The nickname was published in the student newspaper, "The Leaf",[2] but was long referred to in media alternatively as the "Staters"[3] and the "Golden Gaters".

San Francisco State Baseball has a long history going back well into the 1930s when coached by Hal Harden and having a "record-breaking" season in 1938 according to the Berkeley Daily Gazette[6] Maloney Field, which opened in 1984, saw extensive upgrades ahead of the 2017 season that included field work including the construction of a new pitcher's mound, new windscreens, and the installation of new foul poles.

[10] In 2018, the San Francisco State women's track & field team captured the program's first-ever CCAA Championship.

[13] At the 2017 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday, March 11 at the Birmingham CrossPlex, the SF State 4x400 relay team garnered All-American Honors, taking sixth place with a time of 3:44.58.

[14] In 2014, Tiana Wills earned All-American honors in the high jump at the 2014 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships.

[17] In 1997, Head Coach Lars Jensen led the first-ever NCAA Division II national championship team at SF State.

[22] The San Francisco State Gators competed in the NCAA Tournament across 11 active sports (5 men's and 6 women's) 113 times at the Division II level.

[23] The Gators of San Francisco State earned 1 NCAA team championship at the Division II level.

[31] The student-run clubs compete against both university and non-university sides, including the SF Fog, St. Mary's, USF, and Santa Clara.

[32] In the 1980s, SFSU had a Sailing team that consisted of two Flying Junior FJ Collegiate racing boats made by Vanguard.