UCI's sports teams are known as the
Anteaters. (The unusual mascot was chosen
by student vote, in the non-violent and anti-establishment spirit that was popular in the school's early years.) They participate
in the NCAA's Division I-AAA, as members of the Big West Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. While some UCI's of sports teams (especially
basketball) have developed a following in recent years, the student body remains generally apathetic towards athletics. However
some students have taken it upon themselves to change this by forming a cheerleading squad/club known as CIA (short for
Completely Insane Anteaters), which has seen some limited success. The UCI Men's basketball team has had 3 20 win seasons in
recent years, and 4 in all. They have made it into the Division 2 NCAA Tournament 2 times, and the Division 1 NIT tournament 4
times. In 1986, they swept UNLV. The UC Irvine Women's basketball team has had one Division 1 NCAA Tournament apperance, in 1995,
when they were champions of their conference, and won the conference tournament, however, unfourtunately lost in the first
round.