UCLAs no-show fans deliver first loss of season for unbeaten team

The best story in college football is being ignored.The most electrifying coach in UCLA football history is being disrespected.The only undefeated team in the Big Ten or SEC is getting crushed by indifference.The biggest news, opinion and culture shaping California right now.

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Never miss a story On a night the Bruins honored their historic momentum under their new coach by giving out 1,000 “Chesney Train” conductor hats, it wasn’t exactly all aboard at the Rose Bowl.Even with robust student turnout that filled the lower half of one end zone Saturday for UCLA’s 17-7 victory over Wisconsin, the crowd of 36,045 delivered an inconvenient truth.For the first time possibly ever, the Bruins have a fan base unworthy of their team.UCLA’s first loss of the 2026 season belongs to those fans, who refused to show up on a night they should have loudly celebrated the successes of coach Bob Chesney.His team is 6-0, it’s surging into the top 10 in the national rankings and is absolutely headed for the College Football Playoff.Does anybody care? It didn’t seem like it based on the turnout.The greatest setting in all of sports was marred by less than half the seats being filled.At first glance, the crowd didn’t appear embarrassingly small.The students showed up and there weren’t huge pockets of empty seats thanks in large part to those giant end zone tarps and an enormous red swath of Badgers fans.Reality was later revealed in the box score.Yes, the number reflected actual attendance as opposed to the inflated figures of years past in an admirable nod to transparency under new CEO and athletic director Tim Harris.It also uncovered how much work remains to be done in getting fans reengaged with Bruins football and a program that averaged 76,650 for home games as recently as 2014.Small home crowds were forgivable fo...