1997 Pacific-10 Conference football standings

	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 9 Washington State +		7	–	1					10	–	2
No. 5 UCLA +		7	–	1					10	–	2
No. 14 Arizona State		6	–	2					9	–	3
No. 18 Washington		5	–	3					8	–	4
Arizona		4	–	4					7	–	5
USC		4	–	4					6	–	5
Oregon		3	–	5					7	–	5
Stanford		3	–	5					5	–	6
California		1	–	7					3	–	8
Oregon State		0	–	8					3	–	8
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1997 UCLA Bruins football team represented the University of California, Los Angeles in the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. They played their home games at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California and were coached by Bob Toledo. It was Toledo's second season as the UCLA head coach. The Bruins finished 10–2 overall, and were Pacific-10 Conference co-champions with a 7–1 record. The Bruins were invited to play in the Cotton Bowl Classic against Texas A&M on January 1, 1998. Though the Bruins were down 16–7 at the half, Cade McNown, the offensive MVP of the game, led the team to a 29–23 victory. The team was ranked #5 in the final AP Poll and #5 in the final Coaches' Poll.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 30	12:30 pm	at Washington State		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	ABC	L 34–37	26,000
September 6	12:30 pm	No. 3 Tennessee*		Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	ABC	L 24–30	62,619	[1]
September 13	12:30 pm	at No. 11 Texas*		Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX	ABC	W 66–3	77,203
September 27	3:30 pm	Arizona	No. 24	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	FSN	W 40–27	50,188
October 4	3:30 pm	Houston*	No. 22	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	FSW2	W 66–10	38,004
October 11	3:30 pm	at Oregon	No. 18	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	FX	W 39–31	42,314
October 18	3:30 pm	Oregon State	No. 17	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	FSN	W 34–10	38,165
October 25	3:30 pm	California	No. 13	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA		W 35–17	52,858
November 1	3:30 pm	at Stanford	No. 12	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	FSN	W 27–7	54,332
November 15	12:30 pm	No. 13 Washington	No. 9	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	ABC	W 52–28	85,697
November 22	12:30 pm	at USC	No. 7	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	ABC, FSW2	W 31–24	91,350
January 1	10:30 am	vs. No. 20 Texas A&M*	No. 5	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	CBS	W 29–23	59,215
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

1997 UCLA Bruins football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 87 Danny Farmer So OT 71 Kris Farris Jr RB 20 Skip Hicks Sr QB 18 Cade McNown Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class CB 35 Larry Atkins Jr LB 50 Brendon Ayanbadejo Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 2 Chris Sailer	Head coach Bob Toledo Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

UCLA at Washington State

1 2 3 4 Total Bruins 7 7 13 7 34 • Cougars 3 27 7 0 37 Date: August 30, 1997 Location: Martin Stadium Pullman, WA Game attendance: 26,000 TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson (play-by-play), Bob Griese (analyst), and Lynn Swann (sideline)

^[2]

Tennessee at UCLA

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 3 Volunteers 9 15 3 3 30 Bruins 0 3 3 18 24 Date: September 6 Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California Game start: 12:35 pm PDT Elapsed time: 3:41 Game attendance: 62,619 *Source: Box score

^[3]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bruins	10	28	21	7	66
#11 Longhorns	0	0	3	0	3

^[4]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	0	20	0	27
#24 Bruins	31	6	0	3	40

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	7	0	0	3	10
#22 Bruins	42	7	7	10	66

	1	2	3	4	Total
#18 Bruins	27	3	6	3	39
Ducks	21	7	3	0	31

	1	2	3	4	Total
Beavers	10	0	0	0	10
#17 Bruins	14	14	3	3	34

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Bears	14	3	0	0	17
#13 Bruins	0	14	14	7	35

	1	2	3	4	Total
#12 Bruins	14	7	3	3	27
Cardinal	0	0	7	0	7

	1	2	3	4	Total
#13 Huskies	17	3	8	0	28
#9 Bruins	3	14	21	14	52

	1	2	3	4	Total
#7 Bruins	10	7	7	7	31
Trojans	14	7	3	0	24

The Bruins retained the Victory Bell for the seventh straight year.

UCLA vs. Texas A&M
(Cotton Bowl Classic)

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 5 Bruins 0 7 14 8 29 No. 20 Aggies 7 9 7 0 23 Date: January 1 Location: Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX Game attendance: 59,215 Game weather: 53 °F (12 °C), Cloudy Referee: Tom Robinson TV announcers (CBS): Gus Johnson and Mike Mayock

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP UCLA Texas A&M 1 4:35 Texas A&M Interception returned 64 yards for touchdown by Brandon Jennings, Kyle Bryant kick good 0 7 2 10:18 Texas A&M Cade McNown tackled in end zone for a safety by Zerick Rollins 0 9 2 5:54 3 90 Texas A&M Dante Hall 74-yard touchdown run, Kyle Bryant kick good 0 16 2 0:02 5 47 UCLA Jim McElroy 22-yard touchdown reception from Cade McNown, Chris Sailer kick good 7 16 3 12:34 3 45 UCLA Skip Hicks 41-yard touchdown reception from Cade McNown, Chris Sailer kick good 14 16 3 8:37 8 65 Texas A&M Chris Cole 43-yard touchdown run, Kyle Bryant kick good 14 23 3 2:44 8 65 UCLA Cade McNown 20-yard touchdown run, Chris Sailer kick good 21 23 4 7:05 8 71 UCLA Ryan Neufeld 5-yard touchdown run, 2-point run good 29 23 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 29 23

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AP	—	—	—	RV	24	24	22	18	17	13	12	10	9	7	6	5	5	5
Coaches	RV	RV	—	RV	RV	RV	25	19	18	16	13	11	10	9	7	6	6	5
Harris	Not released																	Not released
BCS	Not released																	Not released

Skip Hicks, Chad Overhauser, and Chris Sailer were selected to the 1997 College Football All-America Team.

The following players were selected in the 1998 NFL draft.

Player	Round	Pick	Position	NFL Team
Shaun Williams	1	24	Free Safety	New York Giants
Skip Hicks	3	69	Running back	Washington Redskins
Chad Overhauser	7	217	Offensive guard	Chicago Bears