Upcoming Event: Soccer versus Colorado on August 5, 2026 at 1 p.m.
1 p.m.
Soccer
vs Colorado
The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Athletics History
With a long-running reputation as a collegiate athletics power, the University of Utah claims 32 team national championships and 128 individual national titles in its history, including 91 in skiing and 32 in women’s gymnastics. Utah, which sponsors 19 NCAA sport programs, is a member of the Big 12 Conference since the start of the 2024-25 academic year. Three Utah teams have affiliate memberships in sports not sponsored by the Big 12: Lacrosse (ASUN) and men's and women's skiing (RMISA). Utah's student-athletes have earned 1,058 All-America honors in the department's history, and produced 75 Olympians, entering the 2026-27 school year.
The Utes have achieved a score of 93-percent or higher in the NCAA’s annual Graduation Success Rate (GSR) for eight consecutive years, including a department record-tying GSR of 95-percent in the 2025 report (tying 2018 & 2024), the third-highest rate (tie) among all power conference public institutions. Seven Utah teams qualified for either a berth in the NCAA Championships or a bowl game in 2025-26, one year after compiling a three-year stretch with a school-record eight programs doing so each year from 2021-22 through 2023-24. Utah's total of 37 teams qualifying for either the NCAA Championships or a bowl game is a school record for any five-year period. Included in that stretch was a spectacular 2022-23 performance that saw seven Utah programs combine to earn a school-record 10 conference championships.
Director of Athletics Mark Harlan, who was named a Cushman & Wakefield Athletics Director of the Year in 2023 by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and one of five nominee for the Sports Business Journal's Athletics Director of the Year in 2026, is in his ninth year as A.D. in 2026-27. Utah produced 21 Academic All-Americans in the four years from 2021-22 through 2024-25, the most in any four-year span in school history, including a school-record eight in the 2022-23 academic year.
The newest chapter in the long and storied history of Utah Athletics began on Aug. 2, 2024 when Utah officially became a member of the Big 12 Conference. The move, which was announced on Aug. 4, 2023, brought to a close 13 years of membership in the Pac-12 Conference, during which the Utes built significant momentum as a national brand with some of the most successful athletics achievements across the board in school history, as well as record-setting academic performance under Harlan's leadership. In its final three seasons in the Pac-12 (2021-24), Utah achieved unprecedented athletics success, highlighted by 18 conference championships, including two in football and back-to-back Rose Bowl appearances, along with two national championships in skiing and eight teams each year qualifying for either an NCAA Championships appearance or a bowl game, each year tying for the most teams in postseason in school history.
Utah's membership in the Pac-12 began on July 1, 2011, in a move from the Mountain West, but the Utes’ reputation as an athletics power was established long before it joined the “Conference of Champions.” The Utes continued to raise the bar on expectations with each year's performance, building a rich tradition of success within their conference and in the national landscape.
The move to the Pac-12, and now Big 12, has fueled some of Utah’s most successful seasons across a broad spectrum of sports during its membership:
- Skiing was crowned the NCAA Champion four consecutive times, and seven times in a eight-season span: 2017, '19, '21-'23, '25 & '26;
- No champion was crowned in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. The NCAA Championships meet was canceled at the halfway point with Utah leading the scoring.
- Gymnastics has now advanced to eight of the last 12 NCAA finals, and is one of just three teams to do so five times in the past six year. No team has reached the final in all six years. The Red Rocks finished third each year from 2021-24 and placed fourth in 2025. Utah has captured 20 combined Pac-12 or Big 12 Conference regular-season and postseason championships.
- Football won back-to-back Pac-12 Conference championship games in 2021 and '22, and played in four of the final six conference title games.
The Utes put together the most successful back-to-back years in the department's history by all objective measures in 2021-22 and 2022-23, earning national recognition, including Harlan's Cushman & Wakefield Athletics Director of the Year award from NACDA. Seven Utah teams combined to claim a school-record 10 conference titles in 2022-23. That total included six Pac-12 crowns (football, women's basketball, gymnastics regular season and championship meet, men's tennis and softball), two RMISA (skiing regular season championship meet) and two ASUN (lacrosse regular season and conference tournament). The previous high was eight in 2004-05 when Utah was a member of the Mountain West Conference. In 2021-22, Utah won six total championships by four teams (2 Pac-12, 1 RMISA, 1 ASUN).
Utah saw a school-record eight teams earn NCAA tournament berths or a bowl game invitation for three years in a row (2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24), and in 2022-23 the Utes claimed their highest finish in the final LEARFIELD Director’s Cup rankings, since the program was launched in 1993-94, ranking 28th. This topped the previous best of 37th in 1997-98. The Utes ranked 23rd after the winter seasons, also a high-water mark for that juncture of the year.
In 2021-22, Utah achieved its highest ranking through the final Winter standings in the Learfield Director’s Cup since 1997-98, ranking 25th in Division I and second among all Pac-12 schools behind Stanford. The final standings also saw Utah garner its highest finish since ‘97-’98, placing 44th. Eight of Utah’s sport programs earned NCAA postseason berths or played in a bowl game, the most since joining the Pac-12 in 2011-12. For the first time since joining the Pac-12, four sports earned conference championships, including two Pac-12 titles (Football and Gymnastics), one RMISA (Skiing) and one ASUN (Lacrosse).
In addition to the record-setting graduation rates, Utah’s student-athletes have posted the top semester GPAs on record in recent years, including a program-best 3.441 full-year GPA for 2025-26 and a record semester GPA of 3.57 in Spring 2020. In each of Harlan's first three years at Utah, the Utes’ student-athletes broke the previous record for full-year GPA, including a then-record GPA of 3.407 in 2020-21. The Utes earned a school-record eight Academic All-America awards in 2022-23, breaking the record of five, set in 2002-03 and matched in 2024-25. Utah's 21 Academic All-America Awards from 2021-22 through 2024-25 are the most in a four-year span in school history
Entering the 2026-27 school year:
Football has a 735-491-31 all-time record (.597) in 132 seasons. All but two of its 27 bowl appearances have come since 1992 as the Utes have evolved into a national force. Utah won nine consecutive bowl games from 1999-2009, tying for the second-longest bowl winning streak on record, and won the 2025 SRS Distributing Las Vegas Bowl, 44-22, over Nebraska. The original “BCS Buster,” Utah has gone 2-2 in games that are now part of the CFP New Year’s Six with wins in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl (Pittsburgh) and 2009 Sugar Bowl (Alabama), and appearances in the 2022 and 2023 Rose Bowls. The Utes have finished in the Top 25 national polls 13 times, including a No. 2 ranking in 2008, No. 4 in 2004, No. 7 in 2022, No. 10 in 1994, No. 12 in 2021 and No. 14 in 2025. Utah has sold out every attended game in Rice-Eccles Stadium since the 2010 opener, running that streak to 95 consecutive games (including 91 that have exceeded the seating capacity) entering the 2026 season.
Men’s Basketball has thrived throughout its history, winning an NCAA Championship in 1944 and finishing as the runner-up in 1998. The Runnin’ Utes also won national championships in 1916 (AAU) and 1947 (NIT). Utah advanced to its 10th NCAA Sweet 16 in 2015. Utah ranks in the NCAA’s top 20 in all-time victories (1,924) and winning percentage (.638). Utah’s 29 NCAA Tournament appearances and 38 NCAA Tournament wins also rank in the top 30. With 40 seasons earning 20 or more wins, Utah is tied for 14th most 20-win seasons in the NCAA Division I men’s basketball. Former Utah great Arnie Ferrin is in the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2009, for his achievements with the 1944 NCAA championship team, for which he was named Final Four Most Outstanding Player.
Women’s Gymnastics boasts 10 team national championships and nine runner-up finishes. Utah is the only school to qualify for all 44 NCAA Gymnastics Championships and was the only program to reach the national finals in each of the first 49 national championship meets. The Red Rocks have captured the most All-America awards (446), including 14 in 2026. In all, the Red Rocks have earned 32 individual national championships, with the two most recent coming in 2023 by Maile O'Keefe (beam, all-around). Utah has claimed both the regular season title and championship meet title in each of its first two years in the Big 12 Conference. Utah won its first Pac-12 Championship in 2014 and captured the postseason trophy again in ‘15, ‘17 and '21-'24. The Red Rocks won at least a share of the first four Pac-12 regular season titles from 2020-23. Utah holds every gymnastics attendance record, including highest single-meet attendance (16,019 in 2015) and highest season attendance average (15,273 in 2020). The Red Rocks have led the nation in gymnastics attendance 37 times and won their 11th all-women’s sports attendance title in 2022-23.
Women’s Basketball has averaged more than 20 wins a season since its start back in 1974-75 and ranks in the NCAA top 25 in all-time winning percentage (.667). The Utes claimed their lone Pac-12 championship (regular season co-champions) in 2022-23 and advanced to their third Sweet Sixteen, first since 2006. This followed a run to the second round of the 2022 NCAA tournament and was followed by their third and fourth consecutive NCAA tournament trips in 2023-24 and 2024-25, as the Utes notched a first-round NCAA tournament win for a school-record third year in a row in '23-'24. Utah has earned 21 NCAA Tournament invites since 1982, with its deepest run coming in 2006, reaching the Elite Eight. The Utes have 23 conference championships in their history.
The Men’s and Women’s Ski Team has captured 17 NCAA Championships and 18 total national titles all time, including a current streak of two in a row. Utah has won six of the last seven NCAA team championships awarded, and seven of the last nine (2017, '19, '21, '22, '23, '25 & '26). Since the NCAA combined genders in skiing beginning with the 1983 Ski Championships, the Utes are the first program to win four straight team NCAA Championships (2019, '21-'23; no team title was awarded in 2020 after the meet was canceled because of COVID with the Utes leading after two days of competition). In all, Utah boasts 91 individual NCAA champions to rank third among all NCAA programs, including four titles in 2023, as the Utes swept all four women's NCAA championships races. Utah won three individual national titles in its run to the 2025 title, and added two more in the 2026 championship season. A Utah skier won seven consecutive women's Nordic races at the NCAA Championships over a span of four seasons, the last coming in the first of the two Nordic races at the 2024 NCAA Championships (7.5K Freestyle by Sydney Palmer-Leger).
Volleyball has participated in 20 of the last 28 NCAA Tournaments, making the NCAA regional semifinals twice since 2017 (also in 2019). The Utes have four Sweet 16 finishes all-time: 2001, '08, '17 and '19. The Utes have earned 25 All-America awards from 16 student-athletes. Utah has won three conference championships, all in the Mountain West (2004, tie; '06, '08), and all under legendary head coach Beth Launiere, who retired after the 2025 season as the program's all-time winningest head coach (689-440; .610). Launiere is the third-longest tenured head coach in the history of Utah Athletics behind only Greg Marsden, who led Utah's gymnastics program for 40 years (1976-2015), and Don Reddish, head coach of Utah's men's swimming program for 37 years. Launiere also is the second-winningest head coach in department history behind Marsden (1,048-208-8).
Softball has qualified for the postseason 23 times with six College World Series appearances (five NCAA). It has also been to 18 NCAA Regionals and three Super Regionals (2016, '17 and '23). Utah won the Pac-12 championship in 2023, claiming the title in the inaugural Pac-12 softball tournament with an 8-3 win over No. 2 UCLA in Tucson, Ariz. The Utes then breezed through the 2023 NCAA Regional and Super Regional on their home field, Dumke Family Softball Stadium, to earn their first Women's College World Series berth since 1994.
Women’s Cross Country has made eight NCAA Championships appearances in the last 11 years (2015, '16, '19, '21, '22, '23, '24 and '25) and was the Pac-12 Conference runner-up in both 2021 and '22. The Women of Utah earned their highest NCAA Championships team finish in 2022, placing 12th, followed by a 13th-place finish in 2023, 19th place in 2024 and 17th in 2025, to log five consecutive top-20 finishes since 2021 when they finished 20th. In its early days, the program was the 1981 AIAW Division II National Champion. The Utah Track and Field program has seen elevated success in recent years, culminating in a 15th-place finish at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships, with 16 points scored by three individuals, and has earned numerous All-America awards under head coach Kyle Kepler.
Women’s Soccer has played in the NCAA Tournament eight times since 2002 and made the regional semifinals in 2016.
Men’s Golf has qualified for NCAA Regionals in five of the past six seasons, and advanced to the NCAA Championships as a team in 2022 and '24. Braxton Watts competed as an individual qualifier for the 2025 NCAA Championships.
Men’s Tennis claims 25 conference championships and has made 18 NCAA appearances all-time, including recent back-to-back years of winning an opening-round match at the NCAA Championships (2022 and '23). Four of Utah's 18 NCAA appearances have come since 2018. The Utes claimed their lone Pac-12 championship in 2023, earning a share of the conference regular season title.
Women’s Tennis made three consecutive NCAA appearances from 2010-12, and returned as a team in 2026
Baseball has advanced to NCAA Regionals twice since 2009, the last coming during its Pac-12 championship season in 2016, which goes down in history as the school’s first Pac-12 championship for a men’s sport after joining the conference in 2011-12. The Utes began playing in their new on-campus stadium, Charlie Monfort Field at America First Ballpark, in March 2026.
Men’s Lacrosse has won at leat a share of the ASUN regular season title in each of its first five years as a league member (2022-26), and added a conference tournament championship in both 2023 and '24 to earn the program's first two NCAA tournament berths. The program began competition as an intercollegiate varsity sport in 2018.
Men’s Swimming & Diving had a No. 22 NCAA finish in 2015 and has captured 24 conference championships, while Women’s Swimming & Diving won five Mountain West Conference titles.
HIGHLIGHTS
| TEAM NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 32 |
|
|---|---|
| SKIING (17 NCAA, 1 AIAW) |
18 |
| WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS (9 NCAA, 1 AIAW) |
10 |
| MEN'S BASKETBALL (1 NCAA, 1 NIT, 1 AAU) |
3 |
| WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY (AIAW DIVISION II) |
1 |
| INDIVIDUAL NATIONAL CHAMPIONS: 128 |
|---|
| Includes 91 in skiing and 32 in women's gymnastics |
| ALL-AMERICA AWARDS: 1,058 |
|---|
| Includes 283 in skiing, 516 in women's gymnastics, 86 in football and 18 in men's basketball |
| OLYMPIANS: 75 | |
|---|---|
| SKIING | 49 |
| WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS | 9 |
| MEN'S BASKETBALL | 4 |
| WOMEN'S BASKETBALL | 6 |
| SOFTBALL | 2 |
| MEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING | 1 |
| WOMEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING | 1 |
| WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD | 3 |
| PAC-12 TITLES (2012-24) & BIG 12 TITLES (2024-present) |
|---|
| WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS Postseason: 2014, 2015, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 Regular Season: 2020, 2021, 2022 (tie), 2023 (tie), 2025, 2026 FOOTBALL Championship: 2021, 2022 South Division: 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Regular Season: 2023 (tie) MEN'S TENNIS Regular Season: 2023 (tie) SOFTBALL Tournament: 2023 BASEBALL 2016 |
| OTHER LEAGUE TITLES SINCE 2011-12 |
|---|
| LACROSSE ASUN Regular Season: 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 (tie), 2026 (tie) ASUN Tournament: 2023, 2024 SKIING RMISA Championships: 2012, 2014, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026 RMISA Regular Season: 2012, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025 |