Troy Aikman, UCLA 1986-89

Our long-time, illustrious BRO poster, Hititlong, reminded us of something this week.

UCLA used to be a college football power.

Up until 1998, UCLA was:

-- 11th all time in total AP votes from 1936-1998.

-- One of only 7 teams that had at least a top-10 finish every decade.

-- One of only 11 teams with a national title and a Heisman Trophy winner.

-- Among the top 10 in NFL Draft picks.

-- The only program to have four consecutive major bowl wins and seven bowl victories in a row total.

-- Among the top 15 in winning percentage.

-- The first team to be ranked No. 1 in the first BCS poll in October of 1998.

UCLA also:

-- Had nine players finish in the top-ten Heisman voting from 1978 to 1998.

-- Was the dominant Pac-10 team of the decade in the 1980s, winning the conference championship four times (1982, 1983, 1985, 1987), more than any other conference team.

-- Won three Rose Bowls in the 1980s.

-- Was arguably the No. 1 team in the Pac-12 in the 1990s, winning three conference championships (1993, 1997, 1998), more than any other conference team.

Since that golden era, UCLA has not been a football power.

-- From 2000-2009, UCLA was 51st in total wins nationally.

-- From 2010 to present, UCLA football is 44th in wins.

-- The program went 12 years, from 2000 to 2013, without an offensive lineman being drafted in the NFL.

-- UCLA has not won the conference or played in a major bowl since 1998.

-- For 20 years, between 1979 and 1998, UCLA finished the season ranked in a national poll 12 times (seven years in a row). In the last 20 years, 1999 t0 the present, just three times.