It might not seem like it at times, but the California Golden Bears do have a top 20 athletic program. Thanks to the multitude of sports, Cal provides excellent athletic performances in numerous disciplines. If you include the performances of men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s water polo, add in some rugby to boot, and take a look at the broad swath of strong athletic accomplishment you see across the board, Cal still competes at a high level compared to the majority of college athletics programs.
Cal is ranked 16th overall in a Yahoo Sports article ranking the Power 5 programs based off of Learfield Cup performance the past five seasons.