The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing the University of California, Santa Barbara. Referred to in athletic competition as UC Santa Barbara or UCSB, the Gauchos participate in 19 NCAA Division I intercollegiate sports with the majority competing in the Big West Conference. UCSB currently fields varsity teams in 10 men's and 9 women's sports.
Throughout the school's history, UCSB has won team national championships for 1979 men's water polo, 2006 men's soccer and 1962 men's swimming and diving (Div. II). The Gauchos, and the student-athletes who compose the teams, have won a variety of conference titles, regularly compete in NCAA championship events, and have produced professional and Olympic athletes. In the 2024–25 season, they won the Division I-AAA ADA All-Sports Trophy, the trophy for the best non-football university athletic program. They are one of four schools to ever win the award, along with Pepperdine, the University of Denver, and conference rival UC Irvine.
The school has played a pivotal role in the collegiate athletics landscape in California. UCSB was a founding member of the California Collegiate Athletic Association, the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (now known as the Big West Conference), and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
Beginning with the 2027-2028 season, UCSB will rejoin the West Coast Conference, which it was a member of from 1965 to 1969.
Nickname Those affiliated with UCSB, including alumni, faculty, and students in addition to the athletic teams, have previously gone under the nicknames Hilltoppers and Roadrunners. In September 1934, the student body voted to change the Roadrunners moniker to the Gauchos, which also applied to the athletic teams. Students felt the name more suited the campus's and Santa Barbara, California-area's Spanish architecture, Mission Santa Barbara, and the Gaucho was "essentially Spanish". The school marked the change with a small ceremony of four horse-riders before a football game's kickoff. Later, others attributed the change as inspired by Douglas Fairbanks' role in the eponymous film, The Gaucho.
History The earliest teams representing UC Santa Barbara, then known as Santa Barbara State Teachers College, appeared in the 1920s with football and basketball followed shortly by baseball.
UCSB was one of four founding members of the California Collegiate Athletic Association, which first took place during the 1938–39 school year. The association sponsored 10 sports and served as a catalyst for UCSB to elevate sports previously classified as "minor" to equal standing as "major", which provided a level playing field for all UCSB-sponsored teams.
In 1969, UC Santa Barbara was a founding member of the Big West Conference, then known as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association.
Along with a consortium of teams from the Big West Conference, Western Athletic Conference, and Pac-10 Conference, UC Santa Barbara was a founding member of the regional Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in 1992.
Sports sponsored
Men's sports Women's sports Baseball Basketball Basketball Cross country Cross country Soccer Golf Softball Soccer Swimming and diving Swimming and diving Tennis Tennis Track and field† Track and field Volleyball Volleyball Water polo Water polo
Baseball
Potentially one of the oldest teams the Gauchos field, baseball can date back to at least 1922. The first known head coach is Kenneth Bolton, who coached in only the 1922 season before handing the reins to O. J. Gilliland in 1923. The Gauchos have appeared in 13 NCAA Division I baseball tournaments.
Numerous Major League Baseball all-stars and World Series champions have come through the ranks including Shane Bieber, Skip Schumaker, Chris Speier, Michael Young, and Barry Zito.
Basketball Both the UCSB men's and women's basketball teams play at the UCSB Events Center, commonly known as the Thunderdome.
Men's basketball
UCSB Men's Basketball had its best years in the late '80s and early '90s under coach Jerry Pimm, highlighted by a 77–70 victory over then No. 2 and eventual National Champion UNLV in 1990, and NCAA tournament appearances in 1988 (lost to Maryland) and 1990 (defeated Houston 70–66 and lost to Michigan State 62–58). The Gauchos returned to the NCAA tournament in 2002 where they nearly upset powerhouse Arizona in the opening round. Over the years, a few of Pimm's assistants at UCSB have gone on to coach other major programs around the country, including Ben Howland (1982–1994) of UCLA and Jamie Dixon of Pittsburgh.
In the 2009–10 season, UCSB Men's Basketball was the regular season champion and final tournament champion in the Big West Conference, defeating Long Beach State. It won an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament and played 2nd seed Ohio State, losing to the Buckeyes. In 2010–2011, they placed fifth in the regular season. They defeated Long Beach State in the tournament final for the second year in a row. The Gauchos were the lowest seed to win the Big West Tournament since sixth-seeded San Jose State toppled Utah State in 1996. They played the 2nd seed Florida Gators and lost. It was the first time UCSB entered an NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons.
Famous Gauchos men's basketball players are Brian Shaw, Conner Henry, Alex Harris, Lucius Davis, Don Ford, James Nunnally, and Orlando Johnson.
Women's basketball
In 2005, UCSB Women's Basketball won its unprecedented ninth straight Big West Conference Championship. The team had its best year in history during the 2004 season when it advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 where it lost to eventual champion UConn. UCSB was the only team to hold UConn to less than a double-digit victory in the NCAA playoffs. From 2000 to 2005, Tasha McDowell served as an assistant coach.
In the 2012 Big West Tournament, the UCSB women's basketball team became the first 6th seed to win the tournament. In the first round, the team traveled to UC Irvine and defeated the 3rd-seeded Anteaters 61–51. The Gauchos continued on their playoff march against the Pacific Tigers in the semifinals hosted at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. Pacific swept UCSB in the regular season, but the Gauchos were victorious when it mattered the most as they bounced the Tigers out of the tournament with an overwhelming 84-66 decision. The 84-point output currently stands as the most points the Gauchos have scored under head coach Carlene Mitchell. After defeating the number 3 seed and number 5 seed, the Gauchos ended up being the higher-ranked team in the championship game as they were set to face Long Beach State who pulled off two miraculous upsets of their own as the 7 seed. The Gauchos went on to capture its record 14th Big West crown with a 63–54 final tally. Gaucho center Kirsten Tilleman had a double-double (16 points and 11 rebounds) against the 49ers, which earned her the tournament MVP honors. She was also included on the All-Tournament team roster along with her teammate sophomore guard Melissa Zornig, who averaged 16.7 points per game in the tournament. The 2011-2012 Gauchos' season ended in the first round of the NCAA tournament where they fell 81–40 against the eventual national champion Baylor.
Famous Gauchos women's basketball players are Kristen Mann currently plays in the WNBA and Mekia Valentine was drafted by the New York Liberty in the 2011 WNBA draft.
Cross country The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's cross country team appeared in the NCAA tournament two times, with their highest finish being 17th place in the 2001–02 school year. The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos women's cross country team appeared in the NCAA tournament four times, with their highest finish being 9th place in the 2006–07 school year.
2001 Men No. 17 432 2003 Women No. 29 586 2004 Women No. 17 410 2006 Men No. 27 553 2006 Women No. 9 318 2007 Women No. 19 499
Soccer Men's soccer
In 2004, the UCSB men's soccer team advanced to the College Cup. It routed Duke in the semifinals 5–0, but lost in the championship match to Indiana on penalties
In 2006, UCSB again advanced to the College Cup. In the semi-finals, UCSB and 2nd seed Wake Forest played to a 0–0 tie before UCSB won the game on penalty kicks 4–3. In the championship game, UCSB defeated UCLA 2-1 to win its first NCAA Men's Soccer title and its second NCAA championship (1979 Men's Water Polo) in school history.
In conference play, the Gauchos have dominated Big West competition. They have won the Big West Championship in 5 of the last 7 years. Also, the Gauchos have had no less than 5 former players receive full international caps.
The Gauchos have led the NCAA in attendance each year from 2007 to 2012 and averaged 5,873 fans during their 2010 home matches.NCAA Soccer, Men's Attendance Records, Annual Home Attendance Champions, http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_soccer_RB/2011/attend.pdfUCSBGauchos.com, UCSB Leads National Soccer Attendance for Sixth Year, Jan. 15, 2013, http://www.ucsbgauchos.com/sports/m-soccer/2012-13/releases/20130115fuef6v The Gauchos Sep. 24, 2010 match against UCLA drew 15,896 fans, the highest attendance for an NCAA soccer match since the year 2000.NCAA Soccer, Men's Attendance Records, All-Time Largest Crowds, http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_soccer_RB/2011/attend.pdf
The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer team has an NCAA Division I Tournament record of 23–13–1 through sixteen appearances.
2002 First roundSecond Round San DiegoCalifornia W 2–0L 1–2 2003 Second RoundThird round CaliforniaSt. John's W 2–0L 2–3 2004 Second RoundThird roundQuarterfinalsSemifinalsNational Championship MilwaukeeUNC GreensboroVCUDukeIndiana W 2–1W 1–0W 4–1W 5–0L 1–2 2005 First roundSecond Round San Diego StateCSU Northridge W 2–0L 2–3 2006 First roundSecond RoundThird roundQuarterfinalsSemifinalsNational Championship San Diego StateSMUOld DominionNorthwesternWake ForestUCLA W 2–1W 3–1W 2–1W 3–2W 1–0W 2–1 2007 Second RoundThird round WashingtonOhio State W 1–0L 3–4 2008 Second Round California L 2–3 2009 First roundSecond RoundThird round WoffordSan DiegoUCLA W 1–0W 1–0L 1–2 2010 First roundSecond Round DenverCalifornia W 1–0L 1–2 2011 Second RoundThird round ProvidenceCreighton W 3–2L 1–2 2013 Second Round Penn State L 0–1 2015 Second RoundThird round South CarolinaClemson W 1–0L 2–3 2019 First roundSecond roundThird roundQuarterfinals CaliforniaSaint Mary'sIndianaWake Forest W 3–1W 4–0W 1–0L 0–1 2021 First round UCLA L 1–2 2024 First roundSecond round UCLAStanford W 1–0D 2–2 (L 6–5 on PKs)
Women's soccer The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos women's soccer team has an NCAA Division I Tournament record of 5–9 through nine appearances.
1984 First round California L 0–2 1985 First roundSecond Round CSU East BayColorado College W 4–3L 0–3 1986 First roundSecond Round CincinnatiNorth Carolina W 1–0L 0–8 1987 First roundSecond Round Colorado CollegeCalifornia W 1–0L 0–3 1989 First roundSecond Round WisconsinSanta Clara W 1–0L 0–2 1990 First roundSecond Round StanfordSanta Clara W 1–0L 0–2 1991 First round Hartford L 0–4 2008 First round Stanford L 0–2 2009 First round BYU L 0–2
Softball The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos women's softball team has an NCAA Division I Tournament record of 2–8 through four appearances. The Gauchos won their first NCAA tournament game in 2025.
2004 0–2 Eliminated by Temple in No. 1 Regional 2006 0–2 Eliminated by Southern Illinois in Evanston Regional 2007 0–2 Eliminated by Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles Regional 2025 2–2 Eliminated by UCLA in Los Angeles Regional
Swimming