In the eyes of many of its students and prospective students,
UCLA has it all: good weather, good location and good academics.
Add to that an unparalleled athletics program and the chance to see
a milestone 100th national championship, and the reasons for
attending UCLA become overwhelming.
UCLA was established in 1919, nearly 30 years after Stanford and
nearly 40 years after USC, but it has outstripped both in terms of
team NCAA National Titles. Sitting at a grand total of 99, with
Stanford at 91 and USC at 84, UCLA is poised to make the
unprecedented leap to 100 titles sometime in the next year.
Men’s volleyball could correctly be called the most
successful program in UCLA history, with 19 national championships,
the most recent of which came this year against Penn State, which
was UCLA’s 98th.
On the other side of the spectrum is men’s tennis, which
won UCLA’s first national championship in 1950. In just 56
years, the Bruins have leapt to the peak of college athletics, and
it is nearly a certainty that this will be the year that UCLA
becomes the first to 100.
UCLA’s flagship program is men’s basketball, which
came within 40 minutes of being the national champions for the 12th
time last year.
The Bruins have a fine chance of making a run again this coming
year, despite the loss of their point guard, Jordan Farmar, to the
NBA. It would be fitting for the final brick in the wall of 100 to
be placed by the team that made UCLA a name in college athletics,
but odds are, students will not have to wait that long.
Both water polo teams, led by coach Adam Krikorian, have
recently become two of the most dependable teams at UCLA in terms
of championships. Women’s water polo has won two straight
national titles, and both water polo teams won their respective
championships two years ago. Men’s water polo, which had a
down season last year, lost only two seniors from the squad and
will be eager to get the 100th title in the fall.
Women’s soccer, which was ousted by Portland in last
year’s national championship, also lost two seniors from last
year’s team and will have a shot at becoming known as the
100th champion team in December.
No matter which team ends up winning the 100th title, it will
stand as a benchmark for all other athletic programs that seek to
dethrone UCLA as the most dominant program in the country.