When it comes to college athletics, people often miss the forest for the trees. Everyone wants to be a football or basketball school that dominates every game, but often many miss the teams that do just that, but in sports that don’t get as much attention.
That ends today.
It’s time to recognize what your favorite school’s real best sport is, and it’s not football.
Texas
Texas has been back. In fact, Texas never left. To question the dominance of a program that has packed arenas and brought hardware to trophy cases consistently over the last four decades would be silly, because no one has done swimming and diving like the Longhorns.
Texas history of winning in the pool dates back to the 1930’s. Texas was the Men’s Southwest Conference Champions 38 times from the year 1932-1996. They’ve continued to lead the pack in the Big-12, where they have won every single championship since the conference the league began in 1997.
The women’s team is just as dominant, winning their 20 th Big-12 championship in 2022. The combined men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams account for 22 NCAA national championships.
University of Denver
If a sport requires a cold setting, chances are the University of Denver Pioneers are going to be a top contender. The Pios recently added 2022 NCAA Hockey National Champions to their resume, and while they have dominated the ice in the last few decades, nobody has been able to compete with their skiing program.
They hold an NCAA record of 24 National Championships, four more than the runner up University of Colorado. The 24 championships is third most among any team in a single sport event. Eighty individual champions have worn the crimson and gold dating back to 1954. The program has sent skiers to every single Winter Olympics from 1948-2018.
Cal, USC, UCLA, Stanford
The entire state of California holds a monopoly on the sport of water polo, so much so that there has never been a non-California school in a NCAA division one championship.
Of all the California schools, Cal Berkley is king of the pool. They currently hold the title of back-to-back NCAA Champions after they defeated USC 13-12. It is the fifteenth time they’ve floated to the top of the water polo world. UCLA, Stanford, and USC are close behind them with 12, 11, and 10 championships.
UCLA and USC’s fierce rivalry continues in the water. The two schools consistently rank near the top of the rankings, which only increases the intensity of the match. Every time the two schools faced each other in 2022, the match ended with a score within two points or less.
North Carolina
Let’s set something straight, the University of North Carolina is a field hockey school. Four out of the last five NCAA championships have gone to the Tar Heels. Their most recent championship in 2022 capped off a perfect 21-0 season. For the last 42 years they were led by the winningest head coach in NCAA division one history, Karen Shelton.
Under Shelton’s management the team won 10 national championships and 25 conference championships. In her time with the team, she also sent 16 players to represent the US in the Olympics.
She retired after the 2022 season, leaving the program on a high note. They are currently searching for the next head coach to continue their dominance.
Nebraska
With the death of Nebraska football rose a new program that would go on to dominate the NCAA, bowling. Beginning as a club in 1990, they were at the top of the the club bowling scene, amassing national championships in 1991 and 1995. In 1996 it became recognized as a varsity sport by the school, and in 2003 it became an official NCAA team.
From there, the team took off. The team has never been ranked below seventh nationally. Their sixth and most recent championship came in 2021, where they knocked off Arkansas to win the NCAA Bowling Tournament. The same year Crystal Elliot was named National Bowler of the Year, the ninth Corn Husker to win the title.
Notre Dame
The gold helmets of Notre Dame are worn proudly by their best athletes, the fencing team. The fencing team competes in the ACC where they have held 42 conference championships.
From 1975-1980 the Irish won 122 straight matches breaking the NCAA record for most consecutive varsity matches won in a row. The record stood for over a decade. During that span they picked up their first of 12 national championships, their most recent coming in 2022. Both the men’s and women’s teams have seen success over the years, they have 41 individual champions combined in program history.
In conclusion
It’s time to stop pretending your favorite school is something it’s not. Taking a deep dive into what a school is really good at is eye opening, so take pride in what they’re good at, even if they don’t play on a Saturday.
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