In recent years, the opinion of a few was that one of the best college rivalries along the west coast had seen its best days and was headed for irrelevance.

A long stretch of Azusa Pacific dominance over Biola, particularly in men’s basketball – the crown jewel of Biola’s entire athletic program – had some people wondering if the rivalry would ever be the same. It was around that time that a certain article appeared on the Cougar Athletics website that impatiently proclaimed the Azusa Pacific-Biola rivalry “over,” “done,” and “finished.”

Later that same year, Biola silenced a crowd of over 2,500 with its biggest win over the Cougars in nearly 20 years, holding Azusa Pacific to just 54 points, its lowest scoring total by a Cougar team in the Felix Event Center since the building’s opening in 2001. The next year Biola claimed double-digit wins in both regular-season meetings before Azusa Pacific rallied from double-digits to conjure a one-point overtime win in the conference tournament, and the Cougars built on that win with five more postseason victories to advance to the national title game for the second time in program history.

Read more on The Cougar Countdown: Day 28…

Up until a year ago Azusa Pacific vs. California Baptist was developing into one of the best college rivalries on the West Coast. That rivalry was put on hold as California Baptist initiated its NCAA Div. II membership transition a year earlier than the Cougars. But with both schools playing in the Pacific West Conference in 2012, that once budding rivalry will have a chance to develop into what everyone saw it becoming: the new rivalry for Azusa Pacific athletics.

While Azusa Pacific was in the midst of its unprecedented run of Director’s Cups, California Baptist was steadily ascending up the national stage. Over the final three years in the NAIA, the Lancers finished seventh, sixth, and fifth in the final Director’s Cup standings. In that run towards the top CBU and Azusa Pacific had their fair share of run-ins.

Read more on The Cougar Countdown: Day 27…

Women’s water polo at Azusa Pacific may be new, with the program entering its fifth season in 2013, but that doesn’t mean head coach Julie Snodgrass is taking baby steps towards bringing the Cougars into national prominence. With a fearless approach in scheduling her team has had the opportunity to play some of the nation’s elite, most notably in 2012 as the Cougars squared off with half of the teams that earned a spot in the eight-team NCAA tournament, including fifth place Loyola Marymount.

No other team at Azusa Pacific plays a tougher schedule than does the polo team, which in 2012 faced off with seven teams ranked inside the Collegiate Water Polo Association’s coach’s top-20, a poll that consists of mainly NCAA Div. I programs, but can include Div. II, III, and NAIA teams.

Read more on The Cougar Countdown: Day 26…

It’s going to be different, but they’re hoping the results are the same. This year the Azusa Pacific women’s soccer program enters the world of the PacWest after 19 years in the Golden State Athletic Conference. In that span the Cougars won 10 GSAC titles, with head coach Jason Surrell guiding them to nine championships in the last 12 seasons.

Last year Surrell made soccer history, becoming the fastest NAIA coach to reach the 200-win mark and leaving the NAIA as the winningest coach in its history (.858 winning percentage; min 10 years). Needless to say he is the perfect person to have at the helm during the transition from the NAIA into NCAA Div. II.

Read more on The Cougar Countdown: Day 16…