Postgame Quotes: UCLA 1, Maryland 4 (Los Angeles Regional Game Four)Postgame Quotes: UCLA 1, Maryland 4 (Los Angeles Regional Game Four)

UCLA Athletics Among the Nation's Finest

Bruin Athletics

LOS ANGELES--During the 1997-98 school year, UCLA once again established itself as one of the nation's finest all-around athletic programs. Thanks to its year-long consistency, UCLA placed fourth i

June 16, 1998

LOS ANGELES--During the 1997-98 school year, UCLA once again established itself as one of the nation's finest all-around athletic programs.

Thanks to its year-long consistency, UCLA placed fourth in competition for the second annual Sears Directors Cup Award, a program conducted by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics which recognizes the schools with the best overall sports programs in an academic year. UCLA placed second in the Sears Cup in 1995-96 and third in 1993-94, 1994-95 and 1996-97.

In 1997-98, UCLA added two NCAA titles and a collegiate championship to its victory total. The Bruins won their 17th NCAA crown in men's volleyball, reaching the title match for the sixth straight year (UCLA has won four of them) and their third in men's soccer. They also won a third consecutive national collegiate championship in women's water polo in just the fourth year of the program's existence.

In addition, UCLA also finished second in women's track and field, fifth in women's gymnastics, tied for fifth in women's soccer and men's tennis, sixth in men's track and field, tied for eighth in men's golf, tied for ninth in men's basketball and women's tennis, 12th in men's indoor track and field, 13th in women's swimming and tied for 17th in women's basketball and women's volleyball. UCLA's football team defeated USC for a record seventh straight season and finished the year with 10 consecutive victories, a 29-23 win over Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl and a No. 5 ranking.

UCLA has won more NCAA team championships than any school in the nation - 77 (63 men's and 14 women's). The men's total is second to USC's 69 while the women's total is fifth behind Stanford (24), LSU (19), North Carolina (18) and Texas (18). In the 17 years that the NCAA has awarded women's championships, UCLA has won 37 NCAA team titles (23 men's and 14 women's).

UCLA has won at least one NCAA team title (men's or women's) in 17 of the last 18 years. In addition, the school has won at least one collegiate title (NCAA or AIAW) in 33 of the last 35 years, missing only in 1979-80 and 1993-94. Over the last 28 years, UCLA has won at least two collegiate titles 22 times.

Overall, UCLA has won a nation-leading total of 97 collegiate championships - 77 NCAA crowns and 20 other titles - including the 1998 women's water polo crown.