The program began in 1946 . The school then called itself '' ' George Pepperdine College ' '' . In their first season the team went 8-1-0 , including a 38-13 victory over the Nebraska Wesleyan Plainsmen in the Will Rogers Bowl . The Pepperdine Board of Trustees ended the football program after the 1961 season , judging the cost of fielding a competitive team too high . Although Pepperdine played basketball in the West Coast Athletic Conference , the football program competed as an independent . Between 1949 – 1954 the football program competed in the California Collegiate Athletic Association
independent
NCAA Division I FBS independent schools
Pepperdine Waves football