UCSB Baseball’s Big West title was a driving force in the Gauchos claiming the Commissioner’s Cup. Jorge Mercado / Daily Nexus

UC Santa Barbara added to its record of owning the most Commissioner’s Cups in Big West history after winning its tenth title for the 2018-19 school year, the league announced on Tuesday.

Only three current Big West schools have ever won the Commissioner’s Cup, with Long Beach State second to UCSB for most titles at eight.

The Big West Commissioner’s Cup began for the 1998-99 season and it is awarded to the institution with the highest average point total following the conclusion of all 18 conference sports. Not all schools sponsor all 18 sports.

For UCSB, this is the program’s first title since 2015-16 and just the third since the 2009-10 year.

Santa Barbara was able to take home the Cup following an outstanding season in its spring sports. The Gauchos won both Big West titles in women’s and men’s tennis while also clinching the baseball title.

Additionally, UCSB also had top-three showings in women’s water polo and women’s track & field.

The final quarter was a strong finish to a pretty solid year that saw the program also claim top three finishes in men’s cross country, women’s soccer, men’s soccer and men’s basketball.

Overall, Santa Barbara averaged 120.6 points over the 16 competitive sports sponsored by the campus.

In determining a champion for the cup, round robin sports and conference championship sports are split into two.

For round robin sports, points are awarded based on the final standings of the regular season with the top team getting a 20-point bonus. Big West round robin sports include baseball, basketball, soccer, softball, women’s tennis and indoor volleyball.

For conference championship sports, points are awarded based on the finish at the tournament. These sports include cross country, golf, men’s tennis, track & field, women’s beach volleyball and women’s water polo.

In the case of any ties in all sports, points are awarded by combining points and splitting them equally among the tied teams.

Finishing behind the Gauchos was defending champion Cal State Fullerton. The Titans won their first Commissioner’s Cup in program history last season after big first-place finishes in sports such as men’s basketball and baseball.

This year, CSUF averaged 118.6 points after the conclusion of its 14 sports. Titles in men’s golf, softball and women’s track and field in the spring nearly helped the Titans lap the Gauchos but they still came up just short.

Rounding out the top three was UC Irvine who paced a 106.3 point average, thanks to winning the Big West title in men’s basketball while Long Beach State finished fourth and UC Davis finished fifth.

Cal Poly was sixth, Hawai’i was seventh, CSUN was eighth and UC Riverside finished in last place.

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Jorge Mercado
Jorge Mercado is the current Editor in Chief and was a Sports Editor before that since freshman year. He prefers to be called Merk as that was his nickname given to him by the gods. Sometimes, his evil twin Mork appears. Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.