The four years you spend in college will likely be among the most intellectually stimulating years of your life. You have the opportunity to learn from great professors who teach advanced calculus, bioengineering, architecture and how to interpret 16th century poetry, to name a few. You learn everything in college, including who the enemies are.
For Cal Poly athletics, the UC Davis Football team and the men’s and women’s soccer teams at UC Santa Barbara are our enemies. They are Cal Poly’s biggest rivals and provide us each year with the answers to some of life’s most pressing questions.
For instance, the outcome of these sporting events determines if Gallo wine is better than Mondavi, or if San Luis Obispo is a better place to live than Santa Barbara, or whether it is better to be a Mustang or an Aggie. I don’t know about you, but I would rather drink a bottle of wine from the largest wine maker in the world and live where Oprah called the happiest place in the world. Lastly, I definitely want to be named after a stylish stallion that is also one the most recognizable American made cars, than a sluggish field mule. By the way, there has been no announcement yet as to when the new 2011 Ford Aggie is coming out.
As a student at Cal Poly, some of the most memorable moments of your four years will occur while watching Cal Poly battle it out with Davis and UCSB in Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
The Battle for the Golden Horseshoe
Each year since 2004, Cal Poly and UC Davis football have played in “The Battle for the Golden Horseshoe.” In 2004, the school’s spirit clubs agreed to give the Golden Horseshoe Trophy to the winner of the game. Even though the trophy has only been awarded the last six years, Cal Poly and UC Davis have played 36 times. Unfortunately, Davis leads the series 18-16-2. Davis has also provided Cal Poly with some of its most memorable football games.
In 1980, head coach Joe Harper’s squad won at UC Davis 28-25. The Mustangs went on to win five of their next six games and eventually won the national championship. In 1997, Cal Poly won at UC Davis for the first time in seven years en route to a 10-1 record. Cal Poly’s most recent victory came in 2008 when the team shellacked Davis 51-28 in Spanos Stadium.
Unfortunately, there have been some sadder moments for Cal Poly in the series. UC Davis’ 22-21 victory last season cost the Mustangs a spot in the FCS Playoffs. A loss to Davis provides even more anticipation for the next year’s game.
“We take it one game at a time, but we are looking forward to getting back at Davis,” senior defensive end Kyle Murphy said.
It is no surprising that the opponent for the two most attended football games in Cal Poly history was of course UC Davis. The 2008 and 2010 games were the most attended games in program history.
National TV and Attendance Records
What is the biggest sporting event on the Central Coast? It would be when Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara men’s soccer teams face each other. In 2008, the seventh largest crowd in the history of NCAA soccer showed up to watch Cal Poly lose 1-0 in double overtime. During the last four years, more than 76,000 people have watched matches between Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara.
“This rivalry is as passionate as you can get,” men’s soccer head coach Paul Holocher said. “There is no love lost between the schools and the players don’t need any extra motivation for the game.”
Last season’s game was broadcasted on national television and the Fox Soccer Channel is going to broadcast the game again this year. The passion at these matches is unparalleled in college soccer. UCSB is one of the dominant programs in men’s soccer, but Cal Poly is beginning to turn the tide. Holocher’s first victory in the rivalry snapped a 13-match losing streak to the Gauchos and last forward Chris Gaschen scored in overtime to give Cal Poly the victory.
The games between Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara’s women’s teams are just as passionate, but the rivalry is more one sided. Since the Big West Conference started playing women’s soccer in 1996, Cal Poly has won seven league titles and UC Santa Barbara has won one, but has managed to finish second numerous times.
“We’ve been fortunate to beat them more than they have beat us,” women’s soccer head coach Alex Crozier said.
Also, Cal Poly has the best overall record in Big West Tournament history and the first two Big West Tournament MVPs, Liz Hill and Sharon Day, played for Cal Poly. Cal Poly has had 91 players named as All-Big West selections, while the Gauchos have 66.
Rivals bring out the best in each other. In four years there will only be a few opportunities to break an attendance record, hold a giant horseshoe over your head, or storm the field after a last second goal.
Legendary Alabama football coach Bear Bryant was right when he said, “It’s kinda hard to rally around a math class.” But it’s not hard to rally around Cal Poly athletics.