Michigan takes the belt, 26–9, on the road at UCLA.
AP poll, week 3: Michigan No. 12 at UCLA No. 6 · No. 1 that week: Penn State. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
Michigan took the belt here, ending UCLA’s run of 14 days and 1 defense (reign #150) and starting reign #151. It lasted 63 days and 8 defenses, until Ohio State took it on November 25, 1972.
For Michigan this was its 15th shot at the belt; it had held the belt twice before — and it took it back here.
This is the only time Michigan and UCLA have met with the belt on the line.
About this game
Michigan traveled to UCLA on September 23, 1972, for a week 3 regular season matchup. UCLA won the game 26-9, but the result meant Michigan took the belt from UCLA on the field.
Written by Claude, strictly from this site’s own record of the game — the score and what it meant for the belt. CFBD doesn’t have a box score for games this old, so nothing here is invented beyond what’s verifiably on file.
Sources Game record: College Football Data (id 43393) · This game in the downloadable dataset