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Pac-12 leads the nation in NCAA Championships for the 13th year in a row

Jun 29, 2018

SAN FRANCISCO - For the 13th year in a row and the 17th time in the last 18 years, the Pac-12 leads the nation with the most NCAA Championships won in 2017-18. With OREGON STATE capturing its third NCAA Baseball Championship on Thursday night, member institutions collected 12 NCAA titles this academic year as six different institutions won at least one title.

For the fourth-consecutive year, and fifth time in six years, the “Conference of Champions®” has collected double-digit NCAA titles. No other conference has reached double digits in an academic year. The 12 titles came in the form of nine women’s championships and three men’s.

The Pac-12 more than doubled the next-closest conference in 2017-18 with the ACC and SEC tying for second with five each, followed by the Big 12’s three.

In addition to the 12 NCAA crowns, Pac-12 teams recorded 10 runner-up finishes and at least one team placed in the top four of 23 championships. In 11 sports, there were at least two teams among the final four, including all-Pac-12 finals in women’s soccer, men’s water polo and women’s water polo.

Five institutions claimed multiple NCAA titles this season, three of them are from the Pac-12. STANFORD led the nation with four NCAA titles won in 2017-18, extending its streak of at least one NCAA Championship to 42 years. The Cardinal won its third-consecutive men’s soccer crown and its second all-time women’s soccer championship becoming the first institution to ever sweep the soccer titles in a single season. It also won the women’s swimming & diving title with a dominating and record-setting win, and the women’s tennis crown. It is the second-straight year Stanford has won four NCAA titles.

In addition to the Cardinal, UCLA won three titles and USC took home a pair of national championship trophies. The Bruins claimed their first-ever beach volleyball title becoming the first team in the three-year history of the tournament to do so coming out of the contender’s bracket. They won their seventh women’s gymnastics title on a perfect 10 and the men’s water polo crown for the third time in four years.

The Trojans captured their second-ever women’s track & field title and first in 17 years by a one-point margin while also claiming a second women’s water polo crown in three years.

In addition to the Cardinal’s, Bruins’ and Trojans’ multiple titles, CALIFORNIA won its second women’s rowing championship in three years and ARIZONA snapped an 18-year drought to win its third women’s golf title. In baseball, the Beavers won the final two games of the three-game championship series in Omaha to claim its first NCAA title in the sport since winning back-to-back crowns in 2006 and 2007.

This year’s impressive haul of titles adds to the Pac-12’s championship reputation. Conference teams have, by far, claimed the most national championships in the country all-time at 513, over 200 more than the next closest league (Big Ten - 311). Only three institutions across all divisions have won at least 100 NCAA titles all-time and all three are Pac-12 members. Stanford leads all institutions with 117 all-time NCAA titles, followed by UCLA with 116. USC is not far behind with 105 NCAA Championships, more than double the next-closest institution — the Big 12’s Oklahoma State (51).

The moniker “Conference of Champions®” not only has been earned by the number of titles, but also the depth of success. Pac-12 teams have won championships in 29 of the 37 Division I sports the NCAA sponsors and has reached double digits in 20 of those sports. The Pac-12 also leads the nation in NCAA titles in 14 NCAA sports.

Overall, the Pac-12 has claimed more NCAA titles in 52 of the last 58 years and finished second five times. It has also claimed at least six titles every year except one since the NCAA began sponsoring women's sports in 1981-82, winning an average of over nine NCAA Championships per year.

NCAA Championships Won by Pac-12 Institutions in 2017-18:

STANFORD (4): Men’s soccer, Women’s soccer, Women’s swimming & diving, Women’s tennis

UCLA (3): Men’s water polo, Women’s gymnastics, Beach Volleyball

USC (2): Women’s water polo, Women’s track & field

ARIZONA (1): Women’s golf

CALIFORNIA (1): Women’s rowing

OREGON STATE (1): Baseball

About the Pac-12 Conference:
Recognized as the “Conference of Champions®” for its unequaled NCAA Championships, the Pac-12 Conference comprises the 12 leading universities located in the Western United States: The University of Arizona, Arizona State University, the University of California-Berkeley, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of Colorado, the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Stanford University, the University of Southern California (USC), the University of Utah, the University of Washington and Washington State University. For more information on the Conference’s programs, member institutions, and Commissioner Larry Scott, go to pac-12.com/conference.