California Golden Bears men's tennis

Varsity programs

Men's varsity programs

The California football team began play in 1885 and has played its home games at California Memorial Stadium since 1923, except for in 2011 while the stadium was being renovated; the team played at San Francisco's AT&T Park that season. The Bears have five national titles bestowed retrospectively by "major selectors" — 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923 and 1937 (a contemporaneous selector in 1937 also chose California) — listed by the NCAA. The team also has produced two of the oddest and most memorable plays in college football: Roy "Wrong Way" Riegels' fumble recovery and run toward the Cal goal line in the 1929 Rose Bowl; and The Play in the 1982 Big Game, a game-winning, five-lateral kickoff return as time expired.

The program has produced numerous NFL stars, including:

two Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinees in Les Richter and Tony Gonzalez, the latter of whom is the NFL's all-time receptions leader among tight ends. Gonzalez also played basketball at Cal.

two first overall NFL draft selections in Steve Bartkowski (1975) and Jared Goff (2016).

several All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections or otherwise notable players, including Aaron Rodgers, Joe Kapp, Ryan Longwell, Marshawn Lynch, DeSean Jackson, Cameron Jordan, Keenan Allen, Desmond Bishop, and Jahvid Best.

Current head coach Tosh Lupoi began his tenure in 2026.

California has participated in 25 bowl games, garnering a record of 12–12–1.

The California men's basketball team has represented the University of California intercollegiately since 1907 and subsequently began full conference play in 1915. Cal basketball's home court is Haas Pavilion, which was constructed atop of the old Harmon Gymnasium using money donated in the late 1990s in part by the owners of Levi-Strauss. The program has seen success throughout the years culminating in a national championship in 1959 under legendary coach Pete Newell and have reached the final four two other times in 1946 and 1960. The 1926–27 team finished the season with a 17–0 record and was retroactively named the national champion by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll.

Women's varsity programs

The California Golden Bears women's volleyball team have an NCAA Division I Tournament record of 26–17 through seventeen appearances. Despite appearing in the NCAA national championship game in 2010, they have yet to win a national title. Some former Bears that have gone pro include all-time kills leader Hana Cutura, former US Olympian and all-time assists leader Carli Lloyd, Mia Jerkov, Lara Vukasovic, Jenelle Jordan, and Maddie Haynes. The team is currently coached by Sam Crosson.

California's women's basketball team has made 14 NCAA tournament appearances, their best result being a Final Four appearance in 2013. The team has also won one WNIT championship, in 2010.

In 2009–10, under Joanne Boyle, the Bears's top-10 recruiting class and star senior Alexis Gray-Lawson) rebounded from a rough start to their season to win the WNIT. The championship game against Miami (FL) was the first ever championship game held at Haas Pavilion. Gray-Lawson ended her career as the all-time Cal leader in three points made and games played.

In 2012–13, under second-year head coach Lindsay Gottlieb, the Cal women reached a record AP and USA Today Coaches Poll #6 ranking at the end of the season, earning the 2 seed in the Spokane region of the NCAA tournament. The Bears reached the first Final Four in school history. In June 2019, Gottlieb became the first NCAA women's head coach to be hired to an NBA coaching staff when she became an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The current women's basketball head coach is Charmin Smith. Notable alumni of the team include first-round WNBA draft selections Layshia Clarendon and Kristine Anigwe. Anigwe holds the team's all-time scoring and rebounding records.

In 2002, the Cal softball team won its first national championship against Arizona. Some notable players include Candace Harper, third baseman, and Jocelyn Forest, pitcher, both of whom were team captains. The 2002 Women's College World Series took place in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Softball began intercollegiate competition at the University of California in 1972. The team has won one national championship and 6 conference championships. The team currently plays at the 1,204 seat Levine-Fricke Field in Strawberry Canyon, and the current head coach is former Cal shortstop Chelsea Spencer, who was a member of the 2002 WCWS-winning team.

Championships

Tournament appearances

The California Golden Bears competed in the NCAA tournament across 26 active sports (12 men's and 14 women's) 627 times at the Division I Level.

Baseball (13): 1947, 1957, 1980, 1985, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1995, 2001, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2019

Men's basketball (19): 1946, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2016

Women's basketball (16): 1982 (AIAW), 1990, 1992, 1993, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

Men's cross country (5): 2007, 2008, 2010, 2015, 2016

Women's cross country (4): 1984, 1988, 2011, 2017

Field hockey (12): 1980 (AIAW), 1981 (AIAW), 1982, 1983, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006

Men's golf (15): 1939, 1948, 1949, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2019

Women's golf (10): 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017

Men's gymnastics (48): 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1982, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022

Women's gymnastics (15): 1992, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022

Rowing (21): 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

Team

The Golden Bears of California earned 43 NCAA championships at the Division I level, plus 5 unofficial men's football titles claimed by the school.

Men's (34)

Baseball (2): 1947, 1957

Basketball (1): 1959

Golf (1): 2004

Gymnastics (4): 1968, 1975, 1997, 1998

Outdoor track and field (1): 1922

Swimming and diving (8): 1979, 1980, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2019, 2022, 2023

Water polo (17): 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 2006, 2007, 2016, 2021, 2022, 2023

Women's (9)

Rowing (4): 2005, 2006, 2016, 2018

Softball (1): 2002

Swimming (4): 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015

Results

Below are 72 national team titles in current and former California varsity sports that were not bestowed by the NCAA:

Men (70)

Bowling (1): 1979

Crew (19): 1928, 1932, 1934, 1935, 1939, 1949, 1960, 1961, 1964, 1976, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2016, 2022, 2023

Football (5*): 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1937

Rifle (9): 1898, 1899, 1902, 1907, 1952, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959

Individual

As of March 25, 2023, California Golden Bears have won 290 all-time individual championships, including doubles, rowing crews and relay events, in sports currently governed at the Division I level by the NCAA. The eight men's tennis titles won before 1946 were bestowed by the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association.

The four women's tennis titles won in 1929–1931 were bestowed at the National Collegiate Girls' Tennis Championships. The four women's rowing titles won in the 1980s were bestowed by the National Women's Rowing Association. The names of the nine women who won the 1984 women's novice eights rowing title have not been retrieved.

* Including pre-NCAA men's and women's tennis and women's rowing

Notable club sports

Ice hockey

California Ice Hockey Team is an ACHA Division II program, competing in the Pacific 8 Intercollegiate Hockey Conference. The team is coached by Devin Cox, who took over as head coach in 2023.

Volleyball

The University of California department of athletics sponsors a varsity women's volleyball program without a men's equivalent program at the NCAA/varsity level; therefore, California only competes in intercollegiate men's volleyball at the club level. Along with the men's club volleyball program, there is also a women's club team separate from the women's varsity team. According to the UC Berkeley Recreational Sports page, the club men's volleyball program has won a total of six national championships. Occasionally, members of the club volleyball team will help the women's varsity volleyball team with practices and open scrimmages.

Taekwondo

The California taekwondo team has won 32 national team championships from 1976 through 2018 (includes 3 men's and one women's team titles prior to the adoption of overall scoring).

Athletic facilities

California Memorial Stadium

California Memorial Stadium is the home field for California's football program. The venue opened in 1923 and seated between 72,000 and 80,000 fans until the 2010 football season (its final configuration before the renovation seated 71,799), making it northern California's largest football stadium in terms of seating capacity; however, the stadium's capacity dropped to 62,467 seats after the renovation was completed.

The Simpson Center (known as the Student Athlete High Performance Center or SAHPC during construction) is the new high-performance center for California's student athletes, located right next to California Memorial Stadium on Piedmont Avenue. The new center opened in the fall of 2011 and by January 2012, the final team (football) had moved into the facility. The Simpson Center is home to 13 of California's 32 intercollegiate athletic programs, including football, Men's Rugby, Women's Lacrosse, Men's and Women's Gymnastics, Men's and Women's Golf, Men's and Women's Soccer, Men's and Women's Crew, Women's Field Hockey, and softball. According to the University of California, the facility is a 142,000-square-foot (13,200 m2) complex that will provide "year round access for over 450 student athletes."

Haas Pavilion

Walter A. Haas, Jr. Pavilion is the home of California's men's and women's basketball, women's volleyball, and men's and women's gymnastics teams. The arena is located in the middle of the main University of California sports complex, overlooking Evans Diamond (baseball) and Edwards Stadium (track/soccer). The arena was originally constructed in 1933 as the Men's Gym. It was renamed, in 1959, Harmon Gym after Oakland financier A.K.P. Harmon, who in 1879 donated the funds to build Cal's first indoor athletic facility. The playing surface, after being known as simply "Room 100" when the arena opened, was renamed Pete Newell Court in 1987 in honor of Pete Newell, who led Cal to the national championship in 1959. Proposals for replacing the old gym were bandied about from the 1970s onward, but sentiment was strongly in favor of its reconstruction. As a result, the arena was heavily renovated from 1997 to 1999 after a donation of about $11 million from Walter A. Haas, Jr. of Levi Strauss & Co., constructing a new seating bowl within the existing walls.

The Recreational Sports Facility is a 100,000 square foot athletics center that is attached to Haas Pavilion and is located on Bancroft Avenue. The RSF features many different rooms for many different activities including, but not limited to: basketball, weight lifting, racquetball, handball, squash, volleyball, and badminton. Attached to the facility is the RSF Field House which is home to many of California's club and intramural teams and has, in the past, hosted the Cal women's volleyball team while Haas Pavilion was under construction. Also attached to the RSF is the Spieker Aquatics Complex, which is home to the California men's and women's water polo and men's and women's swimming and diving programs.

Evans Diamond

Evans Diamond is California's baseball stadium, it opened in 1933 and currently has a seating capacity of 2,500. Evans Diamond is located in the UC sports complex in the southwest corner of campus, pressed between Edwards Stadium to the west (right field) and Haas Pavilion to the east. Originally named Edwards Field, it was renamed after Clint Evans, the Cal head coach from 1930 to 1954. The stadium was renovated in 1992 at a cost of $275,000, paid for by the donations of UC alumni. Construction was done by RNT Landscaping, a San Leandro landscaping company. The stadium is considered inadequate to host regional and super regional games for the NCAA tournament because of its lack of lights.

Other facilities

Oakland Arena (Men's Basketball 1997-1999)

Clark Kerr Sand Courts (Beach volleyball)

Edwards Stadium (Soccer, Track & Field)

Hellman Tennis Complex (Tennis)

Legends Aquatics Center (Swimming and Diving, Water Polo)

Levine-Fricke Field (Softball)

Spieker Aquatics Complex (Water Polo, Swimming & Diving)

T. Gary Rogers Rowing Center (Crew)

Underhill Field (Field Hockey)

Witter Rugby Field (Rugby)

California spirit

School colors and mascot

Blue and gold have been Cal's official colors since 1875. The dark blue represents California's sky and ocean, and Yale University, the alma mater of several of the university's founders, including its first president, Henry Durant. Gold is a reference to the state of California's nickname, the "Golden State." The shade of gold varies from a more metallic gold on the university seal, and a yellow-gold (also known as California Gold) that is in use by the athletic department. Because of the university's use of blue and gold, the state of California's de facto colors were blue and gold from around 1913 to 1951 and became the official state colors in 1951.

Since 1895, the athletic teams of the University of California have officially been known as the "California Golden Bears."

University of California Marching Band

The University of California Marching Band, usually shortened to Cal Band, is the marching band for the University of California, Berkeley. While the Cal Band is student-run, it is administered under the auspices of the university and represents Cal at sporting events and social gatherings. The name of the band is "The University of California Band" by the constitution, but is typically called "The University of California Marching Band" or "The Cal Band". When the band marches out of Memorial Stadium's North Tunnel for football pre-games, it is referred to as "The Pacesetter of College Marching Bands, the Pride of California". When in attendance at basketball games or other small sporting events, a smaller subset known as the "Straw Hat Band" represents the UC Marching Band.

Fight for California

Primary fight song

University of California Rally Committee

The University of California Rally Committee, usually shortened to Rally Comm, is the official guardian of the University of California's spirit and traditions. The committee is in charge of the protection of the Stanford Axe (while Cal is in possession of it), the Bonfire Rally, the Cal flags, the California Victory Cannon, Homecoming Rally, the upkeep of the Big C, and many other spirit related activities. Rally Comm is completely student-run and can be found at almost every major sporting event and many other events throughout the Bay Area and country. The most distinguishing feature of the University of California Rally Committee are the blue and gold striped rugby shirts that serve as the official uniform of the committee.

The Bench

The Bench is the student cheering section for the University of California men's basketball team. Located inside Haas Pavilion, The Bench holds up to 900 students who cheer on their California Golden Bears at home basketball games. Students who sit on The Bench receive an annual Bench T-shirt each year and continue to make Haas Pavilion one of the loudest basketball arenas in the Pac-12 Conference. The Bench prides itself on standing the entire game and ensuring that the arena is a hostile place for any opposing team to play.

Although exact dates are not known, the tradition of The Bench was drastically changed in October 2000 when renovations on Haas Pavilion were completed and put a row of portable chairs between the student section and the court. University officials called the move necessary for the protection of referees and players, but students were angry at the move because it further removed them from the action.

Calgorithm

During the 2024 college football season, Cal's online fanbase drew national attention for its unique and self-deprecating usage of memes on the website X (formerly Twitter). Known as the Calgorithm (coined by Jessica Smetana), the movement rose to prominence when Cal fan and graduate student Miles Goodman posted a meme directed at Auburn's official account after Cal's upset win, declaring "You Just Lost To The Woke Agenda". The image featured a picture of former Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza alongside Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Cal's mascot Oski, a rainbow, and an electoral map of the United States showing a landslide victory for the Democratic Party. The post has received over 5 million views. The humor largely played on the stereotype of Berkeley students as left-leaning. Other posts referenced DEI and Critical race theory. A group of fans also created a parody of Chappell Roan's song "Hot to Go!" entitled "Ott to Go." The increased interest was cited as a contributing factor in College GameDay visiting Cal for the first time on October 5.

Stanford rivalry

California shares a traditional sports and academic rivalry with nearby Stanford University. Both schools operate in the San Francisco Bay Area with the University of California in the East Bay and Stanford in Santa Clara County. While the schools have a rich athletic rivalry with the football programs meeting 126 times, they also share an academic rivalry: the University of California, Berkeley, is commonly considered one of the best public university nationally while Stanford University is thought of as being one of the best private universities in the country. Athletic events between the two schools are usually signified by being the "Big whatever", examples include: the Big Game (football), Big Tip Off (basketball), Big Spike (Volleyball), Big Splash (Water Polo), Big Meet (Track & Field), Big Freeze (Club Ice Hockey), et cetera. Women's basketball does not follow the normal naming template for games between the two schools and is simply known as "The Battle of the Bay."

The annual football game features both teams vying for the Stanford Axe.

Trophies

Stanford Axe

The Stanford Axe is a trophy awarded to the winner of the annual Big Game, a college football match-up between the University of California Golden Bears and the Stanford University Cardinal. The trophy consists of an axe-head mounted on a large wooden plaque, along with the scores of past Big Games. California is currently in possession of the Axe after winning the 2024 Big Game in Berkeley.

World Cup

The World Cup is awarded to the winner of the annual rugby union series between the University of California Golden Bears and the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. In rugby, California's traditional rival is British Columbia, not Stanford, which led to the creation of the World Cup. California was the 2013 World Cup winner, defeating UBC 28–18 in Berkeley on February 16, 2013, and 38–6 in Vancouver on March 24, 2013.

Scrum Axe

Although California's main rival in rugby is British Columbia, the rivalry between California and Stanford in rugby has been going on for more than a century. The trophy awarded to the winner of the California-Stanford rugby match is known as the "Scrum Axe", which is a play on the "Stanford Axe", the trophy awarded to whichever school wins the annual rugby contest. California retained its hold on the Scrum Axe on January 26, 2013, in Berkeley, winning their 17th straight meeting over the Cardinal 176–0.

Olympic representation

Throughout the years, the University of California has been well represented in the Summer Olympic games with Cal athletes winning 90 gold medals, 40 silver medals, and 28 bronze medals. Despite the fact that the university sponsors no sports that compete in the Winter Olympics, California does have 1 gold medalist from the 1928 Winter Games.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics, California's at the time enrolled students won at total of 18 medals, including 9 gold ones. Sixteen of those medals were won in swimming.