The dual meet tradition returns to Hayward Field today.

The third-ranked UCLA men’s track and field team goes head-to-head with host Oregon beginning at 12:30 p.m.

It’s the first dual meet between the two Pac-10 schools in 23 years, although the Bruins and Ducks battled each other at the 1994 Pepsi Team Invitational, a three-way competition that also included Washington.

In that meet, which was also scored as a dual, the Ducks were clinging to a narrow 80-78 lead over the Bruins heading into the final event — the 4x400 relay — which went off in the midst of a bone-chilling downpour.

The Ducks were painfully low on bodies by that point and their patchwork relay included a hurdler, a high jumper and a middle distance runner. UCLA, by contrast, often used the 400 as the foundation for its entire team.

Still, Oregon pushed the Bruins to the brink, and didn’t succumb until the final leg on the final straightaway when senior all-American Michael Williams hit the tape a few strides ahead of UO senior Gordon Johnson.