Pepperdine University sponsors seventeen NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics teams.

It was selected by president Batsell Baxter, as the general consensus among faculty and students was that there were too many animal names in college athletics at the time.

[3][4][5] Other Waves pitchers who went on to success in the majors include Dan Haren,[6] Randy Wolf,[7] and Noah Lowry.

[8] Pepperdine sponsors both men's and women's NCAA Division I college basketball teams.

Thirty-eight former Waves have been drafted or played National Basketball Association as recently as 2021 (Kessler Edwards) and 2023 (Maxwell Lewis).

[12] National Women's Soccer League teams have selected seven Pepperdine players in NWSL Drafts: Roxanne Barker (2013, 32nd overall),[13] Michelle Pao (2014, 24th overall),[14] Lynn Williams (2015, 6th overall),[15] Brianna Visalli (2018, 19th overall),[16] Hailey Harbison (2019, 9th overall),[17] Michelle Maemone (2019, 23rd overall),[18] and Joelle Anderson (2021, 26th overall).

At the end of the inaugural 1946 season the Waves defeated Nebraska Wesleyan University in the 1947 Will Rogers Bowl.

Willy has always had the head and "hair" of a wave, though he has gone through several costumes, including one with white hair representing the foam of a wave, and the early 1990s version which bore a strong resemblance to the Mac Tonight mascot of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese commercials at the time.

It was not until 2006, however, that Willy made his final return to Pepperdine athletics, this time with a larger wave head and usually wearing boardshorts and an Aloha shirt.

(Cal State Fullerton has since adopted similar colors, though their shades are darker than Pepperdine's.