I paused the original records at 1968 because that’s when the Pac-8 era started and I was seeing some weirdness with FCS membership. I thought it would get weirder going older than that. But now I fixed the FCS check so let’s continue going into the past. Letdown spoiler: it’s not weird at all. Here’s a verbose run for 1960-67:
San José State 34 at Stanford 20 on Oct 14, 1960 California 10 at USC 27 on Oct 14, 1960 Stanford 8 at UCLA 26 on Oct 21, 1960 USC 21 at Stanford 6 on Oct 28, 1960 UCLA 28 at California 0 on Nov 04, 1960 San José State 20 at Pacific 26 on Nov 04, 1960 Stanford 10 at California 21 on Nov 18, 1960 USC 17 at UCLA 6 on Nov 18, 1960 1960 final standings USC 3-0 Pacific 1-0 UCLA 2-1 San José State 1-1 California 1-2 Stanford 0-4 1960, 8, USC, 3-0 Pacific 0 at San José State 16 on Sep 21, 1961 San José State 6 at Stanford 17 on Oct 13, 1961 USC 28 at California 14 on Oct 20, 1961 UCLA 20 at Stanford 0 on Oct 27, 1961 California 15 at UCLA 35 on Nov 03, 1961 Stanford 15 at USC 30 on Nov 10, 1961 San José State 29 at Pacific 26 on Nov 10, 1961 California 7 at Stanford 20 on Nov 24, 1961 UCLA 10 at USC 7 on Nov 24, 1961 1961 final standings UCLA 3-0 USC 2-1 San José State 2-1 Stanford 2-2 Pacific 0-2 California 0-3 1961, 9, UCLA, 3-0 San José State 8 at California 25 on Sep 28, 1962 California 6 at USC 32 on Oct 19, 1962 Stanford 17 at UCLA 7 on Oct 26, 1962 UCLA 26 at California 16 on Nov 02, 1962 San José State 24 at Pacific 22 on Nov 02, 1962 USC 39 at Stanford 14 on Nov 09, 1962 San José State 9 at Stanford 21 on Nov 16, 1962 Stanford 30 at California 13 on Nov 23, 1962 USC 14 at UCLA 3 on Nov 23, 1962 1962 final standings USC 3-0 Stanford 3-1 San José State 1-2 UCLA 1-2 California 1-3 Pacific 0-1 1962, 9, USC, 3-0 San José State 13 at Stanford 29 on Sep 20, 1963 UCLA 10 at Stanford 9 on Oct 04, 1963 San José State 13 at California 34 on Oct 18, 1963 USC 36 at California 6 on Oct 25, 1963 California 25 at UCLA 0 on Nov 01, 1963 Stanford 11 at USC 25 on Nov 08, 1963 Pacific 20 at San José State 32 on Nov 29, 1963 California 17 at Stanford 28 on Nov 29, 1963 UCLA 6 at USC 26 on Nov 29, 1963 1963 final standings USC 3-0 California 2-2 Stanford 2-2 San José State 1-2 UCLA 1-2 Pacific 0-1 1963, 9, USC, 3-0 San José State 8 at Stanford 10 on Sep 25, 1964 Stanford 20 at UCLA 27 on Oct 02, 1964 California 21 at USC 26 on Oct 23, 1964 San José State 37 at Pacific 13 on Oct 23, 1964 UCLA 25 at California 21 on Oct 30, 1964 USC 15 at Stanford 10 on Nov 06, 1964 Stanford 21 at California 3 on Nov 20, 1964 USC 34 at UCLA 13 on Nov 20, 1964 1964 final standings USC 3-0 UCLA 2-1 Stanford 2-2 San José State 1-1 Pacific 0-1 California 0-3 1964, 8, USC, 3-0 San José State 6 at Stanford 26 on Sep 16, 1965 Stanford 0 at USC 14 on Oct 15, 1965 California 3 at UCLA 56 on Oct 22, 1965 USC 35 at California 0 on Nov 05, 1965 Pacific 21 at San José State 52 on Nov 05, 1965 UCLA 30 at Stanford 13 on Nov 12, 1965 California 7 at Stanford 9 on Nov 19, 1965 UCLA 20 at USC 16 on Nov 19, 1965 1965 final standings UCLA 3-0 USC 2-1 San José State 1-1 Stanford 2-2 Pacific 0-1 California 0-3 1965, 8, UCLA, 3-0 San José State 21 at Stanford 25 on Sep 16, 1966 San José State 24 at California 0 on Oct 07, 1966 USC 21 at Stanford 7 on Oct 14, 1966 UCLA 28 at California 15 on Oct 21, 1966 San José State 35 at Pacific 38 on Oct 28, 1966 California 9 at USC 35 on Nov 04, 1966 Stanford 0 at UCLA 10 on Nov 11, 1966 Stanford 13 at California 7 on Nov 18, 1966 USC 7 at UCLA 14 on Nov 18, 1966 1966 final standings UCLA 3-0 Pacific 1-0 USC 2-1 Stanford 2-2 San José State 1-2 California 0-4 1966, 9, UCLA, 3-0 San José State 14 at Stanford 28 on Sep 29, 1967 Stanford 0 at USC 30 on Oct 06, 1967 California 14 at UCLA 37 on Oct 13, 1967 UCLA 21 at Stanford 16 on Oct 20, 1967 Pacific 34 at San José State 14 on Oct 27, 1967 USC 31 at California 12 on Nov 03, 1967 San José State 6 at California 30 on Nov 10, 1967 California 26 at Stanford 3 on Nov 17, 1967 UCLA 20 at USC 21 on Nov 17, 1967 1967 final standings USC 3-0 Pacific 1-0 UCLA 2-1 California 2-2 Stanford 1-3 San José State 0-3 1967, 9, USC, 3-0
In fact this might be an all-time low in scheduled MCC games with 8 in the middle years there. Wow those were some great UCLA and USC years. One of those teams won every year.
Why are there so few games? And what’s Pacific doing in there with 1 game some years?
In 1965 Pacific played a full schedule with games against Cal State LA, Fresno State and San Diego State but those state schools were only just coming into their own and still competing at the “College Division” (equivalent of today’s FCS.) So with our new FBS-only requirement that keeps them out and makes the standings so plain.
But was Pacific really University Divison (FBS)? Wikipedia thinks that the 1964 and 1965 Pacific teams dropped down to College Division before reverting to University in 1966. This seems somewhat improbable, and is not reflected in the cfbd dataset. College football reference doesn’t seem to be helpful. However the whole Pacific football team is somewhat improbable. This is one where a little digging on newspapers.com will be needed. For now I’m leaving it as the code spits out because of what the dataset says. It doesn’t affect any winners.
Next up the 50s where it finally gets a little weird. (Undefeated USF! Cal’s saddest hour!)