This post was updated Dec. 4 at 3:08 p.m.

The Bruins will have to wait until after Christmas for a chance to earn a program-record-tying 10th win.

No. 18 UCLA football (9-3, 6-3 Pac-12) will head to El Paso, Texas, for a postseason matchup against Pittsburgh (8-4, 5-3 ACC) in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 30. The Sun Bowl takes the Pac-12’s fifth choice, with No. 8 Utah, No. 12 Washington, No. 14 Oregon State and No. 15 Oregon all earning higher priority than the blue and gold – and No. 10 USC headed to a New Year’s Six Bowl.

“Our conference, if you look at it with the other teams we had in the top 25, it was a battle every single week. We were about a play away in two games of being an 11-1 team,” said coach Chip Kelly. “But we’re excited about the opportunity to play football. As we told our guys, we get to play football for about another 26 days now.”

The Bruins had a chance at earning a spot in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 17, but the Beavers, who have the same record as UCLA but boast a higher ranking, earned the bid instead.

UCLA has played in the Sun Bowl on four occasions in program history, with 2022 marking the Bruins’ first appearance at the bowl in nine years. UCLA most recently made the trip to El Paso in 2013, when it took down Virginia Tech 42-12.

The Sun Bowl will mark the Bruins’ first bowl game since 2017, after they fell short of a bowl game appearance in 2021, when the Holiday Bowl was canceled less than five hours before kickoff due to COVID-19 protocols within the program.

Pittsburgh enters the bowl contest on the heels of a four-game winning streak to close out ACC play. However, the Panthers have no wins over teams currently ranked in the top 25.

While it didn’t play any of the three ranked ACC teams during its conference slate, Pittsburgh’s strongest showing came in September, when it took No. 6 Tennessee to overtime before ultimately falling 34-27. 

The Panthers are led at quarterback by former USC quarterback Kedon Slovis, who famously threw for 515 yards and four touchdowns as a true freshman against UCLA in 2019. Pittsburgh also touts one of the top running backs in the country in Israel Abanikanda, who ranks ninth in the country in rushing yards and tops the nation in rushing touchdowns.

UCLA could be without its starting quarterback and running back in redshirt senior Dorian Thompson-Robinson and senior Zach Charbonnet, among other players, should they choose to opt out of the game. But Kelly said the Bruins have had full participation in practice since their season finale.

“I haven’t had any discussions with anybody. We’ve had full participation,” Kelly said. “We didn’t know where we were playing or what we were doing, our kids were just excited to be back on the field playing ball.”

The Sun Bowl between the Bruins and Panthers is set to kick off Dec. 30 at Sun Bowl stadium in El Paso.