Southern California is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area as well as the Inland Empire. The region generally contains ten of California's 58 counties: Imperial, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.
Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) is a public community college in Santa Barbara, California. It opened in 1909 and is located on a 74-acre (30 ha) campus.
The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) is a college athletic conference that operates in the NCAA's Division III. The conference was founded in 1915 and it consists of twelve small private schools that are located in southern California and organized into nine athletic programs. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer are combined teams for sports purposes.
Mt. San Antonio College is a public community college in Walnut, California. It offers more than 400 degree and certificate programs, 36 support programs, and more than 50 student clubs and athletic programs, including food pantry, counseling and tutoring. The college offers associate degrees, career education, community recreation courses, ESL, adult education, and youth summer programs.
The Pomona Valley is located in the Greater Los Angeles Area between the San Gabriel Valley and San Bernardino Valley in Southern California. The valley is approximately 30 miles (48 km) east of downtown Los Angeles.
West Los Angeles College is a public community college in Culver City, Los Angeles County, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and the Los Angeles Community College District. It is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. The school offers associate degrees including 18 vocational-oriented programs in addition to 25 transfer programs. The college awards more than 600 degrees and certificates annually in 39 fields.
The National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) is an association of Christian universities, colleges, and Bible colleges in the United States and Canada whose mission is "the promotion and enhancement of intercollegiate athletic competition with a Christian perspective". The national headquarters is located in Greenville, South Carolina. The NCCAA was formed in 1968. For the 2023–2024 season, the NCCAA listed 92 members, 53 of which participate in Division I and 39 in Division II. Many teams in the NCCAA are also in other athletic associations, including NCAA, NAIA, and ACCA.
In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA), the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), and the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA). Each of these various organizations is subdivided into one to three divisions, based on the number and level of scholarships that may be provided to the athletes. Teams with more talent tend to win over teams with less talent.
Diablo Valley College (DVC) is a public community college with campuses in Pleasant Hill and San Ramon in Contra Costa County, California. DVC is one of three public community colleges in the Contra Costa Community College District. It opened in 1949. DVC has more than 22,000 students and 300 full-time and 370 part-time instructors.
Santa Monica College (SMC) is a public community college in Santa Monica, California. Founded as a junior college in 1929, SMC enrolls over 30,000 students in more than 90 fields of study. Although initially serving primarily pre-college high school students, the college quickly expanded its enrollment to educate college-age students and non-traditional students with the primary intention to transfer to a four-year university The college has high transfer rates to four-year universities such as the Universities of California or California State Universities.
Laney College is a public community college in Oakland, California. Laney is the largest of the four colleges of the Peralta Community College District which serves northern Alameda County. Laney College is named after Joseph Clarence Laney. The college offers both certificates and credits for Associate of Arts degree, as well as prerequisites to transfer to four year universities. It is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges.
College of the Canyons (COC) is a public community college in Santa Clarita, California. It comprises the Santa Clarita Community College District. The college is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and has campus locations in Valencia and Canyon Country.
The California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. All of its current members are public universities, and upon UC San Diego's departure on July 1, 2020, all are members of the California State University system.
The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions across 24 states and is divided into 3 divisions.
The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF). Its membership includes most public and private high schools in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, and central and southern Santa Barbara counties. Teams from the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and surrounding areas have competed in the CIF Los Angeles City Section since 1935. CIFSS's offices are located in Los Alamitos.
California has 21 major professional sports franchises, far more than any other US state. The San Francisco Bay Area has six major league teams spread amongst three cities: San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose. The Greater Los Angeles Area has ten major league teams. San Diego and Sacramento each have one major league team.
The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos are the intercollegiate athletic teams who represent the University of California, Santa Barbara. Referred to in athletic competition as UC Santa Barbara or UCSB, the Gauchos participate in 19 NCAA Division I intercollegiate sports with the majority competing in the Big West Conference. UCSB currently fields varsity teams in 10 men's sports and 9 women's sports.
The Pacific Coast Athletic Conference (PCAC) is a college athletic conference that is affiliated with the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) and includes community colleges in the San Diego region of California. The PCAC has won numerous state championships in the CCCAA.
