[terry]

On SportsCenter last night they had a graphic listing UCLA's 109 national championships, and they gave it a catchy name -- the UCLA Pyramid of Success, an appropriate nod to John Wooden. Anyway, I was wondering how our 104 championships broke down. Here it is by number and with the last championship year in parenthesis.

17 -- Women's tennis (2013)
17 -- Men's tennis (2000)
10 -- Men's water polo (2003)
8 -- Men's swimming (1998)
7 -- Men's golf (2007)
7 -- Women's swimming (1998)
6 -- Women's volleyball (2005)
5 -- Men's gymnastics (2011)
5 -- Women's cross country (2008)
4 -- Men's cross country (2004)
4 -- Men's track and field (2000)
3 -- Women's water polo (2012)
2 -- Men's volleyball (2010)
2 -- Women's basketball (1992)
2 -- Baseball (1988)
1 -- Women's soccer (2012)
1 -- Women's lightweight rowing (2010)
1 -- Women's rowing (2009)
1 -- Men's basketball (1942)
1 -- Football (1926)

Source: http://champions.stanford.edu/history/st...pionships/

Stanford does have 104 NCAA team championships, but this list is not quite correct. Women's swimming and men's golf each has 8 NCAA championships, not 7. The NCAA does not sponsor championships in women's lightweight rowing and football, so those championships should not be on this list. [Edit -- Oops, I see now that Farm93 already made this point.]

If we want to count all team championships, not just NCAA championships, I believe Stanford has an additional 19 non-NCAA championships (including two this year), for an overall total of 123:

7 - Synchronized swimming
4 - Women's lightweight rowing
2 - Men's basketball (before the NCAA tournament started)
1 - Men's tennis (before the NCAA tournament started)
1 - Men's water polo (before the NCAA tournament started)
1 - Women's swimming (AIAW)
1 - Women's tennis (AIAW)
1 - Co-ed sailing
1 - Football (1926)

Stanford claims a football championship for 1926 because it won the Rissman Trophy. The Rissman Trophy was the first widely publicized and accepted football national championship award. It was based on the Dickinson System, a mathematical computation system developed by a professor at the University of Illinois. The Rissman Trophy was first awarded in 1926. Claims of national championships before 1926 are based on retroactive applications of one system or another. Quite a few of the claims of national championships after 1926 also are based on retroactive applications of various systems. For example, the National Championship Foundation started naming champions in the 1980s, but also went back and named champions retroactively for previous seasons.

Stanford does not claim the 1940 football championship for the reason described by Garvin. The AP poll became the preferred method for declaring a football champion in 1936, and Stanford was not the AP champion in 1940. However, we could possibly claim the 1940 championship because we were # 1 in the Helms, Billingsley, and Poling rankings. (See our 2012 football media guide, page 141.) Maybe we should claim 1940 also.

[terry]

On SportsCenter last night they had a graphic listing UCLA's 109 national championships, and they gave it a catchy name -- the UCLA Pyramid of Success, an appropriate nod to John Wooden. Anyway, I was wondering how our 104 championships broke down. Here it is by number and with the last championship year in parenthesis.

17 -- Women's tennis (2013)
17 -- Men's tennis (2000)
10 -- Men's water polo (2003)
8 -- Men's swimming (1998)
7 -- Men's golf (2007)
7 -- Women's swimming (1998)
6 -- Women's volleyball (2005)
5 -- Men's gymnastics (2011)
5 -- Women's cross country (2008)
4 -- Men's cross country (2004)
4 -- Men's track and field (2000)
3 -- Women's water polo (2012)
2 -- Men's volleyball (2010)
2 -- Women's basketball (1992)
2 -- Baseball (1988)
1 -- Women's soccer (2012)
1 -- Women's lightweight rowing (2010)
1 -- Women's rowing (2009)
1 -- Men's basketball (1942)
1 -- Football (1926)

Source: http://champions.stanford.edu/history/st...pionships/

Stanford does have 104 NCAA team championships, but this list is not quite correct. Women's swimming and men's golf each has 8 NCAA championships, not 7. The NCAA does not sponsor championships in women's lightweight rowing and football, so those championships should not be on this list. [Edit -- Oops, I see now that Farm93 already made this point.]

If we want to count all team championships, not just NCAA championships, I believe Stanford has an additional 19 non-NCAA championships (including two this year), for an overall total of 123:

7 - Synchronized swimming
4 - Women's lightweight rowing
2 - Men's basketball (before the NCAA tournament started)
1 - Men's tennis (before the NCAA tournament started)
1 - Men's water polo (before the NCAA tournament started)
1 - Women's swimming (AIAW)
1 - Women's tennis (AIAW)
1 - Co-ed sailing
1 - Football (1926)

Stanford claims a football championship for 1926 because it won the Rissman Trophy. The Rissman Trophy was the first widely publicized and accepted football national championship award. It was based on the Dickinson System, a mathematical computation system developed by a professor at the University of Illinois. The Rissman Trophy was first awarded in 1926. Claims of national championships before 1926 are based on retroactive applications of one system or another. Quite a few of the claims of national championships after 1926 also are based on retroactive applications of various systems. For example, the National Championship Foundation started naming champions in the 1980s, but also went back and named champions retroactively for previous seasons.

Stanford does not claim the 1940 football championship for the reason described by Garvin. The AP poll became the preferred method for declaring a football champion in 1936, and Stanford was not the AP champion in 1940. However, we could possibly claim the 1940 championship because we were # 1 in the Helms, Billingsley, and Poling rankings. (See our 2012 football media guide, page 141.) Maybe we should claim 1940 also.