IRVINE, Calif. – Compiling a new benchmark in scoring, Cal Poly has taken home its historic first-ever 2023-24 Dennis Farrell Big West Commissioner’s Cup, announced today by the conference office.
The Mustangs accumulated an average of 149.4 points in the race to the top, besting the record of 147.5 points set last year by Long Beach State. Cal Poly is just the second program to ever pass the 140-point benchmark in their record-setting Cup season. This marks the second double-digit margin of victory in the last 10 Commissioner’s Cups that have been awarded.
Cal Poly is a four-time runner-up in the final tabulations, with the last second-place finish coming in 2013-14. The Mustangs become just the fifth program in Commissioner’s Cup history to hoist the trophy, since its inception in 1988-89.
“It’s an awesome thing for us to win,” noted Cal Poly director of athletics Don Oberhelman at the news. "I think it’s a testament to our coaches and our student-athletes and their commitment to getting better, across the board.
“I’m excited for everybody in our community to celebrate this, and it took everybody. It took everybody really elevating their games, literally, to finish higher in the conference standings and I think every single one of our programs really committed to doing that.”
Cal Poly achieved the feat after a solid season in nearly all of their 16 conference-sponsored sports. The Mustangs got top billing in all four running sports, sweeping the men’s and women’s titles in both cross country and track and field after playing host to both the fall and spring events. Other impressive finishes were seen in the women’s sports of volleyball, golf, soccer, basketball, beach volleyball and softball where Cal Poly accumulated top-3 points totals. Men’s tennis and baseball also finished in a tie for third-place points to up the overall average into record-setting territory.
“I want to congratulate the student-athletes, coaches and administration at Cal Poly for winning the 2023-24 Dennis Farrell Big West Commissioner’s Cup,” said Big West commissioner Dan Butterly. “The Cup is awarded annually to The Big West institution that has the highest degree of overall success in all men’s and women’s conference-sponsored sports during the academic year, and the Mustangs not only achieved this success, but did so with the highest point total in conference history.”
The next three places in the standings featured razor-thin margins. Long Beach State totaled 130.6 points to finish second to narrowly edge out Hawai’i’s tally of 130.0 points with UC Irvine right behind at 128.8 points.
The Beach took home top possible points in three spring sports, earning titles in men’s and women’s golf and men’s volleyball. Hawai’i also secured the top line in three sports with Championship victories in women’s water polo and beach volleyball as well as earning maximum points after claiming the women’s basketball regular-season crown. For UC Irvine, the Anteaters took the top line in men’s water polo, men’s basketball and men’s tennis.
Fifth and sixth place in the Commissioner’s Cup standings went to Cal State Fullerton and UC Santa Barbara, respectively. The Titans won both regular-season soccer titles and rounded out the spring as softball victors to average 115.0 points. The Gauchos finished with the full complement of points in women’s volleyball, women’s tennis and baseball, closing with 111.8 points.
UC Davis and UC San Diego both eclipsed 100 points as the seventh and eighth-place programs. Showcasing the overall strength of the league, this marks just the second time in 24 Cups awarded that eight Big West institutions have reached triple digits in the calculations.
“It’s such a testament to all 11 Big West institutions that this year’s race for the Cup was so competitive with eight programs reaching the 100-point mark,” added Butterly. “The Big West has taken significant strides in improving national competitiveness the past three years and we look forward to continuing the high level and play and competitiveness as we add to our sponsored sports in 2024-25 with the addition of women’s and men’s swimming and diving.”
In determining a victor for the Dennis Farrell Big West Commissioner’s Cup, points are awarded based on either regular-season finish or Big West postseason results in all 19 conference-sponsored sports, and the member-institution with the highest average point total is declared the winner.
Regular-season finish determines the designated point tallies in baseball, basketball, soccer, softball, women’s tennis and indoor volleyball. In the sports of cross country, golf, men’s tennis, track & field, women’s beach volleyball and water polo, the points are awarded based on finish at each respective Big West Championship. In the case of ties in all sports, points are awarded by combining points and dividing them equally among the tied teams. For the sport-by-sport breakdown and to view the history of the Dennis Farrell Big West Commissioner’s Cup, please visit
bigwest.org/CommissionersCup.