The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF).

[7] The Bruins began to use live bears as mascots in the 1930s, renting animals to appear at all UCLA home football games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

[9] In 1967, the first female student to take the mascot role created Josephine "Josie" Bruin and joined Joe at athletic events.

Cole debuted with the Pittsburgh Pirates by winning his first four games he pitched and also drove in two runs with a single in his first at-bat in the 2013 MLB season.

Past rosters of UCLA basketball teams have included greats such as Rafer Johnson who was the 1960 Olympic Decathlon Champion, Gail Goodrich, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor), Bill Walton, Reggie Miller and Walt Hazzard.

Owing to rules in place at the time, UCLA was unable to face off against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, which would have resulted in one or the other being declared national champion.

Among the many former UCLA football stars are Jackie Robinson (better known for his exploits as a baseball player, but nevertheless a 4-sport letterman and All-American), Heisman Trophy winner Gary Beban, Bob Waterfield, Troy Aikman, Carnell Lake, and Tommy Maddox.

In 2014, sophomore Alison Lee won the inaugural ANNIKA Award, which was created to honor the women's collegiate player of the year as chosen by a vote of coaches, college golfers, and members of the media.

[30] The women's program also has many notable professional alumnae on tour, including British Open Champion Mo Martin, Sydnee Michaels, and Mariajo Uribe.

Some notable former UCLA gymnasts include current stuntwoman Heidi Moneymaker, Brian Ginsberg who was a two-time US junior national gymnastics champion, and U.S. Olympic Team members Jordan Chiles, Madison Kocian, Kyla Ross, Samantha Peszek, Jamie Dantzscher, Mohini Bhardwaj, Kate Richardson, Tasha Schwikert, Kristen Maloney, Yvonne Tousek, Stella Umeh, Luisa Portocarrero, Tim Daggett, Mitch Gaylord, and Peter Vidmar.

James Schaeffer introduced the original team in 1934, which was eventually revived post-WWII through Norm Padgett and his tireless hustling and fraternity walks.

[36] Three UCLA alumni – Frankie Hejduk, Sigi Schmid and Mike Lapper – helped the Columbus Crew to win its first-ever Major League Soccer title by defeating the New York Red Bulls 3–1 in the 2008 MLS Cup.

Also, four former Bruin players, Carlos Bocanegra, Benny Feilhaber, Jonathan Bornstein and Marvell Wynne, were on the U.S. men's national team squad that defeated No.

[38] The team was involved in the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal as head coach Jorge Salcedo was arrested, and indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston for conspiracy to commit racketeering.

[39] His indictment charged Salcedo with taking $200,000 in bribes to help two students, one in 2016 and one in 2018, get admitted to UCLA using falsified soccer credential admission information.

[54] In 2014, Marcos Giron became the school's 11th NCAA Men's Tennis Singles Champion, joining Jack Tidball (1933), Herbert Flam (1950), Larry Nagler (1960), Allen Fox (1961), Arthur Ashe (1965), Charles Pasarell (1966), Jeff Borowiak (1970), Jimmy Connors (1971), Billy Martin (1975), and Benjamin Kohllöffel (2006).

UCLA alumni in the ATP included Jimmy Connors, Arthur Ashe, Eliot Teltscher, Brian Teacher, Peter Fleming, Fritz Buehning, Jeff Borowiak, and Jean-Julien Rojer.

Former player Karch Kiraly (1983) was inducted into the College Sports Information Directors of America (COSIDA) Academic All-America Hall of Fame.

Four UCLA water polo alumni and former coach Guy Baker were members of the USA women's and men's teams participated in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Sean Kern, Coralie Simmons, Natalie Golda, Kelly Rulon, and Courtney Mathewson won many prestigious individual award in American collegiate water polo.

Peter J. Cutino Award winners: Sean Kern, Garrett Danner, Nicolas Saveljic, Coralie Simmons, Natalie Golda, Kelly Rulon, and Courtney Mathewson.

[61] On December 7, 2014, the men's team defeated 3rd-seed USC 9–8 to win its ninth NCAA national championship at UC San Diego's Canyonview Aquatic Center at La Jolla, California.

On December 6, 2015, the men's team once again defeated USC, 10–7, to win back-to-back NCAA championships and finish with a perfect season at 30–0 on the UCLA campus.

James Schaeffer introduced the original team in 1934, which was eventually revived post-WWII through Norm Padgett and his tireless hustling and fraternity walks.

In the summer of 2003, a dedicated Alumni group headed by Coach Storer, launched an effort to return Bruin Rugby to its former prowess as the program had not reached the National Playoffs since the 1980's, was relegated to Club Status, and suffered from a lack of experienced and committed leadership.

Since that time, the Bruins have progressed rapidly and have become a consistently top-ranked program in both XV's and 7's rugby and a regular contender to win a National Championship in both codes.

[102] UCLA defeated Dartmouth to reach the semifinals of the 2013 Collegiate Rugby Championship at PPL Park in Philadelphia in a tournament broadcast live on NBC.

Lacamp received honors as a Rudy Scholz Award Finalist[107] and is likely to be a part of the squad that travels to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

See also: Bel-Air Country Club, Drake Stadium, Los Angeles Tennis Center, Sunset Canyon Recreation Center, UCLA Marina Aquatic Center, Wallis Annenberg Stadium Mark Harmon, Lynn "Buck" Compton, Jackie Robinson, Rafer Johnson, Walt Hazzard, Gail Goodrich, Troy Aikman, Gary Beban, Kenny Easley, Tom Fears, Billy Kilmer, Bob Waterfield, Jimmy Connors, Lonzo Ball, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lew Alcindor), Jamaal Wilkes, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Evelyn Ashford, Bill Walton, Kenny Washington, Arthur Ashe, Reggie Miller, Troy Glaus, Tim Daggett, Baron Davis, Stacey Nuveman, Lisa Fernandez, Amanda Freed, Kevin Love, Tairia Flowers, Donna de Varona, Russell Westbrook, Cobi Jones, Lauren Cheney, Sydney Leroux and Ann Meyers are just some of the notable athletic alumni, many of whom have achieved success in other fields.

Former coaches have included Red Sanders, Tommy Prothro, Dick Vermeil, Terry Donahue, Al Scates, Adam Krikorian, Jonathan Bornstein, Andy Banachowski, Jim Harrick, and John Wooden.