Blue-Green Rivalry
Cal Poly vs. UC Santa Barbara
The Blue-Green Rivalry between Central California coastal rivals Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara was established in the fall of 2012.
UCSB and Cal Poly first met on the football field in 1921 and became strong rivals years later when they were both members of the California Collegiate Athletic Association. The Gaucho programs jumped to NCAA Division I in 1970 and the rivalry took a hiatus until the Mustangs took the Division I step in 1994, joining the Big West Conference two years later.
The rest is history.
"This is a healthy rivalry with high academics and incredible student-athletes," said then-UCSB Director of Athletics Mark Massari at the time of the launch of the Blue-Green Rivalry. "The Gauchos are excited to compete against the Mustangs and showcase what is great about our two universities.
"Cal Poly is delighted to formalize our partnership with UC Santa Barbara," said Cal Poly Director of Athletics Don Oberhelman. "We have competed against one another for decades, and there are many homes on the central coast with alumni from both institutions. We are both very competitive NCAA Division I programs and are nationally recognized academically. I hope the Blue-Green Rivalry is something everyone will enjoy."
UCSB and Cal Poly, combined, have more than 40,000 students as well as 20,000 faculty and staff. Thousands of alums from each school still call the central and south coasts home.
Famous Cal Poly alums include: legendary Super Bowl-winning coach of the Oakland Raiders and television announcer John Madden, MLB Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith, Chief Technology Officer of Yahoo! Farzad Nazem, and Apple's Senior VP and CFO Peter Oppenheimer.
Famous UCSB alums include: Grammy-nominated musician Jack Johnson, Academy Award-winning actor Michael Douglas, six-time MLB All-Star and MLB Man of the Year Michael Young, Oracle Chairman Jeff Henley, and syndicated sports talk show host Jim Rome.
