Thousands of student-athletes competed this year in 23 sports for 88 NCAA championship titles. Of about 1,000 NCAA member institutions, only a small fraction are now able to proudly call themselves "national champions."

And eight of those schools are able to say those words in both men's and women's voices, since both their men's and women's teams earned national titles in the same sport this season.

Stanford University (Division I cross country), Adams State College (Division II cross country), the University of Connecticut (Division I basketball), Middlebury College (Division III ice hockey), Auburn University (Division I swimming and diving), Kenyon College (Division III swimming and diving), Louisiana State University (Division I indoor track and field) and the University of Southern California (National Collegiate water polo) pulled off the double-gender crowns in 2003-04.

"That is a really tough feat to say the least, so we're really, really proud of that accomplishment," Southern California Senior Associate Athletics Director Daryl Gross said of the Trojans' men's and women's water polo championships. "It's really exciting that the same sport won on both the men's and women's side, there's no question about it."

For some of those institutions, such as Connecticut, the achievement was historical -- never before had both the men's and women's teams from the same school won the Division I basketball championships in the same season. (Central Missouri State University won the Division II men's and women's basketball championships in 1984.)

"I don't think there's any question that it was an unbelievable time in the history of our institution," said Mike Enright, associate athletics director of communications at Connecticut. "To win two national championships, on two consecutive days, the exposure that it gave not just the athletics department, but the school, was just tremendous.

"For it to happen in the same year was just a real special time for our institution."

For other schools, such as Kenyon in swimming, having both the men's and women's teams win national championships the same year is a feat accomplished almost annually. The Kenyon men have won the team title at the Division III Men's Swimming and Diving Championships 25 consecutive times from 1980 through 2004, a record streak in any NCAA sport in any division. Kenyon's women have won the team title 20 times -- from 1984 through 2000 and then again from 2002 through 2004. The two teams have won championships in the same year a total of 20 times.

"It's never something we take for granted," said Peter Smith, director of athletics at Kenyon. "When you have 22 sports, and you have 20 other sports that would like to do the same thing, I think that really puts each year's swimming accomplishments into perspective."

At Middlebury, Athletics Director Russ Reilly said the wins in ice hockey were made extra special because of where the championships were held.

"Because both of our teams had earned the right to host the championship, and frankly because we had hosted the men's championship back in 2000, I thought it appropriate for us to host the women's championship this year," Reilly said. "It gave our women an opportunity to win a national championship at home, which the men had the opportunity to attempt in 2000.

"(For Middlebury), it went beyond winning in the same year. We won it on the same day, within the same hour, in the same state. We had a brother on one team and a sister on the other. We had a boyfriend on one team and a girlfriend on the other. It was just obviously a very special moment."

Looking back

Of the eight schools that enjoyed this noteworthy accomplishment this year, all but two of the teams had won titles before. Only the Middlebury women's ice hockey team and Southern California's women's water polo team had never won NCAA championships. Both of those events are relatively new, however, with women's water polo earning championship status in 2001 and Division III women's ice hockey having its inaugural event in 2002. Also, as Southern California's Gross noted, the Southern California women did win a national water polo championship a few years ago, just not one sponsored by the NCAA.

The other 14 teams have all won championships in the past, and some men's and women's teams from the same school have previously won the same events.

The Stanford men's and women's cross country teams also won the event together in 1996. Bob Vazquez, media relations director for the Cardinal, pointed out that this year marked only the third time in history that one school has had double winners.

"Year in and year out, Stanford has been a national contender at the NCAAs in cross country," he said. "It's a very close-knit group. They train together, and I think to win it at the same time, on the same day, was a big event for them."

Adams State's men's and women's cross country teams have both won the event in Division II numerous times, and won together in 1992-94 and 1998.

"It's certainly special every time you win it, whether you win both or not," said Chris Day, Adams State's associate athletics director for marketing and promotions/sports information director. "It's obviously kind of doubly so when both teams can do it, they're so much of a family. To have both enjoy success like that is tremendous. To win national titles in any sport would be special, but to win two on the same day within an hour of each other is just tremendous.

"It's not the first time we've done it, but it doesn't happen very often."

The Southern California men previously won the national championship in water polo in 1998, and have finished second in 1996-97, 1993-94, 1987 and 1983.

The Connecticut women have been a dominant force in Division I basketball since the 1990s, having won the championship in 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2004, while the men added their 2004 crown to their first in 1999.

The Middlebury men's ice hockey team won the Division III championship from 1995 to 1999.

The Auburn men's and women's swimming teams also won the national titles together in 2003. The men won team titles in 1999 and 1997 as well.

The LSU men and women have both won the indoor track and field title many times, though this was the first year they won together. The men won in 2001, and the women won in 2002-03, 1993-97, 1991, 1989 and 1987.

Celebrations

Festivities for those teams that doubled their national championship winnings in a single sport ranged from subdued, private celebrations to boisterous rallies in front of hundreds of thousands of fans.

"It was just a sea of people," was how Connecticut's Enright described the parade and celebration in downtown Hartford after the Huskies' historic wins. State police said the crowd was the biggest they'd seen since the end of World War II, with an estimated 350,000 people coming out to cheer on the champs, Enright said.

At Kenyon, there were no special celebrations, though there was a series of articles and photos devoted to the feat in the Kenyon Bulletin, the school's magazine, said Smith.

"We made sure the students get back to class," he said. "There's no parade, there's no standing up in the dining hall. There are references occasionally at graduation as to what goes on, in terms of a year in review."

All of Southern California's fall champions, including the men's water polo team, had a parade in Los Angeles, that led back to the school's track stadium for a celebration, and the women's water polo team is expected to be honored at a football game in the fall, said Gross.

Adams State's Day said the school celebrated its double cross country wins at halftime of a basketball game.

And Middlebury's ice hockey teams won their events during spring break, so there were no immediate celebrations. "But they made up for it," joked Reilly. The teams also were honored at a reception with the school's president.

What about next year?

Since the vast majority of these teams have won national titles before, there's an expectation that they will be back next year to contend once again. But as for any additional pressure that comes with achieving something only eight schools accomplished this year, most say that's not an issue.

"There certainly will be pressure that the kids will put on themselves," said Reilly. "We don't focus on any one sport in any one season on winning a national championship. I think our coaches do a great job of convincing the kids, 'Let's be the best we can be.' "

Smith, at Kenyon, agrees. "As (head swimming) coach (Jim) Steen will tell you, it's not about winning national championships. It's about excellence, performance, about taking things individually with each athlete to a level that they thought they couldn't achieve."

Others say the pressure's already there for their student-athletes, and many thrive on it.

"I think our coaches here are used to that kind of pressure, and they like it," said Gross. "They look forward to the challenge of trying to defend a national title."

Double winners

Institutions whose men's and women's team won championships in the same sport in 2003-04:

Adams State College -- Division II cross country

Auburn University -- Division I swimming and diving

University of Connecticut -- Division I basketball

Kenyon College -- Division III swimming and diving

Louisiana State University -- Division I indoor track and field

Middlebury College -- Division III ice hockey

University of Southern California -- National Collegiate water polo

Stanford University -- Division I cross country

Greatest among equals

Past success of schools whose men's and women's teams won titles in the same sport this year:

Stanford (Division I cross country)

Men -- Also won this event in 1996, 1997 and 2002; runner-up in 2001 and 1998.

Women -- Also won in 1996; runner-up in 1997 and 2002.

Men and women both won this event last in 1996

cross country)

Men -- Also won this event in 1992-1994 and 1998; runner up in 1999.

Women -- Won this event in 1992-1999; runner-up in 2001 and 2002.

Men and women have both won this event several times in the same year, but not since 1998

Southern California (National Collegiate water polo)

Men -- Also won this event in 1998; runner-up in 1983, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1997.

Women -- 2004 represented first appearance in title game.

Connecticut (Division I basketball)

Men -- Also won this event in 1999.

Women -- Also won this event in 1995, 2000, 2002 and 2003.

Middlebury (Division III ice hockey)

Men -- Also won this event in 1995-1999.

Women -- 2004 represented first appearance in title game.

Auburn (Division I swimming and diving)

Men -- Also won in 1997, 1999 and 2003; runner-up in 1978, 1996, 1998 and 2000.

Women -- Also won in 2002 and 2003.

Men and women both won this event in 2003.

Kenyon (Division III swimming and diving)

Men -- Have won this event 25 consecutive years from 1980 through 2004.

Women -- Have won this event from 1984-2000 and from 2002-2004.

Men and women have won this event in the same year from 1984 through 2000 and from 2002 through 2004 -- a total of 20 times.

LSU (Division I indoor track and field)

Men -- Also won this event in 2001.

Women -- Also won this event in 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993-1997, 2002 and 2003; runner-up in 1998 and 1999.