NCAA tournaments, the most consecutive invitations to NCAA tournament play of any Saint Mary's athletic program. Saint Mary's College was once known for its American football team led by Edward "Slip" Madigan, which dominated west coast football, indeed beating USC and California during the thirties, and with several wins against eastern powerhouses during the 20s, 30s, and 40s including winning the 1939 Cotton Bowl by narrowly defeating favored Texas Tech 20 to 13. The Gaels were known for their flashy style that reflected the personality of their flamboyant coach. Madigan traveled to New York for the Fordham game with 150 fans on a train that was labelled "the world's longest bar." To stir up publicity for the game, he threw a party the night before and invited not only sportswriters, but such celebrities as Babe Ruth and New York mayor Jimmy Walker. They dropped the sport in 2004. Currently, 60% of the students who attend Saint Mary's are involved with organized athletics. There are 13 club sports teams that they have the opportunity to participate in as well as Intramural teams and NCAA. Student-athletes from Saint Mary's graduate at the second-highest success rate among all California Division 1 Institutions, according to data released by NCAA. Another successful sports program at Saint Mary's is rugby, which, though not well known in the United States generally, is the oldest athletic club at Saint Mary's. The men's rugby team enjoyed a rise in the past few years and won the school's first national championship on May 10, 2014, beating Life University 21–6 to win the USA Rugby D1A title at Stanford University. The team frequently is ranked among the top teams in the country, competing with large high-profile schools such as California, Ohio State, and the military academies. In 2008, it reached the Final Four of the USA Rugby Division One National Championship tournament, losing to California 41–31 in the semi-finals, and was also ranked at #2 in the nation for Division 1 Collegiate Rugby at the season's end. In 2011, it competed in the National 7s and in 2012, after beating No.1 ranked California 20 –18 in Moraga, the team finished the regular season undefeated in the Pacific Coast Conference and ranked No. 2 in the country. It defeated Utah 25–15 in the D1-A quarterfinals before falling to Arkansas State in the semifinals. In 2015, the Saint Mary's Men's Rugby team clinched