LA JOLLA, Calif. – A new era is here! UC San Diego has begun its transition to NCAA Division I and the Big West Conference. As part of the move to Division I, UCSDtritons.com introduces our fans to the Big West and the other 10 members - our new conference foes.

Today on our new rival series, we highlight UC Santa Barbara. Get to know all about the Gauchos below.  
 
School: University of California, Santa Barbara                                                             
Nickname(s): UCSB, Gauchos
Location: Santa Barbara, Calif.
Founded: 1944
Undergrad Enrollment: 20,847
Joined Big West: July 1, 1969
Mascot: UC Santa Barbara has used the Gaucho, which is an Argentine cowboy, as a nickname since 1936 when, inspired by Douglas Fairbanks's performance in the 1927 film The Gaucho, the female student population led a vote to change the mascot from the original Roadrunners. By the late 1980s, students began fully embracing the Gaucho name while attending standing-room-only basketball games swinging blue and gold boleadoras over their heads to rally the team. These were foam and yarn representations of the rock-hard leather balls that Gauchos tied to a cord and used as weapons to hunt rheas, a flightless South American ostrich-like bird.
Website: University | Athletics
Social: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Tickets: www.ucsbgauchos.com/tickets/index
 
Last NCAA Title: 2006, Men's Soccer
  
Did You Know?

• In the mid-1990s, UC Santa Barbara basketball fans became nationally notorious for chucking tortillas onto the court during televised games. The tortilla barrages often stopped play and resulted in technical foul calls (the Tortilla Technical) against the Gauchos. Coaches could occasionally be seen begging the crowd to stop and even helping with cleanup. The practice peaked in February of 1997 when the Gauchos took on University of the Pacific in a game that was televised on ESPN. The rowdy fans threw tortillas and the Gauchos' head coach was eventually ejected. While tortilla chucking is prohibited at basketball games these days, the tradition is celebrated at soccer matches – only after goals.
• On the verge of a National Championship and in the midst of a spree in which the Runnin' Rebels would win 52 out of 53 games, the No. 1 UNLV men's basketball team met its match on February 26, 1990. The team came to Santa Barbara boasting a starting lineup that featured three NBA first round draft picks (No. 1 Larry Johnson, No. 9 Stacey Augmon, and No. 12 Greg Anthony) as well as a Hall of Fame coach in Jerry Tarkanian. Living up to its name, the Thunderdome's decibel level hit 110 during the ESPN Big Monday telecast. When the dust had settled, a national television audience and 6,000 delirious fans witnessed the Gauchos shock the Runnin' Rebels, 78-70.
• UC Santa Barbara fielded an intercollegiate football team from 1921-1971 (NCAA Divisions I and II) and again from 1987-1991 (NCAA Division III). As a Division II squad, the Gauchos won the 1948 Potato Bowl.  

Notable Alumni:

• Robert Ballard (underwater archaeologist)
• Kayte Christensen (WNBA player, 2002 Big West Player of the Year)
• Michael Douglas (actor)
• Jack Johnson (musician)
• Jason Lezak (eight-time (four gold) Olympic medalist in swimming)
• Jim Rome (sports radio host)
• Skip Schumaker (won an MLB World Series title with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011)
• Michael Young (seven-time MLB All-Star) 

Triton Connection: Former UC San Diego Swimming & Diving coach Matt Macedo is currently the head coach of UC Santa Barbara's Swimming team. He took over the reins in the 2016-17 season after serving as associate head coach since 2014. Macedo was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2018 after leading the Gauchos to back-to-back MPSF Championship titles on the men's side and runner-up finishes on the women's side. Macedo was both an assistant coach (2008-2011) and head coach (2011-2014) with the Tritons, earning Pacific Collegiate Swim and Dive Conference (PCSC) Coach of the Year accolades twice. 
 
Distance from UC San Diego: 213 miles (click map for details)
 
 
Be sure to check UCSDtritons.com on Wednesday to learn more about Hawai'i.

Meet Our New Rivals Series
Big West
Cal Poly 
Cal State Bakersfield
Cal State Fullerton
CSUN
Long Beach State
UC Davis
UC Irvine 
UC Riverside 
UC Santa Barbara
Hawai'i
 
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program begins a new era in 2020 as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide more than 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. In addition, 83 Tritons have been named Academic All-Americans, while 37 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.