Tritons Athletic Programs Are Dominant

UC San Diego's sports scene is better than you realize

A lot is made of the athletic department at San Diego State University, and rightfully so. The Aztecs have done a wonderful job of building several major programs.

The University of San Diego also gets its share of local press, and rightfully so. The Toreros have won several conference titles of late, as well.

But UC San Diego is often forgotten, even though they rightfully deserve a whole lot more recognition. The Tritons play at the Division II level (with a few exceptions) so the level of competition is not the same as, say, the SEC. But right now UCSD is still dominating its competition unlike any university in San Diego.

The women’s basketball team is ranked 20th in the nation and just knocked off Sonoma State to win a share of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) championship for the fourth time in eight years. They’re an outstanding 23-3 on the season.

The men’s basketball team is ranked 19th in the country and finished the regular season 20-5. They’ll be the number two seed in the CCAA Tournament that starts on March 1.

The Tritons baseball program is number 11 and off to the best start in its Division II history. They’ve won seven in a row after sweeping a 4-game set against Cal State San Bernardino. UCSD is 14-2 and a perfect 4-0 in the CCAA.

The 17th-ranked UC San Diego softball team is off to a 14-6 start and sits in second place in the CCAA. On the tennis court the Triton men are ranked 16th while the women are 17th.

Did you know the Tritons have one of the best Fencing programs in the country? UC San Diego won its 12th Intercollegiate Fencing Conference of Southern California (IFCSC) title. UCSD's men’s and women’s teams topped Arizona State, Caltech, Pasadena City College, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA and USC to finish their conference seasons undefeated.

But it’s (fittingly) in the water where the Tritons are truly dominant. Both their men’s and women’s water polo teams compete at the Division I level with great success. The women are ranked 13th in the country while the men are sitting at number nine.

And the swimming and diving teams are two of the best in America. For the second straight year UC San Diego is sending 20 student-athletes to the NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Championships.

The 2nd-ranked UCSD women have 13 swimmers and three divers heading to the IU Natatorium on the campus of IUPUI in Indianapolis, IN, for the meet from March 9-12. The 4th-ranked Triton men are sending four swimmers to the championships.

Count it up and that makes 12 programs currently receiving votes in the national polls, nine of them ranking in the Top-20. Not many athletic programs across the country can claim a run of success like that.

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