UCLA has accepted an invitation to play in The San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl against No. 18 North Carolina State from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), UCLA’s first bowl game in four years.
The game is set to take place on Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021 at Petco Park, home of MLB’s San Diego Padres, in San Diego, Calif. It will be UCLA’s second appearance in this bowl game which will be nationally televised on FOX at 5:00 p.m. PT. This year marks the first time an ACC team has ever played in the SDCCU Holiday Bowl.
The Bruins (8-4) will square off against NC State (9-3) for the third time in the overall series in this year’s Holiday Bowl matchup. UCLA holds a 2-0 edge in the all-time series, and will play the Wolfpack for the first time since a 1960 meeting captured by the Bruins, by a score of 7-0, in Los Angeles. The two programs also played in the 1959 season, in Los Angeles, a 21-13 UCLA victory.
This will be UCLA’s first bowl game under head coach Chip Kelly. The Bruins completed the regular season with three straight wins to tie for second place in the Pac-12 South Division and finished with its highest overall win mark since the 2015 season. NC State was victorious in four of its last five outings to conclude the year. This will be UCLA’s first game against an ACC opponent since hosting Virginia in the Rose Bowl in 2015 and posting a 34-16 win over the Cavaliers.
UCLA played Baylor in its other appearance in the Holiday Bowl in 2012. The Bruins, whose first bowl experience came in the 1943 Rose Bowl Game, will be making the program’s 37th overall bowl appearance (16-19-1). This year marks the Wolfpack’s 34th bowl game appearance and they are 17-15-1 all-time in the postseason. More details, including ticket information, can be accessed by clicking HERE.
