UC Santa Barbara Gauchos
The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos are the intercollegiate athletic teams who represent 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 sports and 9 women's sports. Over the course of 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. 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. 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