[Canalejas]

Those other UCs are either too new to have their sports in the NCAA (UC Merced,) happy to be non-scholarship in D3 (UC Santa Cruz,) or now all clustered together in a non-football D1 conference, the Big West (UCSD, UCR, UCI, UCSB, and UCD.)  

It doesn't seem like any of them are being kept from reaching whatever level they're comfortable with.  To the contrary, the other Big West UCs seem to have gone to bat for San Diego when their CSU conference-mates tried to block the Tritons from joining them.  

But the bears and bruins have long been above the rest. I always assumed that they not only wanted to be together as "co-flagships," but that the regents similarly wanted them to be twins.  I was genuinely surprised by all the earlier reports that the regents and the UCOP consider their role to be largely hands-off when it comes to sports.

[Canalejas]

Those other UCs are either too new to have their sports in the NCAA (UC Merced,) happy to be non-scholarship in D3 (UC Santa Cruz,) or now all clustered together in a non-football D1 conference, the Big West (UCSD, UCR, UCI, UCSB, and UCD.)  

It doesn't seem like any of them are being kept from reaching whatever level they're comfortable with.  To the contrary, the other Big West UCs seem to have gone to bat for San Diego when their CSU conference-mates tried to block the Tritons from joining them.  

But the bears and bruins have long been above the rest. I always assumed that they not only wanted to be together as "co-flagships," but that the regents similarly wanted them to be twins.  I was genuinely surprised by all the earlier reports that the regents and the UCOP consider their role to be largely hands-off when it comes to sports.