I know that some UC Davis fans generally are underwhelmed with the Big West as a conference. And it's hard to really blame them. The words "Cal State Northridge" and "really attractive opponent" don't often show up next to each other. But the Big West actually had a national championship last weekend, when UC Santa Barbara beat UCLA 2-1 in the NCAA men's soccer final. This is exciting for the Big West, but also for the Aggies. UC Davis beat the Gauchos 1-0 on Sept. 23.
It's a feather in the cap for the Big West, making it one of the few non-BCS leagues that can actually boast a national championship. If you look at the schools that won Divsion I championships this fall, (excluding football and the still-in-progress volleyball tournament) UCSB is the only one to come from a non-BCS school. And after you dispute my sample size, I'll hit you with another stat. Of 32 current D-I title holders, only six come from outside the Big Six conferences. Those sports are: Women's bowling (Farleigh-Dickinson), fencing (Harvard), rifle (Alaska-Fairbanks), women's rowing (Brown, which shared the title with Cal), men's tennis (Pepperdine) and, yes, men's soccer. It's not a bad list for the conference to be on.
And as promised, here is video Santa Barbara students celebrating the title by throwing a random soccer goal into the ocean.
Youtube also has a video of them carrying it down the street toward the ocean. Victory makes students do some strange things.
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