UC San Diego

ABOUT UC SAN DIEGO ATHLETICS

Compiled by UC San Diego Athletic Communications
Last updated 12/12/23

ABOUT UC SAN DIEGO ATHLETICS

• UC San Diego sponsors 23 intercollegiate sport programs that currently compete as members of athletic conferences The Big West, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, Coastal Athletic Association and Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association.
• All Triton athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division I level, with the exception of the men's volleyball, men's and women's water polo, and men's and women's fencing programs, which compete at the NCAA “National Collegiate” level. Men's rowing is not sanctioned by the NCAA and competes as a member of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association.
• During its 20-year affiliation with NCAA Division II, UC San Diego consistently ranked as one of the most successful athletic programs in the nation, ranking among the top 10 nationally in the Learfield/IMG College Directors' Cup in 20 of the last 25 years – five of which were Division III. The program claimed the Director's Cup title as a member of Division III in 1998 and finished as runner-up three times while in Division II, including 2018-19.
• UC San Diego intercollegiate athletic programs have claimed 30 NCAA national championships in team sports, while 44 have finished as national runners-up and 49 achieved 3rd-place honors. Individually, 138 Triton scholar-athletes have earned national titles. All told, UC San Diego has won 276 national, regional, and conference championships.
• The most recent NCAA report indicates scholar-athletes at UC San Diego own a 4-class average federal graduation rate of 90 percent, the sixth highest among Division I institutions and the highest among all public institutions in Divisions I and II.
• Triton scholar-athletes have earned an impressive 1,400 All-America honors for athletics achievement over the years, while 83 have been named to Academic All-America teams and 38 have been awarded prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships.
• During its time as a member of the California Collegiate Athletic Association, UC San Diego claimed eight Robert J. Heigert Commissioner's Cup titles, including the 2018-19 season. The award is given to the CCAA member institution with the highest aggregate ranking in eight of the league's 13 championship sports.

HISTORY & GENERAL INFORMATION

• The origins of UC San Diego date back to the early 1900s with the creation of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The University was officially established in November 1960.
• UC San Diego primarily competed as a member of NCAA Division III, with some teams serving as members of NAIA and other affiliations, from the early 1960s until the 2000-2001 season. The program transitioned to NCAA Division II in fall 2000 and joined the California Collegiate Athletic Association.  In fall 2020, UC San Diego will compete in its first year as a member of the Big West Conference.
• In 1998, UC San Diego claimed the Division III Sears Directors' Cup (now called the Learfield Directors' Cup). The Triton athletics program earned Division III runner-up honors in 1996 and 2000 and Division II runner-up honors in 2004, 2007, and 2019.

DIVISION I TRANSITION

• UC San Diego announced on Nov 27, 2017 it accepted an invitation to join the Big West Conference and would begin the process to transition to NCAA Division I athletics.
• The student body voted in favor of a move to Division I athletics during a referendum in 2016. The move was also endorsed by the UC San Diego Academic Senate.
• The Big West Conference includes four other UC institutions: UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside and UC Santa Barbara. In addition, league members include Cal Poly, Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton, CSUN and Hawai‘i. Cal State Bakersfield also joined the Big West in summer 2020.
• The UC San Diego men's volleyball team began competition as a member of the Big West in 2017-18, while the women's water polo team began conference play in spring 2020.
• In July 2020, UC San Diego began its NCAA Division I reclassification process and began playing a full Big West schedule.  UC San Diego is in its final season of a NCAA-mandated 4-year reclassification period and will be eligible for postseason league and national championship competition beginning in Fall 2024.
• NCAA sports with a single combined division remain eligible for Big West and NCAA championship competition during the 4-year reclassification period. Triton sports in this category include men's volleyball, men and women's water polo and fencing.

LIONTREE ARENA 

• RIMAC (Recreation, Intramural and Athletic Complex) opened in January, 1995, concluding a then 2-year construction project. Designed by Parkin Architects, RIMAC was the nation's largest Division III athletic complex upon its completion and was inaugurated by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's speech dedicating the newly-named Eleanor Roosevelt College.
• The RIMAC complex consists of LionTree Arena, RIMAC Field, Triton Soccer Stadium, Triton Softball Field and RIMAC Annex.
• LionTree Arena accommodates nearly 4,000 fans for Triton volleyball and basketball events and can be expanded to approximately 4,500 through the use of floor seats for concerts and speaking events. The facility serves as the practice and competition site for the UC San Diego men and women's basketball and men and women's volleyball teams.
• The arena is 44,000 sq ft in size and contains six dressing rooms. The floor space can be divided into five basketball courts, which have been used for preseason training camps for several National Basketball Association teams over the years.
• The auxiliary gym contains two basketball/volleyball courts, three mirrored activity rooms, two squash courts, eight racquetball courts, a wellness center, two conference rooms, and two locker rooms. It also contains a 12,000 sq ft fitness center and office space for campus recreation, sports facilities and intercollegiate athletics.
• The 2018 renovation project architect was NBBJ with Richard Hall, II serving as the lead architect. Turner Construction Company served as the project contractor with former UC San Diego men's basketball student-athlete Brett Stuckey serving as the project manager.
• The renovation project included improved fan experience items such as new retractable bleachers, a glass “see-through” railing system between the concourse and seating areas and the construction of a “skybox” that  accommodates approximately 100 guests.
• State-of-the-art fan amenities include a new 50' w x 15' h Daktronics video display and scoreboard; LED display scorer's tables; and above-basket shot clocks.
• Video production is controlled from two, state-of-the-art production control rooms that  accommodate multi-camera, high definition live event broadcasts from each of UC San Diego's primary sports facilities - suitable for various distribution platforms, including Big West Conference television partner ESPN+ as well as linear events.
• The competition court features new Spaulding basket standards with Daktronics shot clocks and LED game clock lighting system.