes, even my great aunt (who also happens to be on Facebook. WTF!?). I just don’t see what all the hype is about.

What about you? Are you mad about March Madness?

It’s NCAA tournament time!

WTF is up with Lindsay Lohan?

Are Drew Barrymore and Mac Guy back together?

Beyonce is making us dumb.

Light jeans are officially here.

New female condom gets FDA approval.

ASU builds a faith-based dorm?

The most successful college dropouts.

I now hate Reese Witherspoon even more.

Your badunk may be good for your health.

DVF: The City vs. Real Life.

Is that…Channing Tatum?

Online education is just as good as the other stuff?

Sorry, but I don’t really like sports (or feigning interest in them to get a guy’s attention). If a guy likes football more than me, I’d rather he have football. I can’t relate.

There are instances, though, when sports and love collide, and I have to put my game face on and pretend like I know what I’m doing. A relationship is a sport. Sometimes it’s an all – out WWE power struggle, but mostly, it’s like a game of tennis. The metaphorical ball is constantly traveling from one side of the court to another, with the balance of power tipping in either direction.

In the beginning, the guy usually has the ball, and I’m weak – kneed on the other side waiting for his next move. But as things progress, the ball slowly moves to me. Not that I’m necessarily comfortable with this position. When I have the ball, he’s all nice and sweet, harking to my every need to regain his stance. It’s uncomfortable. I’m not competitive by nature, and l know he’s going to get the ball back somehow — by not calling, looking at another girl or some other stupid play.

Read More »