ACU in elite championship company
8/24/2006 4:00:00 AM | General
ABILENE - ACU trails only three Pacific-10 Conference schools in total number of NCAA national championships won in a ranking recently released by the NCAA.
The Wildcats have won 50 NCAA national championships, by far the most by any NCAA Division II school and tied for fourth with NCAA Division III swimming powerhouse Kenyon College. ACU and Kenyon trail only UCLA (99 titles), Stanford (92) and USC (84) in terms of national championships.
UCLA is already planning a massive marketing campaign for the 2007-08 athletic year in case it wins a national championship, becoming the first university in the nation to win 100 national team championships. Rounding out the top 10 are Oklahoma State (sixth with 48), Arkansas (seventh with 43), LSU (eighth with 40), Texas (ninth with 39) and The College of New Jersey (10th with 37).
The majority of ACU's championships have come in track and field where it has won 49 of the school's 50 NCAA titles. The Wildcats have won a total of 57 national championships, but five track and two football titles were NAIA national championships.
The ACU men have won 29 NCAA titles in school history (28 in track and field and one in golf), while the ACU women's track team has won 21 national titles in school history. In that breakdown, ACU has the seventh-most men's team national championships in NCAA history (USC is first with 73) and the eighth-most women's team titles with 21 (Stanford is first with 35).
"We've known for a long time that our athletics program ranks among the best in the nation," ACU director of athletics Jared Mosley said, "but to see it in that kind of elite company re-affirms that thought. To rank fourth in the nation -- and No. 1 in Division II -- is a tribute to all of the coaches and athletes who have worked, sweated and competed here over the last 50 years. We look forward to the coming years and the opportunity to add to the 50 national titles we already own."
ACU won its first NCAA national championship in 1982 when the men's track and field team won the NCAA Division II outdoor championship meet. The Wildcats' latest crown came in May in Emporia, Kan., when the men again won the team national championship for first-year head coach Don D. Hood.
ACU's first women's national championship came in 1985 when the track and field team captured the NCAA Division II outdoor championship. ACU's only NCAA national championship not won by either track and field team came in 1993 when the men's golf team won the national championship under the tutelage of former head coach Vince Jarrett.
TOTAL NCAA TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
Overall
| 1. UCLA | 99 |
| 2. Stanford | 92 |
| 3. Southern California | 84 |
| 4. Abilene Christian | 50 |
| (tie) Kenyon College | 50 |
| 6. Oklahoma State | 48 |
| 7. Arkansas | 43 |
| 8. LSU | 40 |
| 9. Texas | 39 |
| 10. The College of New Jersey | 37 |
