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UCLA bringing back throwback threads for matchup vs. Iowa

Cory Nightingale

By Cory Nightingale

Published:

UCLA isn’t having the season it hoped for in its inaugural campaign in the Big Ten, and that might be an understatement.

The Bruins are 3-5 overall and 2-4 in Big Ten play, as they’ve struggled getting their legs under them as a Big Ten member. Plainly put, DeShaun Foster’s 1st season as head coach in Pasadena hasn’t gone nearly as well as his playing career at UCLA, where he was an all-conference player twice (the Bruins were in the Pac-10 then) and a 2nd-team All-American in 2001.

But on Friday night, just maybe, UCLA can get a needed lift by something that has nothing to do with actual football — its uniforms. The Bruins announced on Monday that they will be wearing throwback jerseys for their homecoming game against Iowa.

The snappy, old-school uniforms will be seen on a national stage, too, as the Big Ten battle at the Rose Bowl will be broadcast in primetime at 9 pm ET/6 pm PT on FOX. So, just maybe, the Bruins will play a little (or a lot) better because they’ll look so good in those throwbacks. Sometimes, after all, how you look affects how you act, or play in this case.

UCLA will have its hands full with Iowa, no matter what it’s wearing, as the Hawkeyes come in at 6-3 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten. ESPN’s FPI matchup predictor, which doesn’t factor in things like what uniforms the teams are wearing, gives the Bruins just a 32% chance to win.

Cory Nightingale