With the UCLA softball and baseball teams suffering early exits
from the postseason, the Westwood community is going to have to
endure the heat of summer, still waiting for UCLA to become the
first school with 100 NCAA titles.
Passing the century mark in championships seems almost like a
formality at this point, but when the seminal moment finally comes,
the UCLA Athletic Department will be ready to shower its past
champions with a series of commemorative events.
As soon as the 100th title is claimed, UCLA will introduce
representatives of every championship team at each home men’s
basketball game next season, said Associate Athletic Director Glenn
Toth.
If softball or one of the other spring sports had won the title,
the department would have introduced past champions at each home
football game as well.
According to Toth, UCLA has also received permission from the
NCAA to create a commemorative 100th title trophy to add to the
traditional plaques that litter the J.D. Morgan Center.
The department has crafted a “first to 100″ logo
that will be used in various ways to celebrate the school’s
achievement.
The logo will be stitched onto Bruin uniforms and will also be
painted at half court in Pauley Pavilion. Other UCLA sports venues
will feature new video board installations and trivia that pay
homage to the school’s history of winning. A fixture of the
logo will be permanently on display in the UCLA Hall of Fame.
UCLA currently sits atop the country with 99 NCAA team titles,
which doesn’t include national championships won outside the
umbrella of the NCAA leadership.
Stanford is in second place with 92, and USC rounds out the top
three with 84. There is a considerable drop-off from the three
Pac-10 schools to the rest of the country. Oklahoma State is fourth
with 47 titles.
USC leads all programs with 344 individual titles, while junior
tennis player Ben Kohlloeffel’s 2006 individual title gives
UCLA 250.
But UCLA is promoting its dominance in team sports, highlighting
the fact that it takes a winning tradition in not one or two sports
but many. Teams in 16 different sports have won championships for
UCLA.
“Because the majority of our national championships are in
Olympic sports, the feeling of achievement is spread over many
programs,” Toth said. “We revel in the fact that our
athletic programs is broad-based.”
Men’s tennis has won more titles than any other Bruin
program with 16, while men’s basketball is next with 11. But
it is the tradition in women’s sports that has elevated UCLA
above other programs. UCLA’s women’s teams have won 29
titles, the most in the country.
“We are so delighted in the status we have in
women’s sports,” Toth said. “We are extremely
proud in the women’s program. We like to think of ourselves
as pioneers for women (as one of the first schools to have
women’s athletics).”
UCLA is having no problem boasting its unparalleled standard of
excellence. But once No. 100 is finally notched, the Athletic
Department has another modest goal in its sights.
“Win 101, then 102, then be the first to 200,” Toth
said.