USC will have a much easier time because they take the sport seriously. UCLA just doesn't, and the mere fact that Fatty is going to remain the head coach -- even with all the evidence pointing to the fact that he absolutely sucks -- is Exhibit A.
But remember what I said -- I said UCLA could be competive in the B1G, not that they'd be winning any conference titles; I don't see that either. But they could, in the future, muster up a roster and a decent head coach that could get them 8 or 9 wins, which isn't great but in that conference won't be terribly shitty. It sucks, but that's what we're looking at.
I knew this was going to happen. I knew (and repeatedly said) that Chip should have been shitcanned after the loss to Pitt, but I knew it wasn't going to happen. Firing him a year ago would have given the new coach a full year to upgrade the roster to the point where they wouldn't get blown out in Year One of the new B1G. But now it's going to get super ugly, and Jar Jar and the Suits are the dumb fuckers who made it happen. Hey, it's their funeral.
The Rose Bowl can be a good atmosphere, and UCLA can draw there with a consistent winner.
The problem is that only once in program history have they won 9 or more games three years in a row -- Mora's first three years. Coincidentally (?), UCLA's two seasons with the highest average attendance were Mora's second and third years. And the third year the average was over 76,000, which was better than any season in SC history before Pete Carroll arrived. And the lowest averages have been during the quintessentially mediocre Chip Kelly Era. In LA, unless you're the Dodgers or Lakers, you have to win to draw big crowds, and even winning is not always enough.
I agree with you, though, that a 40,000-seat on-campus stadium will never get built.
The B1G will feast on UCLA for the next few years, if not forever. Chip Kelly is an absolute waterhead.