By Stephen Trembley / Fresno State Athletics Communications

Over the past eight seasons, the Western Athletic Conference has tracked the performance of each of its member schools through a race for an annual Commissioner's Cup based on the collective achievements in each of the 18 WAC-sponsored sports.

The concept is simple: each sport contributes a designated number of points based on the ranking of the sport in conference contests and/or WAC tournament competition.

Throughout this period, Fresno State has consistently demonstrated their drive for excellence, with back-to-back first-place finishes in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 academic years and an average finish of 2.375, by far the highest of any current WAC institution.  The next closest competitors, Boise State and Nevada, have placed an average of 3.63 and 3.88, respectively, in Cup rankings over the eight seasons.  Overall, the 'Dogs own a WAC-best 679.5 points for a clip of 84.94 points per academic year.

Jay Udwadia recognized the magnitude of the opportunity for his team as an at-large team in the NCAA Tournament.

By winning today's first round match 4-2 over BYU, the Bulldogs secured the program's first NCAA victory since 2003 and earned a second round date with the host and fifth-seeded USC, who swept Marist 4-0 in the afternoon match.

"We're happy to advance to the next round and we hope to keep it going," Udwadia added

With No. 28 Fresno State vying for its first NCAA Tournament victory since 2003 in today's match against the 34th-ranked BYU Cougars, you can watch live scoring and video for free through the USC website.