Sports in California

Among the list of NCAA schools with the most NCAA Division I championships the Stanford Cardinal, UCLA Bruins, USC Trojans and California Golden Bears rank #1, #2, #3 and #10 on the list by teams with the most titles, and #1, #4, #2, and #7 by most individual titles, respectively.

The 1960 Winter Olympics was held at the Squaw Valley Ski Resort in the Lake Tahoe region.

California has produced the most Super Bowl winning Head Coaches in the history of the NFL,[1] whether born or raised in the state (at least having attended High School in CA).

In addition, those Universities boast the highest academic standards (on average) of all major college (NCAA Division I) programs.

Referencing a differing source, OlympStats (as of 2017),[2] the all-time total number of Olympic athletes from California universities (1668) was nearly triple the amount from the next state, New York (559).

Besides the Olympics, California has also hosted several major international soccer events: San Diego hosted the 2023 World Lacrosse Championship in men's field lacrosse, with San Diego State's Snapdragon Stadium as the main venue and the University of San Diego's Torero Stadium, plus various fields at both universities, also hosting matches.

The Auto Club Raceway at Pomona has hosted NHRA drag racing for over 50 years.

The NASCAR Cup Series currently holds two races in California, previously at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana (originally named California Speedway), and currently at Sonoma Raceway, formerly Sears Point Raceway.

Also, the AMA Supercross Series holds several events in stadiums at Californian cities such as Anaheim, Oakland, and San Diego.

Notable Californian golfers include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Johnny Miller, Gene Littler, Collin Morikawa, Amy Alcott, Paula Creamer, Juli Inkster, and Xander Schauffele.

Bruce Lee, a California native, is considered one of the pioneering figures in the development of MMA.

Not only is California a hotbed for producing native-born MMA fighters, but it also draws many elite athletes from around the world with level of training/gyms.

Professional skateboarder Tony Hawk was born in Carlsbad, California in 1968 and was involved in many bowl riding and vert competitions there.

Former: Various rivalries involved two teams from specific metro areas in either Northern or Southern California.

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum , host of the 1932 Summer Olympics and 1984 Summer Olympics , and future host of the 2028 Summer Olympics .
The California–UCLA football rivalry between the football team of the University of California, Berkeley and team of the University of California, Los Angeles is the third-longest never-interrupted rivalry in college football. Due to the two teams nicknames being named after bears, it is sometimes referred to as the Bear Bowl by some fans.
Interior of then-Qualcomm Stadium before a SDSU Aztecs football game. The Fresno State–San Diego State football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Fresno State Bulldogs football team of California State University, Fresno and San Diego State Aztecs football team of San Diego State University . Both schools are members of the Mountain West Conference. The winner of the game receives the "Old Oil Can" trophy
Laguna Seca Raceway