Cal Ties for #7 All-Time Total NCAA Team Titles Won

2019 MEN’S NCAA SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

After winning their first NCAA team title since 2014, the Cal Bears moved up in the all-time rankings for the total team championships won. Cal’s 2019 NCAA team title now adds to their 6 titles won ever (1979, 1980, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2019). They are now tied with the IU Hoosiers for the 7th-most team titles

Top 10 Total Team Championships

Rank Team Titles
1 Texas 14
2 Michigan 12
3 Ohio State 11
4 USC 9
T-5 Auburn 8
T-5 Stanford 8
T-7 Indiana 6
T-7 Cal 6
9 Yale 4
10 Florida 2

*Note: Scored team champions were not officially recognized by the NCAA until 1937, though there were declared champions by media prior to that.

Over the 4-day meet, 21 new event titles were won. Both Cal and Texas won 5 titles each over the meet, which combined to give the top two times nearly half of the 21 titles up for grabs at the meet. 3rd-place Indiana was right behind with 4 titles won, and Harvard’s Dean Farris scored 2 titles for the Crimson. Michigan, Stanford, Tennessee, Alabama, and NC State also had individual champions during the meet. Looking at the all-time rankings, Harvard was the only team to move up in placement, jumping from 27th to 25th. That breaks their previous tie with Arizona State and now ties them with Washington and Purdue at 12 total titles. Michigan maintains their top spot, with a whooping 166 individual titles won.

Total Individual Titles

Team 2018 Total 2019 Titles New Total Rank
Michigan 165 1 166 1
Stanford 149 1 150 2
Texas 135 5 140 3
Cal 85 5 90 6
Indiana 84 4 88 7
Tennessee 44 1 45 12
Alabama 14 1 15 T-22
NC State 14 1 15 T-22
Harvard 10 2 12 T-25

*Relays count as one title, diving is included

Updated Total Individual Titles
Rank Team Titles
1 Michigan 166
2 Stanford 150
3 Texas 140
4 USC 123
5 Ohio St. 119
6 California 90
7 Indiana 88
8 Yale 60
9 Auburn 59
10 Florida 54
11 Arizona 52
12 Tennessee 45
13 UCLA 41
14 Northwestern 31
15 Miami (FL) 30
16 SMU 28
17 Michigan St. 22
17 Princeton 22
19 Iowa 21
19 Georgia 21
21 Minnesota 16
22 Alabama 15
22 NC State 15
24 Rutgers 13
25 Washington 12
25 Purdue 12
25 Harvard 12
28 Arizona St. 10
29 Long Beach St. 9
30 Columbia 8
30 Navy 8
32 Illinois 7
33 Florida St. 6
34 BYU 4
34 Duke 4
34 La Salle 4
34 Louisville 4
34 North Carolina 4
34 Virginia 4
40 Cincinnati 3
40 Texas-Arlington 3
40 Wayne St. (MI) 3
40 Williams 3
40 Wisconsin 3
45 Arkansas 2
45 Dartmouth 2
45 LSU 2
45 Oklahoma 2
49 Air Force 1
49 Amherst 1
49 Army West Point 1
49 Brown 1
49 Cornell 1
49 Denver 1
49 Fla. Atlantic 1
49 Frank. & Marsh. 1
49 Georgia Tech 1
49 Houston 1
49 Miami (OH) 1
49 Missouri 1
49 Nebraska 1
49 Oregon 1
49 Penn 1
49 Penn State 1
49 Pittsburgh 1
49 SUNY Cortland 1
49 UC Santa Barbara 1
49 Utah 1
49 Villanova 1
49 Wesleyan (CT) 1

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Historical Precedent
4 years ago

I wasn’t sure where to post this, but I’d be interested to see if anyone has taken all of the times from finals of all the winning teams (or as far back as saved) and drawn out a meet and results from that. It’d be interesting to see how the winning teams over the years compare against each other.

Braden, have you or anyone at swimswam done this or talked about doing this type of analysis?

Thomas
4 years ago

Wesleyan was once division I?

Admin
Reply to  Thomas
4 years ago

The NCAA wasn’t split into divisions until 1956, and then just University and College Divisions. It then split into 3 divisions in 1973. NCAA records show that there was no D2 championship (or, what’s now recognized as the D2 championship) until 1964, and no D3 championship until 1975.

mcgillrocks
Reply to  Thomas
4 years ago

Amherst and Williams also have titles. Williams remains a formidable team, but in Division-III of course.

D3 is valid
Reply to  mcgillrocks
4 years ago

Amherst and Williams are really the teams you mention to bring up D3? Not Kenyon (34 men’s and 23 women’s titles) or Emory (12 women’s titles)? While I appreciate your attempts to eliminate D3 erasure, I’m not sure those further your argument considering Williams hasn’t won since the first D3 Champs and I can’t find when Amherst won.

Admin
Reply to  D3 is valid
4 years ago

D3 is valid – I’m not sure you’ve followed the point of this conversation. Kenyon and Emory have never won Division I event titles, while Amherst and Williams have. That’s why Williams and Amherst were brought up, and not Kenyon and Emory.

mcgillrocks
Reply to  Nick Pecoraro
4 years ago

I didn’t know Frolander swam NCAA. An Olympic and world Champion with the unique distinction of attending 6 Olympiads.

IU Swammer
4 years ago

Only 70 schools have won an individual title, and 22 of those have only won 1. This sport really is dominated by <20 schools, which is kind of odd given that there are so few scholarships. Top talent has to be foregoing scholarship dollars to be at top programs.

Swammer
4 years ago

Miami (FL)? Did they ever have a men’s team, or is this men’s and women’s titles? I might just be to young to rememeber there program.

Admin
Reply to  Swammer
4 years ago

They had a very successful men’s team at one point, and have won 6 swimming event titles. They were 8th at NCAAs in 1996 and 1997.

PhillyMark
Reply to  Swammer
4 years ago

I think they have divers. Not sure when swimming was cut

Country Oldtimer
Reply to  PhillyMark
4 years ago

The 8th place in 1996 was with just divers.. They did have a great swimming and diving earlier which I believe was coached by Randy Reese.

Horninco
4 years ago

Texas with most team titles but only 3rd in individual titles. #diving

Gator
Reply to  Horninco
4 years ago

I think they call that depth…..

Admin
Reply to  Gator
4 years ago

Err, I’m not sure that ‘depth,’ per se, is the explanation – but maybe I’m just missing the connection of those two dots. The two teams ahead of them, Michigan and Stanford, were good for a very long time before Texas got good. Like, decades. Texas always had a decent team, but Stanford and Michigan were winning titles in the 1930s and 1940s. That’s a hard history to overcome (even though there were fewer events on offer then).

gator
Reply to  Braden Keith
4 years ago

I was thinking depth brings more titles/meet and better training groups at practice.

Admin
Reply to  gator
4 years ago

Still not sure that I follow, but that’s ok too 🙂

Collegeswammer
Reply to  Braden Keith
4 years ago

I think he’s getting at the difference between, for example, Dean Farris bringing in NCAA titles in every race that he swam. Texas hasn’t had as many individual swimmers quite as dominant as 2019 Dean, but routinely puts 4 people in finals/consolations in an event, even if they don’t actually win the event. So even though they may have less individual champs, they still pull more points to get team victories. Harvard has a stellar team, but Farris basically carried them to their top 10 finish this year.

I also agree with what you’re saying about Michigan and Stanford having championship caliber teams since the 30s. Just elaborating on what Gator is getting at in regards to depth.

Admin
Reply to  Collegeswammer
4 years ago

Ohhh ok. Now I understand. That makes sense. Though, Texas holds the record for the 2 meets with the most individual titles, winning 11 in both 2001 and 2017, so it seems like the overall primary explanation is still timeline. But, Texas’ 2018 title was, for example, for sure won by depth – I’d agree with that.

Collegeswammer
Reply to  Braden Keith
4 years ago

Totally get what you’re saying, and I agree. They’ve only been in title contention for half as long as some other teams. There are years where Texas won with depth, won with stars, and won with both. They’ve pretty much done it all haha. Just wanted to offer further explanation, but yeah, Texas has generally done very well with individual titles over the last 40 years! Other programs have just done better over the last 80. I think if we look at the average rate of individual titles per year over the years where teams have been legitimate contenders, it would probably show Texas at the top. But there would probably be too many factors to consider there to come… Read more »

About Nick Pecoraro

Nick Pecoraro

Nick has had the passion for swimming since his first dive in the water in middle school, immediately falling for breaststroke. Nick had expanded to IM events in his late teens, helping foster a short, but memorable NCAA Div III swim experience at Calvin University. While working on his B.A. …

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