UC Davis and what is now Sacramento State have been competing in sports since the 1940s.

So important has the athletic relationship been between the cross-river schools, that 10 years ago Hornet and Aggie administrators decided to further accentuate the rivalry.

It was the birth of the Causeway Cup — a numerical determination of who beat whom how many times.

Aggie Nation earned bragging rights last year and broke a 4-4 tie in the pursuit of the Cup. Despite Saturday’s 84-78 women’s basketball victory by Sacramento State, UCD remains in control of the 2013-14 competition.

Now leading 37.5-22.5, the Aggies took 10 points with its Aug. 23 women’s soccer victory and another 10 when UCD routed the Hornets, 34-7, in football on Nov. 23.

Sac State’s only 10-point victories have come in basketball where the Hornets also won the men’s game last month.

This fall, men’s soccer teams split two games while UCD finished higher in a recent cross country meet.

The schools’ 17 common teams continue their battle for the lion’s share of the 100 possible Cup points when the gymnastics squads meet Jan. 5 and 31.

The winner is given the pre-determined amount of points (either five or 10). If the two schools meet just once in a season, then all the points will go to the winning team. But if the teams play each other two times or more, the points are divided by how many meetings occur. For example, the gymnastics meetings are worth 2.5 points each.

The exceptions to this rule are cross country and track and field, sports for which it is common for a school to field a partial team, according to athletic department officials.

Cross country points were based on the NCAA West Regional. Track and field points are determined by the annual Causeway Dual meet.

There are no more 10-point events this school year.

In 2012, ScholarShare, the state’s 529 college investment plan, became the title sponsor for the Causeway Cup.

Comments

comments