Dan Guerrero's Bruins Lose the Crosstown Cup... Again

UCLA's one year winning streak is over.

This past weekend, Southern Cal notched victories over UCLA in women's rowing, men's golf, and women's track and field, giving the Trojans more than enough points to claim the 2015-16 Crosstown Cup.

Although there is still head-to-head competition in baseball on the schedule, USC holds a decisive 115-70 lead in the contest. In the current scoring system, 100 points are needed to secure the Crosstown Cup.

If the Trojans manage to earn 5 points when UCLA and USC meet for a pair of baseball games in mid-May, USC's margin of victory in the 2015-16 Crosstown Cup will establish a new record for the competition.

The scoring system in 2015-16 is essentially the same as last year, although an additional 10 points were up for grabs with the recognition of beach volleyball as an NCAA-sanctioned sport. As before, competition in each sport is worth ten points, with the series winner receiving all ten points. If the head-to-head competition results in a series tie, each school is awarded five points.

Also, it's important to remember that points are only awarded for sports in which both schools field teams. Therefore, UCLA gets no points for softball or gymnastics since USC doesn't field teams in those sports, and no points are awarded for men's swimming & diving or women's lacrosse since UCLA doesn't field teams in either sport.

The breakdown of points awarded by sport is shown in the table below. The official Crosstown Cup website has a chronological list of the competition by event.

Last season, the Bruins built a big lead in the competition on the basis of results from fall and winter sports, and then lost almost all of their 60 point lead in the spring. This season, UCLA lost points in several key sports in the fall (football, women's soccer), and then dropped another 10 points in men's basketball.

In 2014-15, UCLA's victory was powered by our women's teams. This time around, as the table below shows, our women's teams didn't get the job done.

Not surprisingly, there's been no acknowledgement of the result of this season's competition on the official site. Last year, the UCLA Athletic Department was quick to trumpet their victory, which implies that winning the competition is important to Morgan Center.

Unfortunately, the Crosstown Cup competition has tended to be an annual embarrassment for Dan Guerrero. The Bruins have lost seven of the last nine competitions, and during Guerrero's tenure as UCLA's Athletic Director, the Bruins have won just five times in 14 years.

When UCLA captured the Crosstown Cup last season, Dan Guerrero proclaimed that "achieving head-to-head excellence over our crosstown rival is what this friendly yet competitive endeavor is all about." Sadly, when it comes to the goal of "achieving head-to-head excellence" over USC under Dan Guerrero's leadership, the Bruins have failed far more often than they've succeeded.

Go BRUINS!