We’re almost done with the final football season for the Conference of (real NCAA) Champions, and today’s Pac-12 Friday entry takes on the UCLA Bruins, the second-best team in the history of the league. With an overall .579 win percentage in conference play, the Bruins also can add 37 bowl appearances, 32 poll finishes, and 17 conference championships to the mix—not to mention the powder-blue jerseys.

5. 1969

UCLA posted an 8-1-1 record yet did not participate in a bowl game because of the era’s peculiarities, despite a No. 13 finish in the Associated Poll and a No. 7 SRS ranking overall. The Bruins fielded the No. 11 offense and the No. 10 defense, tying then-No. 20 Stanford on the road and losing to then-No. 5 USC on the road by 2 points. UCLA was that close to perfection. Hard to call this season a disappointment, but that’s what it was.

4. 1965

With an 8-2-1 record after a Rose Bowl victory over then-No. 1 Michigan State, the Bruins ended up No. 4 in the AP poll and No. 6 in the SRS. UCLA played the hardest schedule in the nation, too, and if not for regular-season road losses against the Spartans and the Tennessee Volunteers, maybe the Bruins would have been in the MNC chase. UCLA also tied Missouri on the road during the season, which held them back.

3. 1982

Surprisingly, this is the most recent team on the list: 10-1-1 after a Rose Bowl win, No. 5 in the AP poll, No. 3 in the SRS. The Bruins sported the No. 4 offense in the country, and they played the No. 8 SOS in the nation, too. Only a 3-point loss on the road to then-No. 10 Washington kept UCLA from going undefeated, although the team did have a random tie against Arizona in the middle of the year, too. These Bruins were very good.

2. 1955

Despite losing to Michigan State in the Rose Bowl (and the Spartans were our pick for the MNC this year), this UCLA team still managed a 9-2 record and a No. 4 AP poll ranking. The Bruins finished No. 2 in the SRS, as well, thanks to the No. 7 offense, the No. 4 defense, and the No. 4 SOS. That’s quite the statistical profile! UCLA’s only other loss was a 7-point road defeat to then-No. 5 Maryland in its second game.

1. 1952

The best season in school history really doesn’t feel like it as a last-game, 2-point loss to rival USC ended the Bruins’ season at 8-1 and without a bowl game. UCLA finished No. 6 in the AP poll and No. 4 in the SRS, with the No. 4 defense and the No. 9 SOS in tow. The No. 19 offense helped the cause, too, as the Bruins beat four ranked teams during the regular season by an average of 14.5 points per game. Shame it ended early.