California Baptist University was founded in 1950 as California Baptist College by the Los Angeles Southern Baptist Association. The school was originally located in El Monte, but moved its campus to its current location in Riverside in 1955. 

The school transitioned to university status in 1998 under its current name. In the 21st century, CBU experienced an unprecedented building and enrollment boom, surpassing 10,000 students, and successfully evolved its athletic programs from NAIA to NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I within the span of 10 years. 

Transitioning from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), the Lancers will compete in The Big West in 13 of its 18 NCAA Division I sports beginning in the 2026-27 school year: baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, women’s golf, women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s outdoor track & field, women’s volleyball and men's and women's water polo. Men's soccer will compete in the Pac-12 as part of the unique and collaborative conference partnership to strengthen the sport on the West Coast.

SCHOOL FACTS

BUILDING TOWARD BOLD MOMENTS

California Baptist was a member of the NAIA from 1969 to 2013, where the Lancers captured 22 NAIA championshiops over a 13-year span (1999-2011) with 149 individual national champions. In the Division II era from 2013-18, CBU qualified 70 percent (66-of-94) of their eligible teams for the NCAA postseason, claiming seven individual NCAA championships and reaching the pinnacle of the division by winning the Learfield Directors' Cup in their final season before transitioning to Division I in 2018.

Since becoming a member of the WAC in 2018-19, California Baptist has finished in the top three of the commissioner's cup standings three times, inlcuding a third-place finish in 2025-26. Last fall, the Lancers enjoyed immense success, with titles at the Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships, a regular-season crown in men's soccer and a postseason trophy for the women's soccer team. The winter saw the women basketball team secure two titles with men's basketball hoisting the tournament trophy to make it to the Big Dance for the first time in program history. In the spring, the softball squad came up aces on the diamond with the regular-and postseason titles to earn their first-ever spot in a NCAA regional field to bring their tally of WAC trophies to nine.

Additionally, the California Baptist STUNT team secured a sixth consecutive national championship downing Kentucky for the Division I title to extend their record to an eye-popping 140-0 all-time.

2025-26 WAC Champions

NOTABLE ALUMS IN THE PROS/OLYMPICS

ACADEMICS

FAMOUS NON-ATHLETE ALUMNI