Kickoff Time, TV Channel Set for MSU's Game at Undefeated UCLA

Michigan State's upcoming game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena against UCLA is now fully set.

The Spartans and the Big Ten formally announced on Monday that the team's game against the 12th-ranked Bruins would kick off at approximately 3:30 p.m. ET (12:30 p.m. local) on CBS. MSU is 2-5 and coming off a loss to No. 25 Northwestern. UCLA is ranked 12th, is 6-0, and beat Wisconsin on Saturday.

Series History vs. UCLA

Next Saturday in L.A. will be the eighth all-time meeting between the Spartans and the Bruins, as well as the second between the two of them as members of the Big Ten. UCLA holds a 4-3 edge in the all-time series. The Bruins have won the last four matchups, dating back to the 1966 Rose Bowl.

That '66 Rose Bowl is one of three meetings between Michigan State and UCLA in the sport's premier bowl game. The Spartans and the Bruins actually met in Week 1 earlier in the 1965 season in East Lansing. MSU won that one, which still stands as the team's last win over UCLA. The other two were in 1954 and 1956, with Michigan State winning each of those two meetings.

MSU's last matchup against UCLA was just last year. That was the Spartans' homecoming game for the 2025 season. UCLA completely dominated in a 38-13 result that was the real beginning of the end for the short-lived Jonathan Smith era at Michigan State.

The only other instance of MSU going out to Los Angeles or Pasadena for a regular-season game against UCLA was back in 1974, a 56-14 loss. Michigan State's trips to the West Coast haven't gone well since the Big Ten expanded two seasons ago. The Spartans lost 31-10 at Oregon in 2024 and 45-31 at USC in 2025.

Two First-Year Head Coaches

Both MSU and UCLA also have two different first-year head coaches, but both teams' seasons have gone very differently. Michigan State stands at 2-5 overall and 0-4 against Big Ten teams this year under Pat Fitzgerald. UCLA, on the other hand, is 6-0 overall and 4-0 in conference play in its first year with Bob Chesney in charge.

Chesney was previously the head coach at James Madison, where he actually took over for Curt Cignetti. Despite Cignetti taking away nearly all of JMU's best players with him to Indiana, the Dukes didn't miss a beat with Chesney. They went 9-4 in 2024 and then made the College Football Playoff at 12-1 last year before losing to fifth-seeded Oregon in the first round.