History UsefulNotes / SanDiego

* The '''San Diego State Aztecs''', representing San Diego State University, are by far the most prominent, being the only one whose [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball football]] team plays in [[UsefulNotes/FootballBowlSubdivision Division I FBS]], that sport's top level. Aztecs football, currently in the Mountain West Conference, became prominent at the College Division level (predecessor to the current Division II) in the 1960s before moving up in the world at the end of that decade. Since then, they've been up and down, though mostly up since the start of the Tens. Aztecs football is also notable for having shared San Diego Stadium with the Chargers for 50 seasons (1967–2016), the longest co-tenancy between college and pro teams in that sport. They've also enjoyed considerable success in men's basketball, producing Kawhi Leonard in the early 2010s and making it to the NCAA championship game in 2023. However, the Aztecs' only D-I championship is a 1973 title in men's volleyball, a sport it no longer sponsors. Notable venues include the aforementioned Snapdragon Stadium, built on part of the former footprint of San Diego Stadium; the basketball venue of Viejas Arena, which occupies most of the footprint of an earlier football home of the Aztec Bowl; and the baseball home of Tony Gwynn Stadium, named after the Hall of Fame player for the Padres who played both baseball and basketball at SDSU. During the early-2020s realignment, SDSU literally came within ''minutes'' of becoming a Power Five school, with an invite to the Pac-12 on the table--before Washington announced it was leaving for the UsefulNotes/{{Big Ten|ConferenceFootballPrograms}}, which triggered the Pac's final collapse.[[note]]That same day, Oregon announced it would follow Washington to the Big Ten, and Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah announced that they would leave for the UsefulNotes/{{Big 12|ConferenceFootballPrograms}}, The Pac was already reeling, with UCLA and USC having previously announced their departure for the Big Ten and Colorado set to return to its former home of the Big 12. Cal and Stanford's departure for the UsefulNotes/{{Atlantic Coast Conference|FootballPrograms}}, announced a few weeks later, sealed the Pac's fate (at least in its original form).[[/note]]

San Diego is also home to '''San Diego Wave FC''', which started play in the National Women's Soccer League in 2022. The Wave played its first season in college stadiums, starting at Torero Stadium before moving into Snapdragon Stadium late that season. The Wave's first game at Snapdragon set a new league attendance record, and is still third overall and second for a standalone game. In their first full season at Snapdragon, they set a single-season league attendance record, averaging close to 21,000 (more than a majority of MLS sides in that year). So far, the Wave has enjoyed solid playing success; they've made the playoffs in both of their first two seasons and claimed the NWSL Shield, awarded to the team with the best regular-season record, in 2023, though they went out in the semifinals in both seasons. In 2024, they became the first team to win the NWSL Challenge Cup in its current format of a one-off season-opening "supercup" between the previous season's Shield winners and champions.[[note]]Before then, it had been an in-season tournament involving all league teams.[[/note]]

* The '''San Diego State Aztecs''', representing San Diego State University, are by far the most prominent, being the only one whose [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball football]] team plays in [[UsefulNotes/FootballBowlSubdivision Division I FBS]], that sport's top level. Aztecs football, currently in the Mountain West Conference, became prominent at the College Division level (predecessor to the current Division II) in the 1960s before moving up in the world at the end of that decade. Since then, they've been up and down, though mostly up since the start of the Tens. Aztecs football is also notable for having shared San Diego Stadium with the Chargers for 50 seasons (1967–2016), the longest co-tenancy between college and pro teams in that sport. They've also enjoyed considerable success in men's basketball, producing Kawhi Leonard in the early 2010s and making it to the NCAA championship game in 2023. However, the Aztecs' only D-I championship is a 1973 title in men's volleyball, a sport it no longer sponsors. Notable venues include the aforementioned Snapdragon Stadium, built on part of the former footprint of San Diego Stadium; the basketball venue of Viejas Arena, which occupies most of the footprint of an earlier football home of the Aztec Bowl; and the baseball home of Tony Gwynn Stadium, named after the Hall of Fame player for the Padres who played both baseball and basketball at SDSU. During the early-2020s realignment, SDSU literally came within ''minutes'' of becoming a Power Five school, with an invite to the Pac-12 on the table--before Washington announced it was leaving for the UsefulNotes/{{Big Ten|ConferenceFootballPrograms}}, which triggered that conference's final collapse.[[note]]That same day, Oregon announced it would follow Washington to the Big Ten, and Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah announced that they would leave for the UsefulNotes/{{Big 12|ConferenceFootballPrograms}}, The Pac was already reeling, with UCLA and USC having previously announced their departure for the Big Ten and Colorado set to return to its former home of the Big 12. Cal and Stanford's departure for the UsefulNotes/{{Atlantic Coast Conference|FootballPrograms}}, announced a few weeks later, sealed the Pac's fate (at least in its original form).[[/note]]

* The '''San Diego Toreros''', representing the small Catholic institution of the University of San Diego, are full members of the West Coast Conference, a league that doesn't sponsor football. In fact, since the 2023 departure of [[UsefulNotes/{{Mormonism}} BYU]] for the UsefulNotes/{{Big 12|ConferenceFootballPrograms}}, USD is the only WCC member that has a football team. That team instead plays in the Pioneer Football League, a football-only conference in the second-tier [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootballConferences Division I FCS]] that has had a coast-to-coast footprint since 2001--more than two decades before the ACC and Big Ten expanded theirs to both coasts. The PFL's most notable feature is that it prohibits its members from awarding athletic scholarships (though this ban only applies to football). The most prominent venues are the aforementioned [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Torero]] Stadium (football and soccer), the first home of the aforementioned Wave FC, and Jenny Craig Pavilion (basketball and some other indoor sports).
* The '''UC San Diego Tritons''', representing the city's largest college by enrollment (both undergrad and overall), are members of the Big West Conference, another non-football league, but unlike the Toreros don't have a football team at all.[[note]]They did field a team in 1968, but after a winless season dropped the sport due to lack of success and interest.[[/note]] After solid success in the Division II ranks, they made the move to D-I in 2020, completing the transition in 2024.[[note]]At the time of its D-I move, UCSD had the largest undergraduate enrollment of any school outside D-I.[[/note]] Most of its teams play at a complex known as RIMAC (Recreation, Intramural, and Athletic Complex) which contains multiple venues, the largest by capacity being the basketball arena ([=LionTree=] Arena per {{product placement|name}}).

* The '''San Diego State Aztecs''', representing San Diego State University, are by far the most prominent, being the only one whose [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball football]] team plays in [[UsefulNotes/FootballBowlSubdivision Division I FBS]], that sport's top level. Aztecs football, currently in the Mountain West Conference, became prominent at the College Division level (predecessor to the current Division II) in the 1960s before moving up in the world at the end of that decade. Since then, they've been up and down, though mostly up since the start of the Tens. Aztecs football is also notable for having shared San Diego Stadium with the Chargers for 50 seasons (1967–2016), the longest co-tenancy between college and pro teams in that sport. They've also enjoyed considerable success in men's basketball, producing Kawhi Leonard in the early 2010s and making it to the NCAA championship game in 2023. However, the Aztecs' only D-I championship is a 1973 title in men's volleyball, a sport it no longer sponsors. Notable venues include the aforementioned Snapdragon Stadium, built on part of the former footprint of San Diego Stadium; the basketball venue of Viejas Arena, which occupies most of the footprint of an earlier football home of the Aztec Bowl; and the baseball home of Tony Gwynn Stadium, named after the Hall of Fame player for the Padres who played both baseball and basketball at SDSU. During the early-2020s realignment, SDSU literally came within ''minutes'' of becoming a Power Five school, with an invite to the Pac-12 on the table--before Washington announced it was leaving for the UsefulNotes/{{Big Ten|ConferenceFootballPrograms}}, which triggered that conference's final collapse.[[note]]That same day, Oregon announced it would follow Washington to the Big Ten, and Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah announced that they would leave for the UsefulNotes/{{Big 12|ConferenceFootballPrograms}}, The Pac was already reeling, with UCLA and USC having previously announced their departure for the Big Ten and Colorado set to return to its former home of the Big 12. Cal and Stanford's departure for the Atlantic Coast Conference, announced a few weeks later, sealed the Pac's fate (at least in its original form).[[/note]]

* The '''San Diego Toreros''', representing the small Catholic institution of the University of San Diego, are full members of the West Coast Conference, a league that doesn't sponsor football. In fact, since the 2023 departure of [[UsefulNotes/{{Mormonism}} BYU]] for the [[UsefulNotes/PowerFiveConferences Big 12]], USD is the only WCC member that has a football team. That team instead plays in the [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootballConferences Pioneer Football League]], a football-only conference in the second-tier Division I FCS that has had a coast-to-coast footprint since 2001--more than two decades before the ACC and Big Ten expanded theirs to both coasts. The PFL's most notable feature is that it prohibits its members from awarding athletic scholarships (though this ban only applies to football). The most prominent venues are the aforementioned [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Torero]] Stadium (football and soccer), the first home of the aforementioned Wave FC, and Jenny Craig Pavilion (basketball and some other indoor sports).

* The '''San Diego State Aztecs''', representing San Diego State University, are by far the most prominent, being the only one whose [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball football]] team plays in Division I FBS, that sport's top level. Aztecs football, currently in the [[UsefulNotes/FootballBowlSubdivision Mountain West Conference]], became prominent at the College Division level (predecessor to the current Division II) in the 1960s before moving up in the world at the end of that decade. Since then, they've been up and down, though mostly up since the start of the Tens. Aztecs football is also notable for having shared San Diego Stadium with the Chargers for 50 seasons (1967–2016), the longest co-tenancy between college and pro teams in that sport. They've also enjoyed considerable success in men's basketball, producing Kawhi Leonard in the early 2010s and making it to the NCAA championship game in 2023. However, the Aztecs' only D-I championship is a 1973 title in men's volleyball, a sport it no longer sponsors. Notable venues include the aforementioned Snapdragon Stadium, built on part of the former footprint of San Diego Stadium; the basketball venue of Viejas Arena, which occupies most of the footprint of an earlier football home of the Aztec Bowl; and the baseball home of Tony Gwynn Stadium, named after the Hall of Fame player for the Padres who played both baseball and basketball at SDSU. During the early-2020s realignment, SDSU literally came within ''minutes'' of becoming a Power Five school, with an invite to the Pac-12 on the table--before Washington announced it was leaving for the UsefulNotes/{{Big Ten|ConferenceFootballPrograms}}, which triggered that conference's final collapse.[[note]]That same day, Oregon announced it would follow Washington to the Big Ten, and Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah announced that they would leave for the UsefulNotes/{{Big 12|ConferenceFootballPrograms}}, The Pac was already reeling, with UCLA and USC having previously announced their departure for the Big Ten and Colorado set to return to its former home of the Big 12. Cal and Stanford's departure for the Atlantic Coast Conference, announced a few weeks later, sealed the Pac's fate (at least in its original form).[[/note]]

* The '''San Diego State Aztecs''', representing San Diego State University, are by far the most prominent, being the only one whose [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball football]] team plays in Division I FBS, that sport's top level. Aztecs football, currently in the [[UsefulNotes/GroupOfFiveConferences Mountain West Conference]], became prominent at the College Division level (predecessor to the current Division II) in the 1960s before moving up in the world at the end of that decade. Since then, they've been up and down, though mostly up since the start of the Tens. Aztecs football is also notable for having shared San Diego Stadium with the Chargers for 50 seasons (1967–2016), the longest co-tenancy between college and pro teams in that sport. They've also enjoyed considerable success in men's basketball, producing Kawhi Leonard in the early 2010s and making it to the NCAA championship game in 2023. However, the Aztecs' only D-I championship is a 1973 title in men's volleyball, a sport it no longer sponsors. Notable venues include the aforementioned Snapdragon Stadium, built on part of the former footprint of San Diego Stadium; the basketball venue of Viejas Arena, which occupies most of the footprint of an earlier football home of the Aztec Bowl; and the baseball home of Tony Gwynn Stadium, named after the Hall of Fame player for the Padres who played both baseball and basketball at SDSU. During the early-2020s realignment, SDSU literally came within ''minutes'' of becoming a UsefulNotes/{{Power Five|Conferences}} school, with an invite to the Pac-12 on the table--before Washington announced it was leaving for the Big Ten, which triggered that conference's final collapse.[[note]]That same day, Oregon announced it would follow Washington to the Big Ten, and Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah announced that they would leave for the Big 12, The Pac was already reeling, with UCLA and USC having previously announced their departure for the Big Ten and Colorado set to return to its former home of the Big 12. Cal and Stanford's departure for the Atlantic Coast Conference, announced a month later, sealed the Pac's fate (at least in its original form).[[/note]]

San Diego is also home to '''San Diego Wave FC''', which started play in the National Women's Soccer League in 2022. The Wave played its first season in college stadiums, starting at Torero Stadium before moving into Snapdragon Stadium late that season. The Wave's first game at Snapdragon set a new league attendance record, and is still third overall and second for a standalone game. In their first full season at Snapdragon, they set a single-season attendance record, averaging close to 21,000 (more than a majority of MLS sides in that year). So far, the Wave has enjoyed solid playing success; they've made the playoffs in both of their first two seasons and claimed the NWSL Shield, awarded to the team with the best regular-season record, in 2023, though they went out in the semifinals in both seasons. In 2024, they became the first team to win the NWSL Challenge Cup in its current format of a one-off season-opening "supercup" between the previous season's Shield winners and champions.[[note]]Before then, it had been an in-season tournament involving all league teams.[[/note]]

* The '''San Diego Toreros''', representing the small Catholic institution of the University of San Diego, are full members of the West Coast Conference, a league that doesn't sponsor football. In fact, since the 2023 departure of [[UsefulNotes/{{Mormonism}} BYU]] for the [[UsefulNotes/PowerFiveConferences Big 12]], USD is the only WCC member that has a football team. That team instead plays in the [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootballConferences Pioneer Football League]], a football-only conference in the second-tier Division I FCS that has had a coast-to-coast footprint since 2001--more than two decades before the ACC and Big Ten expanded theirs to both coasts. The PFL's most notable feature is that it prohibits its members from awarding scholarships (though this ban only applies to football). The most prominent venues are the aforementioned [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Torero]] Stadium (football and soccer), the first home of the aforementioned Wave FC, and Jenny Craig Pavilion (basketball and other indoor sports).

* The '''San Diego Toreros''', representing the small Catholic institution of the University of San Diego, are full members of the West Coast Conference, a league that doesn't sponsor football. In fact, since the 2023 departure of [[UsefulNotes/{{Mormonism}} BYU]] for the [[UsefulNotes/PowerFiveConferences Big 12]], USD is only WCC member that has a football team. That team instead plays in the [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootballConferences Pioneer Football League]], a football-only conference in the second-tier Division I FCS that has had a coast-to-coast footprint since 2001--more than two decades before the ACC and Big Ten expanded theirs to both coasts. The PFL's most notable feature is that it prohibits its members from awarding scholarships (though this ban only applies to football). The most prominent venues are the aforementioned [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Torero]] Stadium (football and soccer), the first home of the aforementioned Wave FC, and Jenny Craig Pavilion (basketball and other indoor sports).
* The '''UC San Diego Tritons''', representing the city's largest college by enrollment (both undergrad and overall), are members of the Big West Conference, another non-football league, but unlike the Toreros don't have a football team at all.[[note]]They did field a team in 1968, but after a winless season dropped the sport due to lack of success and interest.[[/note]] After solid success in the Division II ranks, they made the move to D-I in 2020, completing the transition in 2024.[[note]]At the time of its D-I move, UCSD had the largest undergraduate enrollment of any school outside D-I.[[/note]] Most of its teams play at a complex known as RIMAC (Recreation, Intramural, and Athletic Complex) which contains multiple venues, the largest being the basketball arena ([=LionTree=] Arena per {{product placement|name}}).