The Cal Poly Mustangs are the athletic teams representing

California Polytechnic State University California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo or Cal Poly) is a public university in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States, - Cites the location of the university and shows that the university ...

San Luis Obispo, California ; ; ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway betwee ...

. The university fields twenty teams and competes in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

; they are primarily members of the

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's NCAA Division I, Division I. The conference was origina ...

, but the football team plays in the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference, affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I with college football, football competing in the Football Cha ...

, the wrestling team is an affiliate member of the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

, and the indoor track & field (specific to the winter-season portion of the schedule) squads are

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Nickname

The Cal Poly official team nickname is the "Mustangs." The nickname was chosen in a 1925 vote by the students. The two finalists were "Mustangs" and "Mules" and the students chose "Mustangs."

History

Cal Poly athletic history

Early athletic program history

The Cal Poly Mustangs athletic department's first sports team was fielded in 1907 as the men's basketball team played their first game. The university was not yet a four-year institution, but the school sponsored sports.

Student referendum and move to NCAA Division I

Cal Poly put a referendum vote to its student body on Nov. 20–21, 1991. The referendum passed, with students voting to elevate all 16 NCAA sports teams at the time from Division II of the NCAA to Division I by the 1994–95 school year, passed by 267 votes in the largest voter turnout in school history, featuring 10,369 total votes cast, with 5,318 (or 51.2 percent) passing the measure. This move would be accommodated by the student body individually paying a total of $35 more per quarter by 1994 (steadily going in increments from the incumbent $8 Athletics fee at the time to $43 per quarter by 1994). Afterward, the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

officially certified Cal Poly as a

Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Sponsored by the National Collegiate A ...

football school on August 9, 1993. Its first year of playing at the Division I level in all sports (volleyball and wrestling were already Division I, being the two exceptions) was 1994–95.

Conference alignment

Announced October 14, 1994, Cal Poly joined the

for a majority of its sports programs, from the

American West Conference The American West Conference (AWC) was a college athletic conference in the United States from 1993 to 1996. It consisted of schools in California and Utah. The charter members of the conference were California Polytechnic State University; Cal ...

. The 1996–97 school year then marked Cal Poly's first season competing in the Big West. Cal Poly was accepted into the

as an affiliate member for football on September 7, 2010. The Mustangs' first-ever Big Sky game was played on September 22, 2012, a 28–20 home win over UC Davis.

Adidas partnership

On May 25, 2017, Cal Poly announced an exclusive partnership with

adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

. The partnership beginning in June 2017 would provide official footwear, apparel and various equipment items.

Academic progress rate public recognition awards

In May 2019, Cal Poly received a department-record seven Public Recognition Awards from the NCAA for

Academic Progress Rate The Academic Progress Rate (APR) is a measure introduced by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the nonprofit association that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, to ...

performance for the 2017–18 academic year. The seven awards included six from Big West Conference teams in the department, the most throughout the Big West (edging UC Davis by one award). The Mustangs collected four NCAA APR awards for the 2018–19 year, again leading the BWC.

Philanthropic endeavors

From 2007 through 2019, the Cal Poly softball program raised over $21,900 for the Hearst Cancer Resource Center with its annual StrikeOut Cancer Challenge event. From 2012 to 2019, Cal Poly student-athletes raised $11,179 through the

's annual February Coin Drive, with previous causes also including the Jessie Rees Foundation and

CURE International CURE International, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Grand Rapids, MI, is a Christian nonprofit organization that owns and operates eight charitable children's hospitals around the world. CURE provides medical care to pediatric patients with Orth ...

. In 2019, Cal Poly student-athletes raised more than $3,300 for Hearst Cancer Resource Center at nearby French Hospital as part of the 12th annual February Coin Drive. The total was the most Cal Poly has raised in a single year and ranked second among the conference's nine universities for 2019. Starting in December 2015, Cal Poly student-athletes have been actively involved with the Salvation Army's Adopt-an-Angel program, purchasing toys, clothing and gift cards while collecting donations to benefit local families in the

San Luis Obispo ; ; ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway betwee ...

area. In 2017, Mustang student-athletes adopted 50 children from 24 families, an increase of three sponsored children from the 2016 season. The December 2018 drive saw Cal Poly student-athletes adopt 32 children for the program.

Controversies

NCAA infractions

In 1987 while competing as an

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

school, the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

found the athletic department guilty of infractions relating to the

men's basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

program. During the course of the investigation, then head coach Ernie Wheeler resigned from his position and was later publicly reprimanded. As the department was transitioning from Division II to

in 1994, the department self-reported violations related to the

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

program. Cal Poly identified head coach Steve McFarland as having given improper financial aid to both players and members of his coaching staff. In 1995, the NCAA accepted Cal Poly's self-imposed penalties which included forfeiture of their NCAA Division II baseball championship and other top finishes and a postseason ban. In April 2019, the athletic department was placed on probation for multiple years and was forced to vacate regular season championships and conference tournament records by the NCAA. The NCAA reported years worth of infractions involving 265 athletes across 18 sports. Additionally, the school must now inform all recruits about the department's infractions prior to official visits. In deciding on the severity of punishment, the NCAA noted Cal Poly's two earlier infractions from 1987 and 1995. The athletic department appealed, but the decision was upheld in February 2020.

Other athletic department controversies

In November 2013, a student assistant coach who previously played for the

Cal Poly Mustangs football The Cal Poly Mustangs are the football team representing California Polytechnic State University located in San Luis Obispo, California. The team plays its home games at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, Mustang Memorial Field, at the NCAA Division I Footb ...

team was shot in a drug deal. The following year in August 2014, further problems beset the football team when 5 current Cal Poly student-athletes were arrested and charged with a total of 23 felonies which made national headlines. The players were subsequently suspended indefinitely from the team.

president, Jeffrey Armstrong, stated that the August 2014 event "bears striking commonalities" with the November 2013 event, which was also noted by San Luis Obispo Police Department Chief Steve Gesell as having "disturbing" similarities. Armstrong, with athletic director, Don Oberhelman, launched an investigation into the football team's potential further involvement with illegal drugs and criminal activity and rolled out a new drug policy for the athletics department. It was reported by ''

The Tribune ''The Tribune'' or ''Tribune'' is the name of various newspapers: United States Daily California *''Oakland Tribune'' * ''The Tribune'' (San Luis Obispo) * ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' *''San Gabriel Valley Tribune'' Indiana *''Kokomo Tribune' ...

'' that cost was a factor cited by Cal Poly when testing just 41 of its 540 student-athletes for banned substances within the last year. Oberhelman later stated that some of the players involved "... should not have been at Cal Poly." He also stated that he had heard of illegal drug usage among members of the football team. According to current and former players who spoke with ''The Tribune'' confidentially, the consensus was that illegal drug usage at the football program was widespread, with estimates ranging between 40% and 60% of the student-athletes. Athletic director Oberhelman kept faith in head coach Tim Walsh and his coaching staff despite Randy Hanson, a former coach brought on by Walsh, had multiple felony charges brought upon him just a few years earlier. One of the student-athletes' lawyers in the August 2014 event later accused head coach Tim Walsh in court of coercion to talk to the police without a lawyer present. In 2014, Cal Poly went to court to cover up or remove mentions of Moriarty Enterprises from the scoreboard at

Alex G. Spanos Stadium Mustang Memorial Field, formerly known as Mustang Stadium and then Alex G. Spanos Stadium, is an 11,075-seat multi-purpose stadium located on the campus of California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) in San Luis Obispo, California. It is t ...

. Al Moriarty, a former Cal Poly football player who was inducted to the Cal Poly Hall of Fame in 2002, purchased naming rights to the scoreboard in 2009 for a total of $625,000. He was convicted of running a

ponzi scheme A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays Profit (accounting), profits to earlier investors with Funding, funds from more recent investors. Named after Italians, Italian confidence artist Charles Ponzi, this type of s ...

and Cal Poly argued that they were "...suffering harm by having the name 'Moriarty Enterprises' remain on the scoreboard." When bankruptcy trustees asked Cal Poly for the money to be returned to benefit Moriarty's creditors, Cal Poly declined. After nearly a year in court, an agreement was reached wherein Cal Poly repaid $480,000 of the original donation to remove mentions of Moriarty, leaving the school with a $145,000 profit from the original sponsorship. In April 2015, a football student-athlete was arrested for driving under the influence, a felony, after crashing his car. A number of the passengers in the car were also football student-athletes. Previously in March 2011, a different Cal Poly football player was arrested for a DUI and ultimately chose to transfer out of the program.

Sports sponsored

Baseball

The Cal Poly Mustangs baseball program first fielded a team in 1948.

Men's basketball

The Cal Poly Mustangs men's basketball team's first season was 1907 and its first season as a four-year institution was in 1941–42. The team had its most successful year in 2014, when the team won the Big West Tournament, clinching its first NCAA basketball tournament bid in school history at the Division I level.

Women's basketball

The Cal Poly Mustangs women's basketball team's first season was the 1974–75 season.

Women's beach volleyball

Cal Poly beach volleyball was founded in July 2013. It became the university's 21st NCAA sport. In February 2016, Cal Poly hired

Todd Rogers Todd Jonathan Rogers (born September 30, 1973) is an American professional beach volleyball player who is an Olympic and FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship gold medalist. He and his former partner, Phil Dalhausser, were the 2007, 2008, ...

, a 2008 Olympic gold medalist in the sport, as its new head coach. The Mustangs had arguably their most successful season in the spring of 2019, winning the

Championship over

Hawai'i Hawaii ( ; ) is an island state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only state not on the North American mainland, th ...

, 3–2 in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; ; ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, about west of downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate, its strip of beaches stretching along the Pacific Ocean coa ...

. Following the title, Cal Poly advanced to the eight-team NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship, losing to

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

in the opening match before dropping a rematch against Hawai'i on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. Cal Poly also qualified for the NCAA tournament in 2021 and 2022.

Men's and women's cross country

In 2019, coach Mark Conover and his men's squad collected their fourth straight

title and the men's team's 17th crown in a 22-year span. Their last national placing as a team was in 2011, when they finished 28th at the National Cross Country Championships. In 2018, the women's program, coached by Priscilla Bayley, captured its third Big West Conference crown in a four-year stretch. The men's cross country team has appeared in the NCAA Division I Championships as a full squad seven times, with their highest finish being 10th place in the 2004–05 school year. The Cal Poly women's cross country team hasn't made the NCAA Division I Championships as a full team, but in 2018 advanced both Miranda Daschian and Katie Izzo as individuals to the NCAA National Cross Country Championships in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

. Peyton Bilo was the program's most recent All-American, taking 23rd place at the 2016 national championships as a sophomore. Conover, the 1988 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials champion, passed in April 2022 following a battle with cancer. On June 20, 2022, Ryan Vanhoy, previously coaching at

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

, was appointed to lead Cal Poly's program as track and field and cross country director.

Team USA members

* Cal Poly alumnus Phillip Reid represented Team USA at the Great Edinburgh International Run in Scotland in 2012–13 and at the North America/Central America/Caribbean Championships in Jamaica in 2013.

Football

Mustang Football plays in the

, competing in the

NCAA Division I FCS The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Sponsored by the National Collegiate A ...

. Prior to joining the Big Sky Conference in 2012, the team competed in the Great West Conference and was the first

Great West Football Conference The Great West Conference (GWC) was an NCAA college athletic conference in the continental United States. Originally a football-only league, it became an all-sports entity during the 2008–09 season. The GWC stopped sponsoring football following ...

participant in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. Each year Cal Poly plays rival

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

in the annual

Battle for the Golden Horseshoe The Battle for the Golden Horseshoe is an annual rivalry college football game played between the UC Davis Aggies and the Cal Poly Mustangs. History Although the two teams have met on the gridiron since 1939, the rivalry officially began i ...

. The Cal Poly Mustangs have an NCAA Division I FCS Tournament record of 1–4 through four appearances:

1960 Cal Poly football team airline crash

Men's golf

Pro alumni

* Former Mustang

Loren Roberts Loren Lloyd Roberts (born June 24, 1955) is an American professional golfer, who has played on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. Early life Roberts was born in San Luis Obispo, California. He competed for San Luis Obispo Senior High Sch ...

has earned more than 25 career pro wins at various tournaments. * Cal Poly's Travis Bertoni, who won three consecutive

Golfer of the Year awards from 2004 to 2006, played at the U.S. Open in 2008. * Former Mustang Justin De Los Santos played at the

British Open The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

in 2022.

Women's golf

Cal Poly won the 2017

championship at Oak Quarry Golf Club in Riverside, California, besting the field with a combined total of 887 strokes. After winning the title, the Mustangs advanced to their first Division I NCAA Regional tournament, finishing 16th in Albuquerque, New Mexico at UNM South Championship Golf Course. Cal Poly also won back-to-back BWC team championships in 2021 and 2022.

Men's soccer

The Cal Poly Mustangs men's soccer team has had success in recent years. In 2008, coach Paul Holocher led his team to the

Division I tournament; they went on to beat

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

and ended up losing to

UC Irvine UC may refer to: Education In the United States * University of California system * University of Charleston, West Virginia * University of Chicago, Illinois * University of Cincinnati, Ohio * Upsala College, East Orange, New Jersey (''defunct ...

in the second round. Coach

Steve Sampson Mark Stephen Sampson (born January 19, 1957) is an American soccer coach. He is also the former head coach of both the United States men's national team and the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer. Collegiate career Sampson attended UCL ...

led the team back to the NCAA tournament in 2015, and three Cal Poly players were selected in the

2016 MLS SuperDraft The 2016 MLS SuperDraft was the seventeenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held each year in conjunction with the annual National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention. The 2016 convention was held in ...

, tied for the seventh-most nationally. Cal Poly soccer has a strong fan base, averaging 2,017 fans per match in 2019, ranking No. 5 across the country. In 2011, CollegeSoccerNews.com chose Cal Poly vs.

UC Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joined ...

as the No. 1 rivalry in college soccer. Since 2007, the rivalry matches have regularly drawn upwards of 8,000 fans. The men's soccer team have an NCAA Division I Tournament record of 1–3 through three appearances and have never advanced past the second round:

Women's soccer

Cal Poly's women's soccer program is coached by Bernardo Silva, who took over following the retirement of Alex Crozier (with a won-loss-draw career record of 325–234–70 overall in 33 seasons, ranking No. 36 in NCAA history for career head coaching victories). The Mustangs have an NCAA Division I Tournament record of 1–5 through five appearances, with the win coming over Fresno State in the first round in 1999, 2–1 in Fresno. Cal Poly fell 3–1 at Stanford in the second round.

Pro alumni

Gina Oceguera Regina Marie Oceguera Schmuhl (born 4 September 1977), known in the U.S. as Gina Eagleson, is an American-born Mexican former professional footballer who captained the Mexico national team at the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup. She also played fo ...

, WUSA ( 35th overall selection of the 2000 draft), Bay Area CyberRays * Alyssa Giannetti, Arna-Bjornar,

Toppserien The Toppserien is the top level of women's association football in Norway. It was founded in 1984. History Women's league football was introduced on a county basis in 1977. These leagues acted as qualification for the regional (South) league in ...

* Elise Krieghoff,

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional women's soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defu ...

NWSL The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

* Camille Lafaix,

FC Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux () or simply Bordeaux, is a French Association football, football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde (department), Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitain ...

, D1 Arkema (France)

Softball

Pro draft choices

Sierra Hyland Sierra Hyland (born March 3, 1995) is a professional softball pitcher for the Smash It Sports Vipers of the Women's Professional Fastpitch (WPF). She represented Mexico at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and helped them place fourth. Early life Hyland ...

, P: 2017 NPF 4th overall (

Chicago Bandits The Chicago Bandits were a women's professional softball team based in Rosemont, Illinois. Since the 2005 season, they have played as a member of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF). The Bandits won the 2008 NPF championship, defeating the Washington ...

)/2020 Olympian

Men's and women's track and field

All-Americans

Combined, all-time in its history, including individual national champions, Cal Poly has produced 523 total All-Americans specific to track & field. 73 of these All-America honors have been awarded in Division I (with 28 to men and 45 to women, including

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...

certificates as well as indoor-season accolades), and 450 All-America honors were earned in Division II (248 to men and 202 to women).

Olympians

* Reynaldo Brown,

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

(U.S.) * Mathyas Michael,

(Ethiopia) * Mohinder Gill,

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

(India) *

Patrice Donnelly Patrice Michelle "Pat" Donnelly (born April 30, 1950) is an American retired track and field athlete and actress, known primarily for hurdling. Background Donnelly was born in San Diego, California. She attended Grossmont College. She was a hig ...

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

(U.S.) * Karin Smith,

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

(U.S.) * Bart Williams,

(U.S.) * Carmelo Rios,

(Puerto Rico) * Sue McNeal-Rembao,

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

(U.S.) * Sharon Hanson-Lowery,

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

(U.S.) * Stephanie Brown Trafton,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

(U.S.) * Sharon Day-Monroe,

(U.S.)

Women's indoor volleyball

The women's indoor volleyball team has been one of the school's best sports programs in recent years and in the 1980s when the team reached No. 1 in the nation in 1985 in the

AVCA The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) is an organization of over 9,000 members, incorporated as a private non-profit corporation, non-profit educational corporation in 1981, as the Collegiate Volleyball Coaches Association. It is cur ...

Coaches Poll. On October 12, 1985, Cal Poly, coached by Mike Wilton, won the NIVT banner at UCLA before a crowd of about 2,500 fans, 3–1. Soon after, in the October 22 Top 25 Poll, the Mustangs were voted as the No. 1 team in the country. Stanford took back over the top spot in the week after. In 2007, the team captured its second straight Big West title by posting a 15–1 conference record and a 23–8 record overall, and made it to the third round of the playoffs before losing to Stanford in the Sweet 16. The team also went 23–6 in 2006. Cal Poly returned to the

national rankings and NCAA tournament in both 2017 & 2018 upon winning back-to-back

championships, and then advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2019. The team has an NCAA Division I Tournament record of 15–17 through seventeen total appearances.

Wrestling

The wrestling program at Cal Poly competes as a member of the

, which is traditionally one of the strongest conferences in

college wrestling Collegiate wrestling, commonly referred to as folkstyle wrestling, is the form of wrestling practiced at the post-secondary level in the United States. This style of wrestling is also practiced at the high school, middle school, and elementary ...

. Cal Poly has had two wrestlers (Tom Kline & Mark DiGirolamo) win the Division I NCAA Wrestling Championship and 50 wrestlers earn All-American honors at the Division I level. In addition to the program's success at the

Championships, the program has crowned one champion at the National Collegiate Open Wrestling Championship. On January 30, 2014, Cal Poly hosted

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees through all 11 of the universit ...

in a very rare outdoor wrestling match. The match took place in Cal Poly's University Union Plaza following the weekly UU hour. The only other known outdoor matches have been hosted by

The Citadel Bulldogs The Citadel Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent The Citadel. All sports participate in the NCAA Division I except football, which competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Since 1936, varsity sports have ...

, including one during the 2012–13 season.

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

also wrestled Arizona outdoors in the 1970s. The team competes in Mott Athletics Center on campus, opened back in 1960, seating over 3,000 people for home dual meets and tournaments. Three former Mustang wrestlers after graduation went on to compete in

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

, more specifically the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

s. The first is

Chad Mendes Chad Eduardo Mendes (born May 1, 1985)Archived
from th ...

who was a national runner-up at 141 lbs. in 2008, competing for the UFC since 2011 (challenging for a UFC featherweight title in 2012). The most famous wrestling alum is

Chuck Liddell Charles David Liddell (born December 17, 1969) is an American former professional Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 1998 to 2018, Liddell is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion (from 2005 to 2007) and i ...

, who graduated in 1995 and is now a retired

UFC Hall of Fame The UFC Hall of Fame is a List of halls and walks of fame, hall of fame which honors mixed martial artists and MMA personalities, established and maintained by the U.S.-based mixed martial arts promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). In a ...

inductee being a former UFC Light heavyweight champion. More recently, 2020 NWCA All-American 197-pounder Tom Lane made his pro fighting debut in the middleweight classification, opening with a win in October 2021. Prior to joining the Division I ranks via the

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

(then the Pac-10) in 1987, Cal Poly was dominant in the

College Division The NCAA College Division was a historic subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) consisting of member schools competing at a lower level of college sports. The NCAA initially divided schools into a College Division and a ...

/Division II, winning the 1966 national championship and seven consecutive NCAA titles from 1968 to 1974. The men's wrestling team has appeared in the NCAA Division I tournament 49 times, with their highest finish being fifth place in 1969.

NCAA championships and tournaments

Division I appearances in team bracket/meet

The Cal Poly Mustangs have competed in the NCAA tournament or in NCAA Division I Finals Meets on a team-scored basis across 19 active sports (10 men's and 9 women's). * Baseball (3): 2009, 2013, 2014 * Beach volleyball (4): 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024 * Men's basketball (1): 2014 * Women's basketball (1): 2013 * Men's cross country (7): 1999, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011 * Football (4): 2005, 2008, 2012, 2016 * Men's soccer (3): 1995, 2008, 2015 * Women's soccer (5): 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 * Softball (2): 2007, 2009 * Men's swimming and diving (3): 1958, 1959, 2014 * Women's golf (4): 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023 * Men's tennis (3): 2011, 2012, 2014 * Women's tennis (3): 2003, 2011, 2024 * Men's indoor track and field (2): 1971, 1973 * Women's indoor track and field (7): 1983, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008 * Men's outdoor track and field (11): 1960, 1961, 1964, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007 * Women's outdoor track and field (13): 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 * Women's volleyball (17): 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2017, 2018, 2019 * Wrestling (50): 1958, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

NCAA titles won

Cal Poly has never won a team national championship at the NCAA Division I level. Cal Poly previously won 35 national championships at the NCAA Division II level. * Men's cross country (2): 1978, 1979 * Women's cross country (10): 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991 * Football (1): 1980 * Men's outdoor track and field (6): 1968, 1969, 1970, 1979, 1980, 1981 * Women's outdoor track and field (6): 1982, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1990, 1991 * Men's tennis (2): 1986, 1990 * Wrestling (8): 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 Below is one national championship that was not bestowed by the NCAA: * Women's outdoor track and field – Division II (1): 1981 (

)

Individual NCAA Division I titles

Cal Poly has had 12 Mustangs win NCAA individual championships at the Division I level. At the NCAA Division II level, Cal Poly garnered 120 individual championships.

Athletic facilities

* Anderson Aquatic Center :The Anderson Aquatic Center is a

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

and

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

venue in San Luis Obispo, California. It is home to the Cal Poly Mustangs men's and women's swimming and diving team of the NCAA Division I in the

. A new $100,000 scoreboard was added in October 2014, with dual-ability to function as an HD video device. * Baggett Stadium :Robin Baggett Stadium is a

venue in San Luis Obispo, California. It is home to the

Cal Poly Mustangs baseball The Cal Poly Mustangs baseball team represents California Polytechnic State University, which is located in San Luis Obispo, California. The Mustangs are an NCAA Division I college baseball program, and along with the other Cal Poly athletic t ...

team of the NCAA Division I in the

. The stadium has a capacity of 1,734. *Doerr Family Field :Doerr Family Field is the practice facility for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

. Officially dedicated on February 2, 2018, the $4.8 million facility included a 140-yard synthetic-turf practice field allowing room for football sled work, along with goalposts, lights, a flagpole, a scoreboard and a pair of filming towers. The Cal Poly Corporation, Cal Poly Housing and Associated Students, Inc., collaborated on the project. * Janssen Field : Bob Janssen Field is the home field for the Cal Poly Mustangs

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

team. The venue has a capacity of 800. The softball program debuted a new hitting facility, breaking ground in November 2017, measuring 98 feet by 42 feet (20 feet high), with a dedication taking place May 5, 2018. The $400,000 project yielded two hitting bays on synthetic turf, with retractable netting systems allowing coaches and players to reconfigure to specific needs, a bullpen with three individual pitching rubbers, and a storage shed. In February 2019, a new

Daktronics Daktronics, Inc. is an American company based in Brookings, South Dakota, that designs, manufactures, sells, and services video displays, scoreboards, digital billboards, dynamic message signs, sound systems, and related products. It was found ...

videoboard (25 feet wide by 14.5 feet tall) was added to the field. * Miller and Capriotti Athletics Complex :The Miller and Capriotti Athletics Complex is the home

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

venue for the men's and women's Cal Poly Mustangs track and field teams. Inaugurated on March 24, 2018, the $1.6 million project in association with Cal Poly Corporation, Associated Students, Inc. and Cal Poly Housing was part of the reshaping of the southeast corner of

campus A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a corp ...

from Longview Lane to Grand Avenue adjacent to a new 435,000-square-foot student housing site. Beynon Sports installed a new track surface and a newly renovated field was put into place inside the re-balanced infield oval, with drought-tolerant Bandera Bermuda grass. * Mott Athletics Center :The Robert A. Mott Athletics Center is a 3,032-seat multi-purpose

arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

. It is home to the Cal Poly Mustangs men's and women's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

teams, women's

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

team and men's

collegiate wrestling Collegiate wrestling, commonly referred to as folkstyle wrestling, is the form of wrestling practiced at the post-secondary level in the United States. This style of wrestling is also practiced at the high school, middle school, and elementary ...

team. * Mustang Beach Volleyball Complex :The Mustang Beach Volleyball Complex is the home venue for the Cal Poly women's

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

team. In 2019, Cal Poly — which had hosted its home contests on nearby

Pismo State Beach Pismo State Beach is a beach on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. It is approximately 17 miles long and fronts the towns of Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, and Oceano in San Luis Obispo County, California, San Luis ...

— proposed plans to construct five new on-campus beach volleyball courts, implementing an

-regulation facility aspired to be one of the most elaborate in the country, including a videoboard. The project successfully broke ground in July 2019, with completion in November 2019. * Mustang Tennis Complex :The Mustang Tennis Complex is the home

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

venue for the men's and women's Cal Poly Mustangs tennis teams. A new scoreboard was added to the seven-court complex in October 2013, part of a $250,000 project also including resurfacing of the courts along with the implementation of windscreens surrounding the facility. The site was dedicated in association with Tennis Connect SLO on October 5, 2013. * Mustang Memorial Field Presented by Dignity Health French Hospital Medical Center :Mustang Memorial Field Presented by Dignity Health French Hospital Medical Center is an 11,075-seat

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used for multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a design philosophy that stres ...

. It is home to the

team of the

in the

Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (F ...

(FCS) and the

Cal Poly Mustangs men's soccer The Cal Poly Mustangs men's soccer program represents the Cal Poly Mustangs of California Polytechnic State University in men's soccer at the NCAA Division I level. Like most teams from Cal Poly, they play in the Big West Conference. Since beco ...

and women's soccer teams. The stadium, originally opened in 1935, received a massive renovation in November 2006.

Rivalries

The Battle for the Golden Horseshoe

Cal Poly's football rivalry with UC Davis, a fellow member of the Big Sky Conference, is played for the

Golden Horseshoe The Golden Horseshoe () is a secondary region of Southern Ontario, Canada, which lies at the western end of Lake Ontario, with outer boundaries stretching south to Lake Erie and north to Lake Scugog, Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay of Lake Huron. T ...

The Blue-Green Rivalry

The main rival of the Cal Poly Mustangs are the

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing 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 i ...

who compete together in the Blue–Green Rivalry. The Blue-Green Rivalry, which started in November 1921 with a football game, was formalized in 2009. This new format calculates earned points between Cal Poly and UCSB to determine a winner based on their teams' competitive results against each other. Additionally, collegesoccernews.com ranked UC Santa Barbara vs. Cal Poly as the Greatest Rivalry in College Soccer.

Fresno State

From 1956 to 1975, Cal Poly and

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

traded the Victory Bell trophy, which was donated to Cal Poly in 1952. The trophy, which weighed about 200 pounds, was ultimately retired due to repeated theft. The two programs didn't play each other from 1986 through 2009, but brought back matchups in 2010, 2013, 2021 and 2022. In the 46-game all-time series, Fresno State leads 34–10–2.

Alumni

Ramses Barden Ramses Alexander Barden (born January 1, 1986) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Cal Poly Mustangs and was selected by the New Yo ...

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

wide receiver *

Bobby Beathard Robert King Beathard Jr. ( ; January 24, 1937 – January 30, 2023) was an American professional football executive who was the general manager for the Washington Redskins (1978–1988) and the San Diego Chargers (1990–2000) of the National F ...

, NFL GM/Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee * Reynaldo Brown, Olympic Track and Field high jumper * Stephanie Brown Trafton, 2008 Olympic gold medalist discus thrower * Kaaron Conwright,

USATF USA Track & Field (USATF) is a United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running, and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and 1 ...

sprinter (100-meter dash/200m dash) * Kevin Correia, MLB pitcher and 2011 All-Star * Jonathan Dally, Professional football

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

* Gary Davis, NFL running back * Sharon Day-Monroe, Two-time U.S.

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

track & field heptathlete * Jimmy Deiparine,

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

record-setting swimmer * Nick Dzubnar,

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

* Mohinder Gill, NCAA triple jump champion and Olympic triple jumper (India) *

Victor J. Glover Victor Jerome Glover (born April 30, 1976) is a NASA astronaut of the class of NASA Astronaut Group 21, 2013 and pilot on the USCV-1, first operational flight of the SpaceX Dragon 2, SpaceX Crew Dragon to the International Space Station. and McD ...

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

Chris Gocong Christopher Andrew Gocong (born November 16, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Eagles in ...

, Philadelphia Eagles/Cleveland Browns linebacker * Mitch Haniger,

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

All-Star *

Sharon Hanson Sharon Hanson-Lowery (born September 24, 1965, in Lake Charles, Louisiana) is an American former heptathlon, heptathlete. Her personal best score was 6352 points, achieved in 1996. Achievements References Sharon Hanson
profile at USATF ...

, Olympic track and field heptathlete *

, Olympic softball pitcher * Asa Jackson, San Francisco 49ers cornerback * Damone Johnson, Los Angeles Rams tight end * Mel Kaufman, NFL linebacker/

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

Super Bowl champion *

Mike Krukow Michael Edward Krukow (born January 21, 1952), nicknamed "Kruk", is an American sportscaster and former professional baseball player. As a starting pitcher, he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, and ...

, MLB pitcher/1986 All-Star/

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

broadcaster * Brooks Lee, 2022

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

8th overall (first round) draft choice * Gene Lenz,

swimmer *

, former

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

champion/MMA Hall of Famer *

John Madden John Earl Madden (April 10, 1936 – December 28, 2021) was an American professional football coach and sports commentator in the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, leading them ...

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

Super Bowl-winning coach/

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

commentator/

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...

r *

Chad Mendes Chad Eduardo Mendes (born May 1, 1985)Archived
from th ...

, 2008 NCAA second-place wrestler/

member * Steve Miller,

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

director of global sports marketing * Dana Nafziger, Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker *

Bud Norris David Stefan "Bud" Norris (March 2, 1985) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles ...

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

pitcher * Borislav Novachkov, Olympic wrestler * David Nwaba, NBA guard *

, Mexico World Cup soccer player/ WUSA pro * John Orton, California Angels first-round draft pick *

Joe Prunty Joe Prunty (born February 12, 1969) is an American professional basketball coach who is an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Previously, he served as an assistant coach and interim head coach f ...

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

coach * Carmelo Rios, Olympic track and field athlete (Puerto Rico) *

, pro golfer * Karin Smith, Olympic javelin thrower *

Ozzie Smith Osborne Earl Smith (born December 26, 1954) is an American former professional baseball player. Nicknamed "The Wizard of Oz", Smith played shortstop for the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals in Major League Baseball, winning the National ...

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

shortstop/MLB Hall of Famer * Alex G. Spanos,

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

owner * Chris Thomas,

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

wide receiver *

Ted Tollner Alfred Theodore Tollner (born May 29, 1940) is an American former football coach. He was the head coach at the University of Southern California (USC) from 1983 to 1986 and San Diego State University (SDSU) from 1994 to 2001, compiling an overa ...

, College football coach *

Cecil Turner Cecil Turner (born April 2, 1944) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for six seasons for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He went to the Pro Bowl after the 1970 season, when he tie ...

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

Pro Bowl kick returner * Drake U'u,

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

assistant GM

Broadcast information

Cal Poly's

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The netw ...

affiliate is ESPN 1280 AM The Ticket (

KXTK KXTK (1280 kHz, "ESPN Radio 1280") is a commercial AM radio station that is licensed to Arroyo Grande, California, United States and serves the San Luis Obispo County, California area. The station is owned by Pacific Coast Media LLC and broadcas ...

). The station has added 101.7 FM carrying Mustangs broadcasts, with greater reach throughout

San Luis Obispo County San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo. Junípero Serra fou ...

. In addition, Chris Sylvester hosts the Mustang Insider podcast with

Learfield Learfield (often stylized as LEARFIELD) is a collegiate sports marketing company, representing more than 200 of the nation's top collegiate properties including the NCAA and its 89 championships, NCAA Football, leading conferences, and many of th ...

. As of 2021, Big West-telecast events involving Cal Poly switched to ESPN+, while Big Sky-streamed football games featuring the Mustangs also swung to the network approximate to the same time.

Discontinued programs

Swimming and diving

On March 7, 2025, Cal Poly announced it was cutting both men's and women's swimming and diving effective immediately due to budget concerns, associated in part with the impact of ''

House v. NCAA ''Grant House and Sedona Prince v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, et al.'' is a class action lawsuit brought against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and five collegiate athletic conferences in which the NCAA agreed ...

''.

International record-holders

* Jimmy Deiparine went on to set the Filipino national record in the 100-meter breaststroke: 1:02.08 in 2016. In 2017, Deiparine won the silver medal for the 100m breast at the

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, commonly known as SEA Games is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with sup ...

in Kuala Lumpur. Also in 2017, Deiparine swam at the

FINA World Championships The World Aquatics Championships, formerly the FINA World Championships, are the World Championships for six aquatic disciplines: Swimming (sport), swimming, Diving (sport), diving, high diving, open water swimming, artistic swimming, and water ...

in Budapest, breaking his own 50m breast Philippine national record, taking 36th place out of 81 swimmers, via 28.13 seconds.

Olympians

* Gene Lenz competed in the

1960 Olympics The 1960 Olympics may refer to: *The 1960 Winter Olympics, which were held in Squaw Valley, United States *The 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 19 ...

, earning seventh place in the 400m freestyle final in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, with a time of 4:26.8. * Former Mustang distance swimmer

Taylor Spivey Taylor Spivey (born April 13, 1991) is an American professional triathlete. At the conclusion of the 2019 season she placed fourth in the ITU World Triathlon Series behind Katie Zaferes, Jess Learmonth, and Georgia Taylor-Brown. This followed up ...

took 10th place in the individual women's

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the ...

at the 2024 Paris Games, compiling a time of 1:57:11, before winning a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the mixed relay (combining with her teammates for a time of 1:25.40).

Women's gymnastics

Cal Poly suspended its intercollegiate gymnastics team during the fall of 1990.

Club teams (non-NCAA)

Rugby

The Mustangs play

college rugby College rugby is played by men and women throughout colleges and universities in the United States. Seven-a-side and fifteen-a-side variants of rugby union are most commonly played. Most collegiate rugby programs do not fall under the auspices of ...

in the California conference of Division 1-A. The Mustangs are often ranked in the Top 25 nationwide, and their rugby sevens team has been ranked as high as 7th. The Mustangs finished 8th in the nation at the 2011

USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate National Championships The USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate National Championships is an annual competition among the top men's college rugby teams in the country to decide a national champion in rugby sevens. USA Rugby organized the championship to capitalize on the surge i ...

, and 12th at the 2012 competition.Rugby Mag, Day 2 Box Scores – Men's College 7s, December 1, 2012,

National club team championships

* Co-ed cycling (1): 1992 (

USA Cycling USA Cycling or USAC, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is the national governing body for bicycle racing in the United States. It covers the disciplines of road, track, mountain bike, cyclo-cross, and BMX across all ages and ability levels. ...

) * Men's rodeo (3): 1970, 1971, 1973 ( NIRA) * Women's rodeo (1): 1989 (NIRA) * Co-ed Triathlon (1): 1995 (

USA Triathlon USA Triathlon (USAT) is the national governing body for the multisport disciplines of triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and winter triathlon in the United States. USA Triathlon is a member federation of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee and ...

)

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , titlestyle = {{CollegePrimaryStyle, Cal Poly Mustangs, color=white , list = {{Big West Conference navbox {{Big Sky Conference navbox {{Mountain Pacific Sports Federation navbox {{Pac-12 Conference navbox