UCLA defends the belt, 39–37, at a neutral site over Miami.
AP poll, week 15: Miami No. 13 at UCLA No. 14 · No. 1 that week: Texas. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
UCLA came in 45 days into reign #189, which began with a win over USC, with no defenses yet; this was its first defense. UCLA went on to defend it 3 more times before Washington took it on September 28, 1985, 315 days after the reign began.
For Miami this was its 8th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 3 times before.
This is the only time Miami and UCLA have met with the belt on the line.
About this game
On January 1, 1985, UCLA defeated Miami 39-37 at a neutral site in a postseason matchup. UCLA was the defending belt holder and retained the belt with the victory.
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 53337) · This game in the downloadable dataset