5 Reasons why Long Beach, California is a great city for all sports fans to visit

#3 College Sports

Long Beach is home to two notable higher education institutions, California State University, Long Beach and Long Beach City College. CSU is notably home to the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, as named after Richard and Karen Carpenter of the musical duo The Carpenters.

California State University, Long Beach competes in NCAA Division I within 19 different sports. Known as "the Long Beach State 49ers," the school's baseball team has appeared in 4 College World Series competitions. Its women's basketball team has several NCAA Final Four appearances to its credit.

Overall, the Long Beach State 49ers have competed in 203 NCAA Division I tournaments to date among 16 sports. In addition, 3 national championships have been won at the NCAA Division II level and six non-NCAA national championships have been won by the 49ers.

Among the notable athletic alumni from California State University, Long Beach are retired MMA fighter Gil Castillo, PGA golfers Paul Goydos and Mark O'Meara, four-time Olympic gold medalist Pat McCormick, MLB players Jason Giambi and Evan Langoria, legendary NBA coach Jerry Tarkanian, NFL quarterback Jeff Graham, and USA Olympic coach Guy Baker. Alumnus Joan Lind Van Blom, an Olympic rower, was the first woman to receive an Olympic medal in her sport for the United States.