1.
Michie Stadium
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Michie Stadium /ˈmaɪki/ is an outdoor football stadium on the campus of the U. S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, the home field for the Army Black Knights, it opened 93 years ago in 1924 and has a current seating capacity of 38,000. The stadium sits at the portion of campus, directly west of Lusk Reservoir. The field is at an elevation of 335 feet above sea level and runs in the traditional north-south configuration, with the press box above the west sideline. Due to the view offered by its location overlooking the Hudson River, Michie Stadium is dedicated to the memory of Dennis Michie, who was instrumental in starting the football program while a cadet at the Academy. A member of the Class of 1892, Michie organized, managed, six years after graduation, he was killed in Cuba during the Spanish–American War. There have been several renovations since the stadiums first game in October 1924, in 1999, the football field at Michie Stadium was named Blaik Field on September 25, in honor of Earl Red Blaik, the head coach at West Point from 1941 to 1958. Blaik led Army to three national titles from 1944 to 1946. Since 2008, the surface has been FieldTurf. This replaced AstroPlay, which had used since 2001. The stadiums playing field was natural grass until AstroTurf was installed in 1977, Michie Stadium has hosted the Army–Navy Game only once, in 1943 during World War II, after it was played at Thompson Stadium at Annapolis the year before. Their rivalry game is played at a neutral site between the campuses on the East Coast, usually in Philadelphia in early December. Go Army Sports. com - official USMA athletics site - Michie stadium World Stadiums. com - photos - Michie Stadium
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FieldTurf
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FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by FieldTurf Tarkett, a division of French company Tarkett Inc. headquartered in Calhoun, Georgia, in the late 1990s, the artificial surface changed the industry with a design intended to replicate real grass. The new system quickly began taking market share from AstroTurf, and is now the leader in the industry, the surface is composed of monofilament polyethylene blend fibers tufted into a polypropylene backing. The infill is composed of a layer of silica sand, a middle layer which is a mixture of sand and cryogenic rubber. The fibers are meant to replicate blades of grass, while the acts as a cushion. This cushion is intended to improve safety when compared to earlier artificial surfaces and allows players to plant, each square foot of turf contains approximately 3 kg of sand and 1.5 kg of cryogenic rubber. FieldTurf does not use shock absorbency pads below its infill, the backing of the turf is a combination of woven and non-woven polypropylene. These materials are permeable and allow water to drain through the backing itself, jean Prévost bought the patent of the FieldTurf product in 1988 and originally named his Montreal-based company SynTenni Co. a name which would eventually be dropped in favor of FieldTurf Inc. In 1995, John Gilman, a former Canadian Football League player and coach, in 1997, FieldTurf made its first major installation for a professional team, at the training facility for the English Premierships Middlesbrough F. C. As of 2012, FieldTurf has installed over 7000 athletic fields, in 2005, French flooring manufacturer and minority shareholder Tarkett increased its share in FieldTurf, which led to the integration of the two companies. FieldTurf is now a part of the Tarkett Sports division, part of the holding company Tarkett SA, the FieldTurf head corporate office is located in Calhoun, Georgia. In May 2010, FieldTurf acquired EasyTurf of San Diego, California, by late 2016, press reports were describing the companys product as defective. A number of agencies in New Jersey had joined together to file a lawsuit against the firm. The suits allege that the DuraSpine product it sold was inferior, internal company documents showed the company knew its sales claims were false. There is evidence showing higher player injury on artificial turf, in a study performed by the National Football League Injury and Safety Panel, published in the October 2012 issue of the American Journal of Sports Medicine, Elliott B. Hershman et al. reviewed injury data from NFL games played between 2000 and 2009. the injury rate of knee sprains as a whole was 22% higher on FieldTurf than on natural grass. While MCL sprains did not occur at a significantly higher than on grass. There are conflicting studies of the safety of FieldTurf, a five-year study funded by FieldTurf and published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine found that injury rates for high school sports were similar on natural grass and synthetic turf
3.
West Point, New York
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West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. West Point was established in 1775 by George Washington who considered it the most important strategic position in America, until January 1778, West Point was not occupied by the military. It comprises approximately 16,000 acres including the campus of the United States Military Academy at West Point and it is a Census Designated Place located in the Town of Highlands in Orange County, New York, located on the western bank of the Hudson River. The population was 6,763 at the 2010 census and it is part of the New York–Newark–Jersey City, NY–NJ–PA Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark, NY–NJ–CT–PA Combined Statistical Area. West Point, was a site during the Revolutionary War. Originally picked because of the abnormal S-curve in the Hudson at this point, it was founded by military engineer and it was manned by a small garrison of Continental soldiers through the entirety of the war. A great iron chain was laid across the Hudson at this point in order to impede British Navy vessels, the site comprised multiple redoubts, including Fort Putnam, which is still preserved in a Revolutionary-period design. However, Arnolds plot failed when British Major John André was captured as a spy by the Americans, arnold received a decreased cash reward of £6,000 but was commissioned as a Brigadier General in the British Army. The United States Military Academy was established at West Point in 1802 and has the longest continuous service of any United States military installation and is the nations oldest service academy. In 1937, the West Point Bullion Depository was constructed, in 1988, it became the West Point Mint, West Point is located at 41° 23′ N 73°58 W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has an area of 25.1 square miles,24.3 sq mi land and 0.7 sq mi water. West Point and the village of Highland Falls, New York, are on the west bank of the Hudson River. West Point lies in the transition between the continental and humid subtropical zones, although lying closer to the former, with four distinct seasons. Summers are hot and humid, while winters are cold with moderate snowfall. The monthly daily average ranges from 27.5 °F in January to 74.1 °F in July, on average, temperatures reaching 90 °F or 0 °F occur on 17 and 1.4 days of the year. Extremes in temperature range from 106 °F on July 22,1926 down to −17 °F on February 9,1934, as of the census of 2010 there were 6,763 people, and 685 households residing in the CDP. The population density was 293.4 per square mile, there were 1,044 housing units at an average density of 42. 9/sq mi. The racial makeup of the CDP was 82. 31% White,9. 09% African American,0. 50% Native American,3. 35% Asian,0. 15% Pacific Islander,1. 64% from other races, and 2. 96% from two or more races
4.
NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
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Division I is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the United States. This level was called the University Division of the NCAA, in contrast to the lower level College Division. For football only, Division I was further subdivided in 1978 into Division I-A, Division I-AA, in 2006, Division I-A and I-AA were renamed Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision, respectively. FCS teams are allowed to award scholarships, a practice technically allowed. FBS teams also have to meet attendance requirements, while FCS teams do not need to meet minimum attendance requirements. Another difference is post season play, starting with the 2014 postseason, a four-team playoff called the College Football Playoff, replaced the previous one game championship format. Even so, Division I FBS football is still the only NCAA sport in which a champion is not determined by an NCAA-sanctioned championship event. All D-I schools must field teams in at least seven sports for men and seven for women or six for men and eight for women, with at least two team sports for each gender. Division I schools must meet minimum financial aid awards for their athletics program, Several other NCAA sanctioned minimums and differences that distinguish Division I from Divisions II and III. Each playing season has to be represented by each gender as well, there are contest and participant minimums for each sport, as well as scheduling criteria. Mens and womens teams have to play all but two games against Division I teams, for men, they must play one-third of all their contests in the home arena. The NCAA has limits on the financial aid each Division I member may award in each sport that the school sponsors. Equivalency sports, in which the NCAA limits the total financial aid that a school can offer in a sport to the equivalent of a set number of full scholarships. Roster limitations may or may not apply, depending on the sport, the term counter is also key to this concept. The NCAA defines a counter as an individual who is receiving financial aid that is countable against the aid limitations in a sport. The number of scholarships that Division I members may award in sport is listed below. In this table, scholarship numbers for head-count sports are indicated without a point, for equivalency sports, they are listed with a decimal point. An exception exists for players at non-scholarship FCS programs who receive aid in another sport, participants in basketball are counted in that sport, unless they also play football
5.
NCAA Division I FBS independent schools
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National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Bowl Subdivision independent schools are four-year institutions whose football programs are not part of an NCAA-affiliated conference. This means that FBS independents are not required to each other for competition like conference schools do. All Division I FBS independents are eligible for the College Football Playoff, or for the access bowls associated with the CFP. Notre Dame has a potential tie-in with the Orange Bowl, Army has an agreement with the Military Bowl, and Notre Dame, in addition to its CFP agreement, has other bowl agreements as part of its affiliation with the Atlantic Coast Conference. BYU had an agreement with the Armed Forces Bowl for 2011, the ranks increased by two in 2013 when the WAC dropped football and New Mexico State and Idaho did not have a conference for football. Massachuetts became FBS independent in 2016, in recent years, most independent FBS schools have joined a conference for two primary reasons, A guaranteed share of television and bowl revenues, and ease of scheduling. The four remaining independent FBS schools have unique circumstances that allow for freedom from conference affiliation, one of the remaining independent programs is the service academy Army. Army has annual games guaranteed with Navy and with Air Force and it also has a historic rivalry with Notre Dame, the Army game is semi-regular. Television rights for the longstanding Army–Navy Game, which is the last regular game in the NCAA. The academy also uses its football program to do recruiting, without a conference schedule, navys arrival in The American also brought the leagues football membership to 12 schools, allowing it to play a conference championship game. During the conference realignment that saw the university choose football independence in August 2010, both are prominent faith-based schools, Notre Dame is arguably the best-known Catholic university in the U. S. while BYU is the flagship university of the LDS Church. The 1984 teams national championship is the most recent by a university that is not a current member of the College Football Playoff coalition, BYU was getting less than $2 million a year through its contract with The MTN, the now-defunct TV network of the Mountain West Conference. BYU has its own channel, but had a very restrictive contract which did not allow BYU to broadcast its own football games. The new contract with ESPN will pay BYU an estimated $800,000 to $1.2 million per home game, the University of Massachusetts football program historically played in the Football Championship Subdivision of NCAA Division I prior to 2011. The Minutemen began a two-year Football Bowl Subdivision transition period in 2011, in March 2014, the MAC and UMass announced an agreement for the Minutemen to leave the conference after the 2015 season due to declining an offer to become a full member of the conference. Massachusetts announced that it would look for a more suitable conference for the team. In September 2014, Notre Dame is now one of the most prominent programs in the country. Because of its national popularity built over decades, Notre Dame is the only independent program to be part of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. These factors help make Notre Dame one of the most financially valuable football programs in the country, previously, Notre Dame had filled its annual schedule without needing conference games to do so
6.
Navy Midshipmen football
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The Navy Midshipmen football team represents the United States Naval Academy in NCAA Division I FBS college football. The Naval Academy completed its season as an FBS independent school in 2014. The team has coached by Ken Niumatalolo since December 2007. Navy has 19 players and three coaches in the College Football Hall of Fame and won the football national championship in 1926 according to the Boand. The 1910 team also was undefeated and unscored upon, the mascot is Bill the Goat. The Naval Academys football program is one of the nations oldest, there were two separate efforts to establish a Naval Academy football team in 1879. The first was guided by first-classman J. H. Robinson, the team played the sport under rules that made it much closer to soccer, where the players were permitted only to kick the ball in order to advance it. The second effort, headed by first-classman William John Maxwell was more successful in its efforts, Maxwell met with two of his friends, Tunstall Smith and Henry Woods, who played for the Baltimore Athletic Club and officially challenged their team to a game with the Naval Academy. A team was formed from academy first-classmen, which Maxwell led as a manager, trainer, the team would wake up and practice before reveille and following drill and meals. The squad received encouragement from some of the faculty, who allowed them to eat a late dinner and this was against the direct orders of the school superintendent, who had banned football and similar activities. The years sole contest was played on December 11 against the Baltimore Athletic Club, the oppositions team was reportedly composed of players from Princeton, Yale, Pennsylvania, and Johns Hopkins. The Naval Academy hosted the Baltimore team on a temporary field drawn on part of the cow pasture. Rules decided upon between the teams established that the game was to be played under rugby rules. The Baltimore American and Chronicle, which covered the contest, described it as such, The game, played rugby rules, was a battle from beginning to end—a regular knock down. Both sides became immediately excited and the audience was aroused to the highest pitch of enthusiasm by the spirited contest, the ball oscillated backward and forward over the ground without any material result. The scrimmages were something awful to witness—living, kicking, scrambling masses of humanity surging to and fro, each individual after the leather oval. If a Baltimorean got the ball and started for a run, he was caught by one of the brawny Cadets. The game was fought and was finally declared a scoreless tie by the referee about an hour after it began
7.
Air Force Falcons football
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The Air Force Falcons football program represents the United States Air Force Academy in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Air Force has been a member of the Mountain West Conference since its founding in 1999, the Falcons play their home games at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Troy Calhoun has been the head coach since 2007. Falcon home games are played in Falcon Stadium, which sits below the campus at an elevation of 6,621 feet above sea level. Pre-game activities include flyovers by USAF aircraft, including the F-15, the highest attendance at a home game was 56,409 spectators in 2002, when the Falcons battled the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Falcons are not only recognized by the bolt on the side of their helmets. Air Force is one of the premier rushing teams in the nation, since Fisher DeBerry took over as Falcons head coach in 1984, they have ranked among the nation’s top 10 in rushing 19 times in 21 years. The Air Force football team has enjoyed success not only on the field, in 49 years of Air Force football, there have been 39 Academic All-Americans. 1985 was the most successful season in Air Force football history, under second-year coach Fisher DeBerry, the Fightin’ Falcons came within one win of playing for the national championship. They recorded 10 straight wins to start the season, climbed the polls to #2 in the nation, Air Force rebounded with a bowl game win over Texas in the Bluebonnet Bowl and finished with a 12–1 record as the #5 ranked team in the nation. Air Force has played in 26 bowl games in their history and their highest finish in the AP polls was #6 in 1958. Since 1980, the Falcons and Colorado State Rams have competed for the Ram-Falcon Trophy, Air Force currently holds a 21-14 advantage over Colorado State in games that the trophy has been contested in. Beau Morgan, He became the first player in NCAA history to rush and he broke the NCAA single season rushing record for a quarterback, along with being only the second player in NCAA history to run and pass for 3,000 yards in a career. Troy Calhoun - Head Coach Steve Russ - Asst, coord. /DBs Mike Thiessen - Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Clay Hendrix - Assoc. Air Force has held the trophy 20 times, more than either Army or Navy, among other schools, Air Force has played more games against Colorado State and Wyoming, having played each school 55 times since 1957, the Falcons first season. Below are Air Forces record against its top ten most-played opponents
8.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
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The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the intercollegiate football team representing the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana. The team is coached by Brian Kelly. The team plays its games at the campuss Notre Dame Stadium. One of the most iconic and successful programs in sports, have 13 national championships recognized by the NCAA. With 486 players selected, Notre Dame is second to USC in the number of players chosen by NFL teams in the draft, all Notre Dame home games have been televised on NBC since 1991, and Notre Dame is the only school to have such a contract. It was the only independent program to be part of the Bowl Championship Series coalition and its guaranteed payout and these factors help make Notre Dame one of the most financially valuable football programs in the country, allowing them to remain independent of a conference. Football did not have a beginning at the University of Notre Dame. In their inaugural game on November 23,1887, the Irish lost to Michigan by a score of 8–0 and their first win came in the final game of the 1888 season when the Irish defeated Harvard Prep by a score of 20–0. At the end of the 1888 season they had a record of 1–3 with all three losses being at the hands of Michigan by a score of 43–9. Between 1887 and 1899 Notre Dame compiled a record of 31 wins,15 losses, in 1908, the win over Franklin saw end Fay Wood catch the first touchdown pass in Notre Dame history. By the end of the 1912 season they had amassed a record of 108 wins,31 losses, jesse Harper became head coach in 1913 and remained so until he retired in 1917. During his tenure the Irish began playing only intercollegiate games and posted a record of 34 wins, five losses and this period would also mark the beginning of the rivalry with Army and the continuation of rivalries with Michigan State. In 1913, Notre Dame burst into the consciousness and helped to transform the collegiate game in a single contest. In an effort to respect for a regionally successful but small-time Midwestern football program, Harper scheduled games in his first season with national powerhouses Texas, Penn State. On November 1,1913, the Notre Dame squad stunned the Black Knights of the Hudson 35–13 in a game played at West Point and this game has been miscredited as the invention of the forward pass. Knute Rockne became head coach in 1918, under Rockne, the Irish would post a record of 105 wins,12 losses, and five ties. During his 13 years the Irish won three championships, had five undefeated seasons, won the Rose Bowl in 1925, and produced players such as George Gipp. Knute Rockne has the highest winning percentage in NCAA Division I/FBS football history, Rocknes offenses employed the Notre Dame Box and his defenses ran a 7–2–2 scheme
9.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights football
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The Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team represents Rutgers University in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletics Association. The team was formerly a member of the American Athletic Conference, Rutgers joined the Big Ten Conference on July 1,2014. Rutgers plays its games at High Point Solutions Stadium, located on the universitys Piscataway. The team is coached by Chris Ash. The Rutgers University football program is considered to be one of the most historic programs in the country, in 1869, Rutgers defeated Princeton University by a score of 6–4 in what is considered to be the first ever intercollegiate football game. For this reason, Rutgers has been described as The Birthplace of College Football. The team currently holds a record of 641–622–42, giving Rutgers the 37th most victories among NCAA FBS programs. On November 6,1869, Rutgers and nearby neighbor Princeton competed in the first ever football game. The site for the contest was a plot of land where the College Avenue currently stands on Rutgers campus in New Brunswick. The structure of the game resembled more of a rugby-style contest instead of football, with players allowed to kick and bat the ball with their fists. At the time, Rutgers was referred to as the Queensmen, the Rutgers squad was captained by William J. Leggett and donned scarlet kerchiefs atop their heads in an effort to distinguish between the two teams. Rutgers would go on to win the contest by a score of 6 goals to 4, a week after the first game was held in New Brunswick, Rutgers would visit Princeton for a second matchup. This time, Princeton prevailed by a score of 8 goals to 0, Rutgers and Princeton had planned for a third game in the 1869 season, but the contest never took place due to fears that the games were interfering with the students studies. Thus, both schools would end the season with a record of 1-1, Rutgers first undefeated season was in 1876. From 1929 to 1975, Rutgers was a member of the Middle Three Conference, J. Wilder Tasker served as the head football coach of the Queensmen football program for seven seasons, from 1931 to 1937. Under his leadership, the Scarlet Knights compiled a record of 31–27–5, Tasker was replaced by Harvey Harman, who led the team from 1938 through the 1940s and into the 1950s. Harmans record at Rutgers stands at 33–26–1 in a total of 14 seasons, succeeding Tasker was John Stiegman, who compiled a record of 22–15 in four seasons. Starting in 1940, the champion received the Little Brass Cannon
10.
Army Mules
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The Army Mules are a group of mules which serve as the mascots for the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. The tradition of mules as mascots for Army dates back to 1899, Mules were an obvious choice, as they were used as haulers for Army gear for generations. Not much is known about the official mules until 1936, when Mr. Jackson and he served for twelve years, presiding over two national championship teams. Starting with Mr. Jackson, there have been seventeen official Army mules, only one, Buckshot, the current Mule Corps are, Ranger III, Ranger III one of the Army Mules, and has been on campus since 2011. He was trained by MAJ Anne Hessinger, an Army veterinarian who served at West Point in 2003–2006. Named, like his predecessor, for the 75th Ranger Regiment and all Rangers past and present, Ranger III came to the Academy in 2011 as a gift of Steve Townes and he stands at 16.2 hands and is the son of a Percheron mare. Stryker, Stryker is the half-brother of Ranger III and he was also trained by MAJ Anne Hessinger and gifted by Steve Townes. Stryker stands at a slightly shorter than his brother. Paladin, The newest member of the group, joined in February 2016, paladin stands about two hands shorter than the half-brothers, and is half thoroughbred rather than Percheron. The Army Mules are trained by cadet Mule Riders, a part of the Spirit Support Activity of the U. S. The current Army Mule Riders are, Cadet Conor Dolan,2017, Cadet Ryan ODeens,2018, Cadet Matthew Brecht,2018, Cadet Benson Moore,2019, together they are present at many of West Points athletic events, parades, and other ceremonial activities. The Mules serve not only as West Points mascot, but also as the mascot for the entire United States Army
11.
Nike, Inc.
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The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, in the Portland metropolitan area. It is one of the worlds largest suppliers of athletic shoes and apparel, as of 2012, it employed more than 44,000 people worldwide. In 2014 the brand alone was valued at $19 billion, making it the most valuable brand among sports businesses. The company was founded on January 25,1964, as Blue Ribbon Sports, by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight, the company takes its name from Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. Nike also owned Bauer Hockey between 1995 and 2008, and previously owned Cole Haan and Umbro, in addition to manufacturing sportswear and equipment, the company operates retail stores under the Niketown name. Nike sponsors many high-profile athletes and sports teams around the world, with the highly recognized trademarks of Just Do It, Nike, originally known as Blue Ribbon Sports, was founded by University of Oregon track athlete Phil Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman in January 1964. The company initially operated as a distributor for Japanese shoe maker Onitsuka Tiger, says Davis, I told Tom Brokaw that I was the first. I dont care all the billionaires say. Bill Bowerman made the first pair of shoes for me, in fact, I didnt like the way they felt on my feet. There was no support and they were too tight, but I saw Bowerman make them from the waffle iron, and they were mine. In 1964, in its first year in business, BRS sold 1,300 pairs of Japanese running shoes grossing $8,000, by 1965 the fledgling company had acquired a full-time employee, and sales had reached $20,000. In 1967, due to increasing sales, BRS expanded retail and distribution operations on the East Coast, in Wellesley. By 1971, the relationship between BRS and Onitsuka Tiger was nearing an end, BRS prepared to launch its own line of footwear, which would bear the Swoosh newly designed by Carolyn Davidson. The Swoosh was first used by Nike on June 18,1971, patent and Trademark Office on January 22,1974. In 1976, the company hired John Brown and Partners, based in Seattle, the following year, the agency created the first brand ad for Nike, called There is no finish line, in which no Nike product was shown. By 1980, Nike had attained a 50% market share in the U. S. athletic shoe market, together, Nike and Wieden+Kennedy have created many print and television advertisements, and Wieden+Kennedy remains Nikes primary ad agency. Walt Stack was featured in Nikes first Just Do It advertisement, wieden credits the inspiration for the slogan to Lets do it, the last words spoken by Gary Gilmore before he was executed. Throughout the 1980s, Nike expanded its line to encompass many sports
12.
United States Military Academy
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It sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River,50 miles north of New York City. It is one of the four U. S. military service academies, the entire central campus is a national landmark and home to scores of historic sites, buildings, and monuments. The majority of the campuss Norman-style buildings are constructed from gray, the campus is a popular tourist destination complete with a large visitor center and the oldest museum in the United States Army. Candidates for admission must both apply directly to the academy and receive a nomination, usually from a member of Congress or Delegate/Resident Commissioner in the case of Washington, puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands. Other nomination sources include the President and Vice President of the United States, students are officers-in-training and are referred to as cadets or collectively as the United States Corps of Cadets. Tuition for cadets is fully funded by the Army in exchange for an active duty service obligation upon graduation, approximately 1,300 cadets enter the Academy each July, with about 1,000 cadets graduating. Cadets are required to adhere to the Cadet Honor Code, which states that a cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, the academy bases a cadets leadership experience as a development of all three pillars of performance, academics, physical, and military. Most graduates are commissioned as lieutenants in the Army. Foreign cadets are commissioned into the armies of their home countries, since 1959, cadets have also been eligible to cross-commission, or request a commission in one of the other armed services, provided that they meet that services eligibility standards. Every year, a small number of cadets do this. The academys traditions have influenced other institutions because of its age and it was the first American college to have an accredited civil-engineering program and the first to have class rings, and its technical curriculum was a model for later engineering schools. West Points student body has a rank structure and lexicon. All cadets reside on campus and dine together en masse on weekdays for breakfast, the academy fields fifteen mens and nine womens National Collegiate Athletic Association sports teams. Cadets compete in one sport every fall, winter, and spring season at the intramural, club and its football team was a national power in the early and mid-20th century, winning three national championships. The Continental Army first occupied West Point, New York, on 27 January 1778, between 1778 and 1780, the Polish engineer and military hero Tadeusz Kościuszko oversaw the construction of the garrison defenses. While the fortifications at West Point were known as Fort Arnold during the war, as commander, Benedict Arnold committed his act of treason, after Arnold betrayed the patriot cause, the Army changed the name of the fortifications at West Point, New York, to Fort Clinton. With the peace after the American Revolutionary War, various ordnance, Cadets underwent training in artillery and engineering studies at the garrison since 1794. In 1801, shortly after his inauguration as president, Thomas Jefferson directed that plans be set in motion to establish at West Point the United States Military Academy and he selected Jonathan Williams to serve as its first superintendent
13.
College football
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It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. No minor league farm organizations exist in American football and it is in college football where a players performance directly impacts his chances of playing professional football. The best collegiate players will declare for the professional draft after 3 to 4 years of collegiate competition. Those not selected can still attempt to land an NFL roster spot as a free agent. Even after the emergence of the professional National Football League, college football remained extremely popular throughout the U. S, in many cases, college stadiums employ bench-style seating, as opposed to individual seats with backs and arm rests. This allows them to more fans in a given amount of space than the typical professional stadium. College athletes, unlike players in the NFL, are not permitted by the NCAA to be paid salaries, colleges are only allowed to provide non-monetary compensation such as athletic scholarships that provide for tuition, housing, and books. Modern North American football has its origins in various games, all known as football, by the 1840s, students at Rugby School were playing a game in which players were able to pick up the ball and run with it, a sport later known as Rugby football. The game was taken to Canada by British soldiers stationed there and was soon being played at Canadian colleges, the first documented gridiron football match was a game played at University College, a college of the University of Toronto, November 9,1861. One of the participants in the game involving University of Toronto students was William Mulock, a football club was formed at the university soon afterward, although its rules of play at this stage are unclear. In 1864, at Trinity College, also a college of the University of Toronto, F. Barlow Cumberland, modern Canadian football is widely regarded as having originated with a game played in Montreal, in 1865, when British Army officers played local civilians. The game gradually gained a following, and the Montreal Football Club was formed in 1868, early games appear to have had much in common with the traditional mob football played in England. The games remained largely unorganized until the 19th century, when games of football began to be played on college campuses. Each school played its own variety of football, Princeton University students played a game called ballown as early as 1820. A Harvard tradition known as Bloody Monday began in 1827, which consisted of a mass ballgame between the freshman and sophomore classes, in 1860, both the town police and the college authorities agreed the Bloody Monday had to go. The Harvard students responded by going into mourning for a figure called Football Fightum. The authorities held firm and it was a dozen years before football was again played at Harvard. Dartmouth played its own version called Old division football, the rules of which were first published in 1871, all of these games, and others, shared certain commonalities
14.
National Collegiate Athletic Association
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The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a non-profit association which regulates athletes of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations, and individuals. It also organizes the programs of many colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. The organization is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2014, the NCAA generated almost a billion dollars in revenue. 80 to 90% of this revenue was due to the Division I Mens Basketball Tournament and this revenue is then distributed back into various organizations and institutions across the United States. In August 1973, the current three-division setup of Division I, Division II, under NCAA rules, Division I and Division II schools can offer scholarships to athletes for playing a sport. Division III schools may not offer any athletic scholarships, generally, larger schools compete in Division I and smaller schools in II and III. Division I football was divided into I-A and I-AA in 1978. Subsequently, the term Division I-AAA was briefly added to delineate Division I schools which do not field a football program at all, in 2006, Divisions I-A and I-AA were respectively renamed the Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision. Inter-collegiate sports began in the US in 1852 when crews from Harvard University, as other sports emerged, notably football and basketball, many of these same concepts and standards were adopted. Football, in particular, began to emerge as a marquee sport, the IAAUS was officially established on March 31,1906, and took its present name, the NCAA, in 1910. For several years, the NCAA was a group and rules-making body, but in 1921, the first NCAA national championship was conducted. Gradually, more rules committees were formed and more championships were created, a series of crises brought the NCAA to a crossroads after World War II. The Sanity Code – adopted to establish guidelines for recruiting and financial aid – failed to curb abuses, postseason football games were multiplying with little control, and member schools were increasingly concerned about how the new medium of television would affect football attendance. The complexity of problems and the growth in membership and championships demonstrated the need for full-time professional leadership. Walter Byers, previously an executive assistant, was named executive director in 1951. Byers wasted no time placing his stamp on the Association, as college athletics grew, the scope of the nations athletics programs diverged, forcing the NCAA to create a structure that recognized varying levels of emphasis. In 1973, the Associations membership was divided into three legislative and competitive divisions – I, II, and III, five years later in 1978, Division I members voted to create subdivisions I-A and I-AA in football. Until the 1980s, the association did not offer womens athletics, instead, the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, with nearly 1000 member schools, governed womens collegiate sports in the United States
15.
Conference USA
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Conference USA is a collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAAs Division I in all sports, C-USAs offices are located in the Las Colinas business district of the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas. C-USA was founded in 1995 by the merger of the Metro Conference and Great Midwest Conference, two Division I conferences that did not sponsor football. To even out at 12 members the conference invited the University of Houston, the conference immediately started competition in all sports except for football, which did not launch until 1996. To even out at 12 members the conference invited the University of Houston, the conference immediately started competition in all sports, except football which started in 1996. The conference saw radical changes for the 2005–06 academic year, the stage for these changes was set in 2003, when the Atlantic Coast Conference successfully lured Miami and Virginia Tech to make a move from the Big East Conference in 2004. Boston College would later make the move, joining the ACC in 2005. In response to that series of moves, which depleted the Big East football conference, five C-USA members departed for the Big East, including three football-playing schools and two non-football schools. Another two schools left for the Atlantic 10, TCU joined the Mountain West, and a member, Army. With the loss of these teams, C-USA lured six teams from other conferences, UCF and Marshall from the MAC, as well as Rice, SMU, Tulsa, and later UTEP from the WAC. Note that UCF played in the MAC for football only, for all other sports, with C-USAs membership now consisting of 12 schools, all of which sponsor football, the conference has adopted a two-division alignment. In 2013, C-USA entered its next phase with the departure of four schools for the American Athletic Conference and this was again the result of Big East schools leaving for the ACC, this time being Syracuse and Pittsburgh. It was announced in early 2012 that Conference USA was in talks with the Mountain West Conference about forming either a football alliance or conference merger in the future, as a result, both C-USA and the MW backed away from a full merger. As of April 2012, the likeliest scenario was an alliance in which both conferences retain separate identities. However, after the MW added more members, the alliance was apparently abandoned. For mens soccer, there was a chance that the MW, SEC, and C-USA along with the one Sun Belt member, however, the only MW member school that ultimately moved to C-USA mens soccer was New Mexico. For the 2013–14 season C-USA invited five new members to join their conference, UTSA and Louisiana Tech joined from the WAC and North Texas and FIU, from the Sun Belt Conference. Old Dominion, which already housed five of its sports in C-USA, moved the rest of its program from the CAA
16.
BYU Cougars football
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The Cougars began collegiate football competition in 1922, and have won 23 conference titles and 1 national title in 1984. The team has competed in different athletic conferences during its history. The team plays games at the 63, 470-seat LaVell Edwards Stadium. BYU traces its roots back to the late 19th century. Benjamin Cluff became the principal of Brigham Young Academy in 1892 and was influenced by his collegiate studies at the University of Michigan to bring athletic competition to Brigham Young. After a twenty-year ban on football, the sport was brought back to BYU on a basis in 1919. BYU was admitted to the Rocky Mountain Conference in 1921 and had its first winning year in 1929 under the helm of coach G. Ott Romney, Romney and his successor Eddie Kimball ushered in a new era in Cougar football in which the team went 65–51–12 between 1928–1942. In 1932, the Cougars posted an 8–1 record and outscored their opponents 188–50, the university did not field a team from 1943–1945 due to World War II, and in 1949 suffered its only winless season, going 0–11. In 1961, Eldon The Phantom Fortie became the schools first All-American, in 1964, Cougar Stadium was built, which included a capacity of 30,000, and in 1965, head coach Tommy Hudspeth led the Cougars to their first conference championship with a record of 6–4. In 1972, assistant coach LaVell Edwards was promoted to head coach replacing Kopp, the following year the Cougars struggled to a 5–6 finish, but this would be Edwards only losing season during his run as BYU coach over the next three decades. In fact, the Cougars won the championship every year except one from 1974–1985. However, the Cougars lost their first four bowl games and their first post-season win came in the 1980 Holiday Bowl, which has become known as the Miracle Bowl since BYU was trailing SMU 45–25 with four minutes left in the game and then came back to win. During this period, Young finished second for the Heisman Trophy in 1983, in 1984, BYU reached the pinnacle of college football when it won the national championship. The undefeated Cougars opened the season with a 20–14 victory over Pitt, ranked No.3 in the nation at the time, coupled with the 11 consecutive wins to close out the 1983 season, BYU concluded the 1984 championship on a 24-game winning streak. Some college football pundits argued that BYU had not played a legitimate schedule, nonetheless, at the end of the season, BYU was crowned as national champion after being a near-unanimous number one in all four NCAA sanctioned polls AP, Coaches, NFF and FWAA. BYU finished ranked No.5 in both the Coaches and AP polls, and became the first team in NCAA history to win 14 games in a season. In 1999, BYU left the WAC along with seven teams to form the Mountain West Conference. Just prior to the 2000 season, Edwards announced that it would be his year as the programs head coach
17.
Liberty Flames football
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The Liberty Flames is the college football program representing Liberty University, located in Lynchburg, Virginia. The Flames currently compete in NCAA Division I FCS as members of the Big South Conference, the school recently announced it would start a transition to the top level of NCAA football, Division I FBS, in July 2017. The Flames will become a provisional FBS member, playing as an independent, in 2018, Libertys football program is headed by Turner Gill who took over in December 2011 after previously being head coach at Kansas and Buffalo. Liberty plays its games at Williams Stadium which has a capacity of 19,200. Liberty has made one appearance in the I-AA/FCS playoffs since 1989, Liberty has won seven Big South Conference championships. The Flames capped off their second year head coach Danny Rocco with an 8–3 record. The same week, The Liberty University Mens Soccer team beat Radford University 2–1 to capture the Big South Conference soccer title, also that same week, the Liberty Womens Volleyball team shutout Winthrop in the finals of the Big South Volleyball tournament. It was the first conference championship for the team since 2001. Topping its 2007 performance, Liberty ran its unbeaten Big South streak to 11-straight games, the Flames finished with a 10–2 record on the year and finished the conference slate unbeaten at 5–0. Liberty finished ranked 15th in the FCS Coaches Poll and 14th in the Sports Network Poll, undefeated in Big South play for 2009, the Flames just needed to capture a win over Stony Brook in the season finale to secure a 3rd straight Big South Conference Championship. Stony Brook who had only lost one game in Big South play for 2009 could claim half of the Big South Championship with a win over Liberty. The Seawolves didnt back down from the challenge and won the game 36–33 to share the 2009 Big South Championship with the Liberty Flames, Liberty again became conference co-champions in 2010. They were looking to beat Stony Brook in the finale to win the 2010 Big South Championship. Coastal beat Liberty for the first time since 2006 then the Flames bounced back the week to secure a win over Stony Brook. Liberty became the conference co-champion for the time in 2012. After starting off 2–0 in conference play, Liberty traveled to Coastl Carolina, Liberty would then play then ninth ranked Stony Brook, beating them 28–14, also extending their at home conference win streak which dates back to 2006. In order to win a share at the Big South title, Liberty won the game 33–14, and won a share of the title along with Stony Brook and Coastal Carolina with a record of 6–5. Liberty became the conference co-champion for the time in 2013
18.
New Mexico State Aggies football
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On September 12,2012, New Mexico State announced that it would stay in the Football Bowl Subdivision and become an independent. Despite some impressive single game wins and individual player stats, the Aggies have struggled as a team on the field, as of 2015, the team had not appeared in a bowl game since 1960. This is the longest period of any FBS team without a bowl appearance, one of New Mexico States earliest football games was the first match-up against in-state rival New Mexico on January 1,1894. From 1914- to 1916, Clarence Russell served as football coach of the Aggies. Dutch Bergman served as coach from 1920 to 1922, compiling a record of 12–1–5. R. R. Brown served as the football coach of the Aggies from 1923 to 1925. He led the 1923 team to an undefeated 9–0 record, including victories over Hardin–Simmons, and rival teams New Mexico, jerry Hines began coaching the Aggies in 1929, and was also coach of the mens basketball team. Hines’ teams competed well in the new Border Conference, between 1934 and 1938, the football record was 31–10–6, and the team was invited to the first Sun Bowl in 1936 where they tied the powerful Hardin-Simmons Cowboys 14–14. Hines coaching career ended with his induction into service during World War II. Julius Johnston took over the Aggies football team after Hines resignation, in his absence, assistant coach Maurice Moulder led the team. The Aggies did not field a team from 1944 to 1945 because of the events surrounding World War II. From 1946 to 1947, Ray Curfman was the coach of the Aggies. Curfmans Aggies compiled an 8–11 record and he resigned in December 1947 to work in the sporting goods industry in Texas. From 1948 to 1957, NMSU compiled a dismal 21–74 record under four coaches that were either fired or forced to resign in succession. Fan support and attendance declined, recruiting was becoming more difficult and alumni and this would be a sign of things to come for the Aggie football program. Future College Football Hall of Fame inductee Warren B, Woodson took over as head coach in 1958. He previously had success at the Conway Teachers College and Hardin-Simmons, in his second season at New Mexico State, Woodsons team defeated North Texas in the 1959 Sun Bowl. The following year, Woodson guided the Aggies to an 11–0 finish and that year, New Mexico State defeated Utah State, 20–13, in the 1960 Sun Bowl and attained a final AP Poll ranking of 17th
19.
UMass Minutemen football
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The Massachusetts Minutemen football team is a collegiate football team representing the University of Massachusetts in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The Minutemen currently compete as an Independent, UMass began play in 1879 and have since appeared in three FCS National Championship games, winning the title in 1998. The Minutemen began a two-year Football Bowl Subdivision transition period in 2011, UMass announced that it would look for a more suitable conference for the team. Possibilities included going independent or joining the American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, in September 2014, UMass announced that they would be going independent in the 2016 and 2017 seasons. Mark Whipple is the football coach. UMass began playing football on November 22,1879, when the school was known as Massachusetts Agricultural College, and the team was known as the Aggies. They were first organized the previous fall by Francis Codman, but did not play their first game until November 22,1879, defeating the Amherst College freshman team 4–0. As this was their game that year,1879 is noted as their first undefeated season, matched only by the 1889 season. The first meeting between the Aggies and each of the schools resulted in a shutout win for Massachusetts, as they defeated Connecticut, 36–0, in 1897 and Rhode Island, 46–0. Massachusetts won their 100th game on October 2,1920, topping rival Connecticut in a 28–0 shutout, the team played their 1000th game on November 11,2000, losing to conference foe Delaware, 19-31. The teams nickname has endured several changes throughout the years, though the official nickname remained Aggies, Statesmen was also used interchangeably beginning when the school was renamed to Massachusetts State College in 1931. The nickname was changed to the Redmen when the name of the college became the University of Massachusetts in 1947. Pittsburgh assistant coach Vic Fusia took over the Redmen football program in 1961 and under his tutelage, the Fusia era included an undefeated 8–0–1 campaign in 1963 as well as records of 8–2, 7–2, 6–3 and 7–2 in the following years. However, two losing records in three seasons led to Fusias dismissal after the 1970 season, denver Broncos linebackers and defensive backs coach Dick MacPherson, a former UMass assistant from 1959-1960, took over after Fusias firing. Under MacPherson, the Redmen compiled a record of 45–27–1, bob Pickett was promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach of the Minutemen football program in 1978. Under Picketts tutelage, the Minutemen won four championships and compiled a record of 36–28. Despite the successes, back-to-back losing seasons in 1982 and 1983 led to Picketts dismissal, under Stull, the Minutemen struggled to a two-win campaign in 1984 but improved to seven wins in 1985. Jim Reid was promoted from defensive coordinator following Stulls departure and led the Minutemen for six seasons, Reid and UMass parted ways after the 1991 season
20.
Patriot League
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The Patriot League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United States. All 10 core members participate in the NCAAs Division I for all Patriot League sports that they offer, since not all schools sponsor every available NCAA sport, such as ice hockey and wrestling, most schools are affiliated with other collegiate conferences. Additionally, the Patriot League has an arrangement for football. Army is an Independent in the Football Bowl Subdivision, while Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, American, Boston University and Loyola Maryland do not sponsor football. As of the 2015 season, Navy plays FBS football in the American Athletic Conference, three other private institutions are Patriot League members only for specific sports and are referred to as Patriot League associate members. Fordham University and Georgetown University are associate members in football, while MIT is a member in womens rowing. Patriot League members are schools with strong academic reputations that adhere strongly to the ideal of the scholar-athlete. An academic index ensures that athletes are truly representative of and integrated with the rest of the student body, out-of-league play for Patriot League schools is often with members of the Ivy League, which follow similar philosophies regarding academics and athletics. Patriot League members have some of the oldest collegiate athletic programs in the country, in particular, The Rivalry between Lehigh University and Lafayette College is both the nations most played and longest uninterrupted college football series. The winner of the Patriot League Basketball tournament receives an invitation to the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament every March. In recent years, Bucknell and Lehigh have both won NCAA tournament games, the Patriot League champion in a number of other sports also receives an automatic invitation to its respective NCAA tournaments. The origins of the Patriot League began after the eight Ivy League schools each expanded its football schedules to ten games starting in 1980, the result was the Colonial League, a football-only circuit that began competition in 1986. In 1990, the changed its name to the Patriot League at the suggestion of Carl F. Ullrich. In 1991, the league gained a full member — the United States Naval Academy. In 1993, the league hired Constance H. Hurlbut as executive director and she was the first woman and youngest person to be the leader of an NCAA Division I conference. In 1995, Fordham resigned its membership but continued as an associate member in football. In 1996, Fairfield and Ursinus joined as members in field hockey. In 1997, Towson joined as a member in football
21.
West Coast Conference
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The West Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated in NCAA Division I consisting of ten member schools across the states of California, Oregon, Utah and Washington. All of the current members are private, faith-based institutions, seven members are Catholic Church affiliates, with four of these schools being Jesuit institutions. Pepperdine is an affiliate of the Churches of Christ, Brigham Young University is an affiliate of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The conferences newest member, the University of the Pacific, is affiliated with the United Methodist Church, during the massive upheaval of conference affiliations in the 1990s, the WCC remained very stable. Before the 2010 realignment that eventually led to Brigham Young joining the conference, the last change of membership was in 1980, at the time, only the Ivy League and Pac-10 had remained unchanged for a longer period. The league was chartered by five northern California institutions, four from the Bay Area and one, Pacific and it began as the California Basketball Association, playing its first game on January 2,1953. After two seasons under that name, the conference expanded to include Los Angeles-area schools Loyola and Pepperdine in 1955, after more than three decades as the WCAC, the name was shortened in the summer of 1989, dropping the word Athletic. The WCC participates at the NCAA Division I level and is considered to be one of the better mid-major conferences in the country, the conference sponsors 13 sports but does not include football as one of them. San Diego and Brigham Young are the only schools fielding a football team, the rest have all dropped the sport, some as early as the 1940s, before the conference existed, and one as late as 2003. Historically, the WCCs strongest sports have been soccer and tennis, the conference has also made its presence felt nationally in mens basketball. San Francisco won two national titles in the 1950s with all-time great Bill Russell. Although the WCACs stature declined in the 1960s, San Francisco was reckoned as a basketball power until the early 1980s. Also of note was Loyola Marymounts inspired run to the Elite Eight in 1990 following the death of Hank Gathers during that seasons WCC championship tournament. As San Francisco was from the 1940s to the early 1980s, Gonzaga has gained recognition as a basketball power. In 2016-17, the Bulldogs advanced all the way to the national championship game--the deepest run by a WCC team since San Francisco went to three consecutive Final Fours from 1955 to 1957. Saint Marys has also made marks for the conference as the Gaels appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2005,2008,2010,2012, and 2013. On May 28,2009, NBA referee Violet Palmer was hired as coordinator of basketball officials for the West Coast Conference and will remain with the NBA. Eventually, with the 2010 realignment opening up new avenues for expansion, the conference decided that it would only seek out private schools, but would not limit its search to faith-based institutions
22.
Atlantic Sun Conference
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The Atlantic Sun Conference, branded since the 2016–17 school year as the ASUN Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and does not sponsor football, originally established as the Trans America Athletic Conference in 1978, its headquarters are located in Macon, Georgia. Northern Kentucky had replaced Belmont University, which moved to the Ohio Valley Conference, the 2014 departure of East Tennessee State University and Mercer University to the Southern Conference left the ASUN with its current membership number of eight. The ASUN will add a member in 2018 with the arrival of the University of North Alabama from the Division II Gulf South Conference. Notes School names and nicknames listed here reflect those used during the time in the TAAC/ASUN. One school has changed both its name and nickname, and three others have changed only their nicknames, Northeast Louisiana became the University of Louisiana at Monroe in 1999. Pan American, later known as Texas–Pan American or UTPA, merged with the University of Texas at Brownsville in 2015 to create the new University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, the new school inherited UTPAs athletic program. The ASUN sponsors championship competition in eight mens and eleven womens NCAA sanctioned sports, for the past several years, the ASUNs Commissioner has served as the president of what was initially a swimming & diving-only conference. Currently the conference has 22 member schools, with eight mens swimming and diving teams,11 womens swimming & diving teams, the most recent change to the roster of ASUN sports took place after the 2013–14 school year. Under a cooperative agreement between the ASUN and SoCon, the two agreed to split lacrosse sponsorship. The SoCon took over the ASUN mens lacrosse league, while womens lacrosse sponsorship remained with the ASUN, at the time of announcement, the only ASUN member with a scholarship football program, Kennesaw State, was already a Big South football member. Should any ASUN member add scholarship football, or any non-scholarship football program of an ASUN school upgrade to scholarship football, ‡ = Starting in 2014-15, mens lacrosse is sponsored by the Southern Conference and womens by the ASUN. * = Beach volleyball is a fully sanctioned NCAA sport which held its first national championship in the spring of 2016, the ASUN was the first conference to sponsor a championship in the sport. Wofford will join for the 2018 season, ** = Associate members Mercer and Coastal Carolina. Womens varsity sports not sponsored by the league which are played by ASUN schools, fletcher and Sherman Day Trophies are awarded each year to the top mens and womens program in the conference. The Bill Bibb Trophy, combining the mens and womens results for the best overall program, was first awarded in 2006–07, East Tennessee State won this overall trophy seven of the nine years it has been awarded, Florida Gulf Coast won in 2012–13, 2014–15 and 2015-16. Atlantic Sun Conference Baseball Tournament Official website
23.
Western Athletic Conference
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The Western Athletic Conference is an American collegiate athletic conference formed on July 27,1962 and affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. The WAC thus became the first Division I conference to drop football since the Big West in 2000, the WAC then added mens soccer and became one of the NCAAs eleven Division I non-football conferences. The following institutions are the members of the WAC for the 2016–17 academic year. Notes With the elimination of football as a WAC-sponsored sport, New Mexico States football program has joined the Sun Belt as an associate member, in July 2015, UTPA merged with the University of Texas at Brownsville to create the new University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. The University of Texas System stated in July 2014 that the UTPA athletics program will be converted into the program at UTRGV. On November 5,2014, UTRGVs new nickname of Vaqueros was announced, the founding date for UTRGV listed in this table reflects that of Edinburg College, the institution that eventually became UTPA. According to U. S. News & World Report, RNP means a ranking was calculated, unranked means not enough information was provided to make a calculation. Chicago States continued membership is problematic, considering the schools current strained financial situation and the needs of the athletic program, in April 2016, the University Budget Committee recommended that the Athletic Department. Study the benefits of being Division I or another division, championships title totals are through Spring 2016. The following 11 schools field programs in the WAC for sports not sponsored by their primary conferences. Notes Four schools became members in mens soccer in July 2013, the WAC announced on January 9,2013 that it would reinstate the sport. Because the conference dropped football, it was necessary to add a new mens team sport to maintain its Division I status, three of these schools have past WAC connections—former full members Air Force, UNLV and San Jose State. After the WAC announced it would add mens soccer, the conference gained an eighth soccer school for the 2013 season when UMKC, which already sponsored the sport, joined. In addition, Utah Valley added the sport for 2014, UT-Pan American added it for 2015, and Chicago State is slated to add it for 2016. Four schools became members in mens swimming and diving in July 2013, the WAC announced on May 16,2013 that it would reinstate the sport. Northern Colorado joined the WAC for baseball for the 2014 season, north Dakota also joined the WAC for baseball in the 2014 season, but dropped the sport after the 2016 season. Sacramento State was formerly a member of the WAC in baseball from 1992–93 to 1995–96. Championships title totals are through Fall 2014, north Dakota will leave the WAC entirely in July 2017 after dropping its remaining WAC sports of mens and womens swimming & diving
24.
Atlantic Coast Conference
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The ACC sponsors competition in twenty-five sports with many of its member institutions athletic programs held in high regard nationally. ACC teams and athletes have claimed dozens of championships in multiple sports throughout the conferences history. Generally, the ACCs top athletes and teams in any sport in a given year are considered to be among the top collegiate competitors in the nation. Also, the conference enjoys extensive media coverage, the ACC was one of the six collegiate power conferences, which had automatic qualifying for their football champion into the Bowl Championship Series. With the advent of the College Football Playoff in 2014, the ACC is one of five conferences with a contractual tie-in to an access bowl, the additions in recent years extended the conferences footprint into the Northeast and Midwest. The most recent expansion in 2013 saw the additions of the University of Notre Dame, the University of Pittsburgh, in 2012, the University of Marylands Board of Regents voted to withdraw from the ACC to join the Big Ten Conference effective July 1,2014. On November 28,2012, the ACCs Council of Presidents voted unanimously to invite the University of Louisville as a full member, replacing Maryland effective July 1,2014. Seven universities in the South Atlantic States were charter members of the ACC, Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina, previously members of the Southern Conference, they left partially due to that leagues ban on post-season football play. After drafting a set of bylaws for the creation of a new league, the bylaws were ratified on June 14,1953, and the ACC was created, becoming the second conference formed by schools collectively withdrawing from the SoCon, after the Southeastern Conference. On December 4,1953, officials convened in Greensboro, North Carolina, and admitted Virginia, in 1960, the ACC implemented a minimum SAT score for incoming student-athletes of 750, the first conference to do so. This minimum was raised to 800 in 1964, but was struck down by a federal court in 1972. In 1971, South Carolina left the ACC to become an independent, the ACC operated with seven members until the addition of Georgia Tech from the Metro Conference on April 3,1978. The total number of member schools reached nine with the addition of Florida State, also formerly from the Metro Conference, on July 1,1991. The expansion was controversial, as Connecticut, Rutgers, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia filed lawsuits against the ACC, Miami, and Boston College for conspiring to weaken the Big East Conference. The ACC Hall of Champions opened on March 2,2011, next to the Greensboro Coliseum arena, on September 17,2011, Big East Conference members Syracuse University and the University of Pittsburgh both tendered formal written applications to the ACC to join its ranks. The two schools were accepted into the conference the day, once again expanding the conference footprint like previous expansions. Because the Big East intended to hold Pitt and Syracuse to the 27-month notice period required by league bylaws, however, on July 16,2012, the Big East and Syracuse came to an agreement that allowed Syracuse to leave the Big East on July 1,2013. Two days later, the Big East and Pittsburgh reached an identical agreement, on September 12,2012, Notre Dame agreed to join the ACC in all sports except football and hockey as the conferences first member in the Midwestern United States
25.
Atlantic 10 Conference
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The Atlantic 10 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associations Division I. Although some of its members are state-funded, half of its membership is made up of private, despite the name, there are 14 full-time members, and two affiliate members that participate in womens field hockey only. The Atlantic 10 Conference was founded in 1975 as the Eastern Collegiate Basketball League, at that time, basketball was its only sport. After its first season, it added other than basketball. However, despite its official names, it was known as the Eastern 8. Further membership changes saw the league expand to its maximum of 16 members, from 1997 through 2006, the league also operated a football conference, during that period, more than 20 schools were participating in A-10 competition in at least one sport. This ended when the A-10 football programs all departed to join a new football conference sponsored by the Colonial Athletic Association, in 2012, Butler joined the conference after leaving the Horizon League and VCU joined after leaving the CAA. Conference realignment in 2013 saw the departure of Temple to the American Athletic Conference, Butler and Xavier to the reconfigured Big East, george Mason joined from the CAA, and Davidson from the Southern Conference announced they would join in 2014. The league office headquarters has been located in Newport News, Virginia since the Fall of 2009, prior to that, the headquarters was in Philadelphia, within a few miles of member schools Saint Josephs and La Salle. The conference currently has media deals with ESPN, CBS Sports Network, ^ – Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Richmond also played football within the A-10 from 1997 to 2006 after the Yankee Conference was absorbed. None of these institutions played football in the A-10 during their tenure as full members, membership dates include time in the Yankee Conference which merged into the A-10 in 1997. Notes Boston University dropped football after the 1997–98 season, connecticut moved to FBS after the 1999–2000 season, which eventually joined the Big East for that sport in the 2004–05 season. Hofstra dropped football after the 2009–10 season, Northeastern dropped football after the 2009–10 season. Villanova was originally a charter and full member of the A-10 during the 1976–77 through the 1979–80 seasons in all sports except football, Full members Full members Associate members Assoc. member Notes* - Virginia Tech did not participate in wrestling. There are a number of intense rivalries within the Atlantic 10, with rivalries that carry over from the Big 5 which includes Saint Josephs, La Salle, URI and UMass also have a long-standing rivalry. St. Bonaventure and Duquesne also maintain a rivalry that predates their affiliation with the conference, UMass and Temple also had a basketball rivalry while John Chaney was coaching Temple but it has died down a bit since, and even more so now that Temple has left the conference. Due to both sharing the Ram mascot, the Fordham - URI rivalry has increased in recent years as the competitions are heralded as The Battle of the Rams. The long-standing crosstown rivalry between Richmond and VCU, now known as the Capital City Classic, became a rivalry with VCUs arrival in the A10
26.
Heisman Trophy
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The Heisman Memorial Trophy, is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football in the United States whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard work and it is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust in early December before the postseason bowl games. The award was created by the Downtown Athletic Club in 1935 to recognize the most valuable football player east of the Mississippi. After the death in October 1936 of the Clubs athletic director, John Heisman, Heisman had been active in college athletics as a football player, a head football, basketball, and baseball coach, and an athletic director. It is the oldest of several awards in college football, including the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award. The most recent winner of the Heisman Trophy is University of Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson, the trophy itself, designed by sculptor Frank Eliscu, is modeled after Ed Smith, a leading player in 1934 for the now-defunct New York University football team. The trophy is made out of cast bronze, is 13.5 inches tall, Eliscu had asked Smith, his former George Washington High School classmate, to pose for a commissioned sculpture of a football player. Smith did not realize until 1982 that the sculpture had become the Heisman Trophy, the Downtown Athletic Club presented Smith with a Heisman Trophy of his own in 1985. From its inception in 1935, the statue was cast by Dieges & Clust in New York until 1980, for a time until at least 2008, the statues were cast by Roman Bronze Works in New York. There are 870 media voters,145 voters from each of six regions, according to Heisman. com there are currently 57 prior winners eligible to vote and, thus,57 potential votes. Fans, As the Premier Partner of the Heisman Trophy, Nissan has a vote, fan voting done through a survey collected by ESPN on NissanHeismanHouse. com. Each voter identifies three selections, ranking them in order, each first-place selection is awarded three points. Each second-place selection is awarded two points, each third-place selection is awarded one point. Voters must make three selections and cannot duplicate a selection, else the ballot is invalid and none of the selections count, the accounting firm Deloitte is responsible for the tabulation of votes, which has moved almost exclusively to online voting since 2007. Larry Kelley and Clint Frank of Yale were the first teammates to win the Heisman Trophy, nile Kinnick of Iowa was the only Heisman Trophy winner to have a stadium named after him. In 1972, the University of Iowa renamed its football complex Kinnick Stadium, Kinnick is also the only winner to die in military service of the United States, he went down piloting an F4F Wildcat from the deck of USS Lexington. His death in 1943 made him the first Heisman Trophy winner to die, Doc Blanchard was the first junior to win the Heisman Trophy when he led Army to the national title in 1945. Paul Hornung was the player to win the Heisman Trophy as a player for a losing team
27.
Doc Blanchard
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He played football for the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he was known as Mr. Inside. Because his father was a doctor, Felix Blanchard was nicknamed Little Doc as a boy, after football, he served in the United States Air Force from 1947 until 1971 when he retired with the rank of Colonel. Blanchard was born on December 11,1924 in McColl, South Carolina His father was a doctor and had played football at Tulane University. The Blanchards moved from McColl, South Carolina to Dexter, Iowa in 1929, the Blanchards then moved to Bishopville, South Carolina two years later. Blanchard, nicknamed Little Doc due to his fathers occupation, attended school at Saint Stanislaus College in Bay St. Louis. He led the football team, the Rockachaws, to an undefeated season during his senior year in 1941. Blanchard was recruited to play football by Army, Fordham University. Blanchard said in 1985 that he had been contacted about going to West Point when he was in high school and he said, At that point in time, I really wasn’t interested. Academically, I never was too hot, so I never had any idea I would pass the entrance examination, instead, Blanchard chose to play for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, in part because its coach, Jim Tatum, was his mothers cousin. Because NCAA rules at the time did not allow freshmen to play varsity, Blanchard decided to enlist in the United States Army in 1943. He was stationed in New Mexico with a unit until enrolling at West Point in July 1944 in an appointment his father secured. During his three years of playing football at West Point, his team under coach Earl Red Blaik compiled an undefeated 27–0–1 record - the tie being a famous 0–0 game against Notre Dame, Notre Dame coach Edward McKeever was amazed by Blanchard. After his 1944 team lost to Army by a score of 59–0, McKeever said and he wears number 35 and goes by the name of Blanchard. An all-around athlete, Blanchard served as the placekicker and punter in addition to his roles as an offensive fullback. He soon teamed with Glenn Davis on the 1944-45-46 teams and they formed one of the most lethal rushing combinations in football history. In his three seasons at West Point Blanchard scored 38 touchdowns, gained 1,908 yards and earned the nickname Mr. Inside, teammate Davis earned the nickname Mr. Outside and in November 1945, they both shared the cover of Time magazine. In 1945, Blanchard played against Leon Bramlett of the Naval Academy, both Blanchard and Bramlett, later a farmer and politician from Clarksdale, were inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. He said, I got a telegram and it said, You’ve been selected to win the Heisman Trophy
28.
Glenn Davis (halfback)
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Glenn Woodward Davis was a professional American football player for the Los Angeles Rams. He is best known for his football career for the United States Military Academy at West Point from 1943 to 1946. He was named a consensus All-American three times, and in 1946 won the Heisman Trophy and was named Sporting News Player of the Year, Davis was born and raised in Southern California, the son of a bank manager. Glenn and his twin brother Ralph played high school football at Bonita High School in La Verne, in 1942, Davis led the Bearcats to an 11-0 record and the schools first-ever football championship, earning the Southern Section Player of the Year award. In 1989, Bonita Highs stadium was dedicated in his name, the brothers were close and had originally planned to attend USC in Los Angeles, but when their U. S. Representative agreed to them with appointments to West Point, they decided to go there. At West Point, under coach Earl Blaik, Davis played fullback in his freshman season, Blaik moved him to halfback for his three varsity seasons, while Doc Blanchard took over at fullback. With Davis and Blanchard, Army went 27-0-1 in 1944,1945, Davis was nicknamed Mr. Outside, while Blanchard was Mr. Inside. Davis averaged 8.3 yards per carry over his career and 11.5 yards per carry in 1945, Davis led the nation in 1944 with 120 points. He scored 59 touchdowns, including eight on his freshman squad and his single-season mark of 20 touchdowns stood as a record for 10 years. Blanchard and he set a then-record 97 career touchdowns by two teammates, in 2007, Davis was ranked #13 on ESPNs list of Top 25 Players in College Football History. For all three varsity years at West Point, Davis was a consensus All-America player, in 1944, he won the Maxwell Award and the Walter Camp Trophy, and was runner-up for the Heisman Trophy. In 1945, he was again runner-up for the Heisman, in 1946, he won the Heisman and was named the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year. In 1961, Davis was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, Davis also starred in baseball, basketball, and track at West Point. Davis graduated from West Point in June 1947 and entered the U. S. Army as a second lieutenant. He was offered a contract and $75,000 signing bonus by the Brooklyn Dodgers, in spite of Davis service obligation, the Detroit Lions of the National Football League selected Davis with the second overall pick of the 1947 NFL Draft, held in December 1946. In September 1947, the Los Angeles Rams acquired the rights to Davis from the Lions and he applied to resign his commission in December, but was refused by the Secretary of the Army Kenneth Royall. Davis was also denied extended furloughs or other accommodations that might allow him to football while serving in the Army
29.
Pete Dawkins
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Peter Miller Dawkins is an American business executive and former college football player, military officer, and political candidate. Dawkins attended the United States Military Academy, where he played as halfback on the Army Cadets football team from 1956 to 1958, as a senior in 1958 he won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, and was a consensus All-America selection. After graduating from the Military Academy in 1959, he studied at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, Dawkins served as an officer in the United States Army until he retired in 1983 with the rank of brigadier general. He was a Republican candidate for United States Senate in 1988, Dawkins has held executive positions with Lehman Brothers, Bain & Company, Primerica, and Citigroup. At age 11, he was treated for polio with aggressive physical therapy. After earning a scholarship, Dawkins entered Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills, there he was an all-league quarterback, and captain of the baseball team. He graduated from Cranbrook in 1955, accepted by Yale University, Dawkins chose instead to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point. He won high honors, serving as Brigade Commander, president of his class, captain of the team. A cadet is considered outstanding if he attains one of these positions, Dawkins was the only cadet in history to hold all four at once. He was featured in Life Magazine and Readers Digest, even before his graduation, many predicted he would make general and perhaps even be Army Chief of Staff. Playing as a halfback for head football coach Earl Blaik, Dawkins won the Heisman Trophy, Dawkins was also an assistant captain for the hockey team. At Oxford, he won three Blues in rugby and is credited with popularizing the overarm throw into the lineout, Dawkins graduated from the Military Academy in 1959 with a very high class-standing, and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship. He earned a degree at the University of Oxford in 1962 in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and later earned a M. P. A. and Ph. D. from Princeton. After being commissioned from the academy and completing his tenure as a Rhodes Scholar, Dawkins finished Infantry School and he received two Bronze Stars for Valor for his service in Vietnam and held commands in the 7th Infantry Division and 101st Airborne. From 1971 to 1972, Dawkins, while a lieutenant colonel, was the commander of the 1st Battalion 23rd Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division, Camp Hovey, in addition to being an instructor at the academy, he was a White House Fellow in the 1973–74 class. During that time, he was chosen to work on a task force, during the mid 1970s Colonel Dawkins was brigade commander of the 3rd of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina that included the 1st and 2nd 505th and 1/508th battalions. In the late 1970s he was 3rd Brigade Commander of the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell with the rank of colonel, after serving as the Brigade Commander he became the Chief of Staff for the 101st Airborne Division and was subsequently promoted to brigadier general. In 1966 Dawkins appeared in uniform on the cover of Life Magazine and participated in a segment of the U. S. Army Big Picture film series, a short documentary reviewing United States progress in South Vietnam narrated by actor John Wayne
30.
American football
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The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs, or plays, or else they turn over the football to the opposing team, if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs. Points are primarily scored by advancing the ball into the teams end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponents goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins, American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of association football and rugby football. The first game of American football was played on November 6,1869, during the latter half of the 1870s, colleges playing association football switched to the Rugby Union code, which allowed carrying the ball. American football as a whole is the most popular sport in the United States, Professional football and college football are the most popular forms of the game, with the other major levels being high school and youth football. As of 2012, nearly 1.1 million high school athletes and 70,000 college athletes play the sport in the United States annually, almost all of them men, in the United States, American football is referred to as football. The term football was established in the rulebook for the 1876 college football season. The terms gridiron or American football are favored in English-speaking countries where other codes of football are popular, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, American football evolved from the sports of association football and rugby football. What is considered to be the first American football game was played on November 6,1869 between Rutgers and Princeton, two college teams, the game was played between two teams of 25 players each and used a round ball that could not be picked up or carried. It could, however, be kicked or batted with the feet, hands, head or sides, Rutgers won the game 6 goals to 4. Collegiate play continued for years in which matches were played using the rules of the host school. Representatives of Yale, Columbia, Princeton and Rutgers met on October 19,1873 to create a set of rules for all schools to adhere to. Teams were set at 20 players each, and fields of 400 by 250 feet were specified, Harvard abstained from the conference, as they favored a rugby-style game that allowed running with the ball. An 1875 Harvard-Yale game played under rugby-style rules was observed by two impressed Princeton athletes and these players introduced the sport to Princeton, a feat the Professional Football Researchers Association compared to selling refrigerators to Eskimos. Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Columbia then agreed to play using a form of rugby union rules with a modified scoring system. These schools formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, although Yale did not join until 1879, the introduction of the snap resulted in unexpected consequences. Prior to the snap, the strategy had been to punt if a scrum resulted in bad field position, however, a group of Princeton players realized that, as the snap was uncontested, they now could hold the ball indefinitely to prevent their opponent from scoring. In 1881, both teams in a game between Yale-Princeton used this strategy to maintain their undefeated records, each team held the ball, gaining no ground, for an entire half, resulting in a 0-0 tie
31.
Annapolis, Maryland
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Annapolis is the capital of the U. S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. Its population was measured at 38,394 by the 2010 census, the city served as the seat of the Continental Congress in 1783–84 and was the site of the 1786 Annapolis Convention and the Annapolis Peace Conference, held in 2007. Annapolis is the home of St. Johns College as well as the United States Naval Academy, a settlement in the Province of Maryland named Providence was founded on the north shore of the Severn River in 1649 by Puritan exiles from Virginia led by Governor William Stone. The settlers later moved to a harbor on the south shore. The settlement on the shore was initially named Town at Proctors, then Town at the Severn. In 1654, after the Third English Civil War, Parliamentary forces assumed control of Maryland, per orders from Charles Calvert, fifth Lord Baltimore, Stone returned the following spring at the head of a Cavalier force. On March 25,1655, in what is known as the Battle of the Severn, Stone was defeated, taken prisoner, Fendall governed Maryland during the latter half of the Commonwealth. In 1660, he was replaced by Phillip Calvert as fifth/sixth Governor of Maryland), Annapolis was incorporated as a city in 1708. Water trades such as oyster-packing, boatbuilding and sailmaking became the chief industries. Annapolis is home to a number of recreational boats that have largely replaced the seafood industry in the city. Dr. Alexander Hamilton was a Scottish-born doctor and writer who lived and worked in Annapolis, Annapolis became the temporary capital of the United States after the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783. For the 1783 Congress, the Governor of Maryland commissioned John Shaw, the flag is slightly different from other designs of the time. The blue field extends over the height of the hoist. Shaw created two versions of the flag, one started with a red stripe and another that started with a white one. In 1786, delegates from all states of the Union were invited to meet in Annapolis to consider measures for the regulation of commerce. Delegates from only five states—New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, the Philadelphia convention drafted and approved the Constitution of the United States, which is still in force. During this period, a prisoner of war camp, Camp Parole, was set up in Annapolis. As the war continued, the camp expanded to a location just west of the city
32.
Earl Blaik
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Earl Henry Red Blaik was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and United States Army officer. He served as the football coach at Dartmouth College from 1934 to 1940 and at the United States Military Academy from 1941 to 1958. His Army football teams won three national championships in 1944,1945 and 1946. Blaik was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1964, Blaik was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of William Blaik, a blacksmith and carriage maker who emigrated from Glasgow, Scotland in 1883. In 1901 the family moved to Dayton, Ohio, where his father became a contractor, following his graduation in 1920, Blaik served in the United States Cavalry for two years. After his military service, Blaik married and worked in the business with his father. During the 1924 and 1925 seasons, Blaik worked as a assistant coach for Miami University. For a few months in 1926, he accepted a position on the staff of University of Wisconsin–Madison head football coach George Little. In 1927, Blaik became a coach at the United States Military Academy until 1930 when he was accepted on the staff as a full-time assistant coach. In 1934, Blaik was hired as football coach at Dartmouth College. At Dartmouth he coached for seven seasons and compiled a record of 45–16–4 and he coached one Hall of Fame player at Dartmouth, Bob MacLeod. In 1941, Blaik was tapped to be head coach for the United States Military Academy. The latter was a condition Blaik made as a requirement for him to accept the position, the United States Naval Academy did not have the same restrictions and the Army surgeon general was persuaded to drop the requirement for football players. At West Point, Blaik coached for 18 seasons compiling a 121–32–10 record, in 1946, Blaik was selected as the AFCA Coach of the Year. In 1948, he one of the first college coaches to implement a two-platoon system. Blaik was also one of the first coaches to analyze the game play-by-play, charting a team’s tendencies on every down with the use of game film. During his tenure at West Point, Blaik coached three Heisman trophy winners, Doc Blanchard in 1945, Glenn Davis in 1946 and Pete Dawkins in 1958, legendary fighter pilot Colonel Robin Olds also served as an assistant coach to Blaik. Dietzel, while at LSU, and Murray Warmath, while at Minnesota, gillman, while head coach of the San Diego Chargers won an AFL championship
33.
Vince Lombardi
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Vincent Thomas Vince Lombardi was an American football player, coach, and executive in the National Football League. The NFLs Super Bowl trophy is named in his honor and he was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971, the year after his death. Lombardi, while considered by many to be the greatest coach in history, is more significantly recognized as one of the greatest coaches. Lombardi began his career as an assistant and later as a head coach at St. Cecilia High School in Englewood. Lombardi was born on June 11,1913 in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn to Enrico Harry Lombardi, Harrys mother and father, Vincenzo and Michelina, emigrated from Salerno, Italy. Matties father and mother, Anthony and Loretta, emigrated from Vietri di Potenza, Harry had three siblings and Matilda had twelve. Vince would be the oldest of five children, Madeleine, Harold, Claire, the entire Lombardi and Izzo clan settled in Sheepshead Bay. Matildas father, Anthony, opened up a shop in Sheepshead Bay before the turn of the century. At about the time of Lombardis birth, Harry, and his brother, Eddie, throughout the Great Depression, Harrys shop did well and his family prospered. Lombardi grew up in a diverse, middle-class neighborhood. Church attendance was mandatory for the Lombardis on Sundays, Mass would be followed with an equally compulsory few hours of dinner with friends, extended family members, and local clergy. He was a boy at St. Outside of their neighborhood, the Lombardi children were subject to the rampant discrimination that existed at the time against Italian immigrants. As a child, Lombardi helped his father at his meat cutting business, at the age of 12 he started playing in an uncoached but organized football league in Sheepshead Bay. Lombardi graduated from the grade at P. S. He then matriculated with the Cathedral Preparatory Seminary a part of Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception in Brooklyn, at Cathedral, he played on the schools baseball and basketball teams, but his performance was hindered by his poor athleticism and eyesight. Against school rules, he continued to play football off-campus throughout his studies at Cathedral, after completing four years at Cathedral he decided not to pursue the priesthood. He enrolled at St. Francis Preparatory high school for the fall of 1932, there he became a Charter Member of Omega Gamma Delta fraternity
34.
Bill Parcells
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Duane Charles Bill Parcells, also known as The Big Tuna, is a former American football coach, best known as a head coach in the National Football League for 19 seasons. He rose to prominence as the coach of the New York Giants. Parcells later served as the coach of the New England Patriots, New York Jets. Throughout his career, he coached teams that were in a period of decline and he is the only coach in NFL history to lead four different teams to the playoffs and three different teams to a conference championship game. Parcells brought new success to the team and within four years and his tenure with the Giants spanned eight seasons and concluded with a second championship victory in Super Bowl XXV. After the Super Bowl win, Parcells retired as a coach in 1991, in 1993, Parcells came out of retirement to become the head coach of the Patriots, another struggling franchise at the time. Once again, Parcells changed the fortunes for the team and led them to an appearance in Super Bowl XXXI during his season as their coach. Amid conflicts with Patriots owner Robert Kraft, he left the franchise after their Super Bowl loss and became the head coach of the Jets for the next season. Under Parcells, the Jets went from having only one victory in the season to obtaining a winning record. After three seasons as the Jets head coach, Parcells retired for a time in 1999. He coached the Cowboys for four seasons and helped them qualify for the playoffs twice, following the teams loss in a 2006 NFC Wild Card game, Parcells retired from coaching for good in 2007. Since his final retirement from coaching, Parcells currently serves as an NFL analyst for ESPN and he was also the Vice President of Football Operations with the Miami Dolphins, a position he held from 2008 to 2010. In 2013, Parcells was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Parcells was born in Englewood, New Jersey, on August 22,1941. He grew up in the town of Hasbrouck Heights. His mother, Ida Parcells, was a housewife while his father, Charles Parcells, played quarterback at Georgetown University, Bill Parcells is of Irish, Scottish, English, and Italian descent. Prior to his year in high school, the Parcells family moved a few miles north to the town of Oradell. While he was at River Dell, he was mistaken for another boy named Bill. As he had disliked his given name of Duane, he decided to adopt Bill as his nickname
35.
Commander-in-Chief's Trophy
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The Commander-in-Chiefs Trophy is awarded to each seasons winner of the American college football triangular series among the teams of the U. S. Military Academy, the U. S. Naval Academy, and U. S. Air Force Academy. The Navy–Air Force game is played on the first Saturday in October, the Army–Air Force game on the first Saturday in November. In the event of a tie, the award is shared, along with the Florida Cup, the Michigan MAC Trophy, and the Beehive Boot, the Commander-in-Chiefs Trophy is one of the few three-way rivalries that awards a trophy to the winner. Through 2016, the Air Force Falcons hold the most trophy victories at 20, the Army Black Knights trail with only six, their last came 21 years ago in 1996. The trophy has been shared on four occasions, last in 1993, prior to 1972, Air Force played Army in odd years and Navy in even years. The Commander-in-Chiefs trophy was the brainchild of Air Force General George B, first awarded in 1972 by President Richard Nixon, the trophy itself is jointly sponsored by the alumni associations of the three academies. The trophy is named for the U. S. President, the President has personally awarded the trophy on a number of occasions. During the 1980s, for instance, President Ronald Reagan presented the award in an annual White House ceremony, in 1996, President Bill Clinton presented the trophy to the last winning Army team at Veterans Stadium after the Army–Navy Game. From 2003 to 2007, President George W. Bush presented the trophy to Navy teams at ceremonies in the White House. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the winner of the trophy, if eligible, was granted an invitation to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis. Navy was the first to five wins in 1981, while Army won its fifth in 1988, Air Force has led since their win in 1990, and dominated through 2002, with sixteen wins to Armys six. Winless in the series for two decades, Navy reeled off seven consecutive sweeps from 2003 through 2009 to draw close. In the annual series, Air Force plays a home game, Army–Navy is a neutral site game, usually in a major eastern city and most frequently in Philadelphia, it was last played on campus in 1942 and 1943, during World War II travel restrictions. The other two federal service academies – the U. S. Coast Guard Academy and U. S, Merchant Marine Academy – do not participate in this competition. The Coast Guard Bears and Merchant Marine Mariners have a football rivalry for the Secretaries Cup. The trophy itself stands 2.5 feet high and weighs a hefty 170 lb, the design consists of three silver footballs in a pyramid-like arrangement, set on a circular base, with three arc-shaped sections cut out — one for each academy. In each of the cut-out areas stands a silver figurine of the mascot of one of the academies, in front of small, beneath each of the three silver footballs is the crest of one of the three academies
36.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights
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The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are the athletic teams that represent Rutgers Universitys New Brunswick campus. The athletic programs compete under the name Scarlet Knights, after the Rutgers University mascot which was chosen in 1955 by the student body. The Rutgers campuses in Newark and Camden also participate in intercollegiate competition — under the names Scarlet Raiders and Scarlet Raptors, though invited, Harvard chose not to attend. In the early years of athletics, the circle of schools that participated in these athletic events were located solely in the American Northeast. However, by the turn of the century, colleges and universities across the United States began to participate, the first intercollegiate athletic event at Rutgers was a baseball game on May 2,1866 against Princeton in which they suffered a 40-2 loss. Rutgers won the game, with a score of 6 runs to Princetons 4, according to Parke H. Davis, the 1869 Rutgers football team shared the national title with Princeton. For much of its history starting in 1866, Rutgers remained unaffiliated with any formal athletic conference and was classified as independent. From 1946 to 1951, the university was a member of the Middle Three Conference, along with Lafayette, Rutgers considered petitioning to join the Ivy League at the formation of that conference in 1954. From 1958 to 1961, Rutgers was a member of the Middle Atlantic Conference, from 1976 to 1995, Rutgers was a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference for most sports while being an Eastern Independent in football. Rutgers remained independent until 1991 when it joined the Big East Conference for football, all sports programs at Rutgers subsequently became affiliated with the Big East in 1995. On July 1,2014 Rutgers became a member of the Big Ten athletic conference, while in the Big East, the Scarlet Knights won four conference tournament titles, mens soccer, baseball, and womens basketball. Several other teams have won regular season titles but failed to win the championship tournament. Recently, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team has achieved success on the gridiron after several years of losing seasons and they were invited to the Insight Bowl on December 27,2005 but lost 45 to 40 against Arizona State. This was Rutgers first bowl appearance since December 16,1978 loss against Arizona State,34 to 18, at the Garden State Bowl, which was the first bowl game in which Rutgers was a participant. In 2006, the Scarlet Knights were invited to the inaugural Texas Bowl, in Houston, on January 5,2008 Rutgers faced Ball State in the International Bowl held in Toronto, for their third straight bowl game for the first time in the programs history. On December 19,2009, the Scarlet Knights won their fourth bowl game by defeating the University of Central Florida 45-28 in the St. Petersburg Bowl. On December 20,2011, Rutgers faced Iowa State in the Pinstripe Bowl, on December 28,2013, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights faced the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl. Rutgers Universitys school color is scarlet, initially, students sought to make orange the school color, citing Rutgers Dutch heritage and in reference to the Prince of Orange
37.
Ivy League
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The Ivy League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising sports teams from eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group beyond the sports context. The eight institutions are Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, the term Ivy League has connotations of academic excellence, selectivity in admissions, and social elitism. While the term was in use as early as 1933, it became official after the formation of the NCAA Division I athletic conference in 1954. Seven of the eight schools were founded during the United States colonial period, Ivy League institutions account for seven of the nine Colonial Colleges chartered before the American Revolution, the other two are Rutgers University and College of William & Mary. Ivy League schools are generally viewed as some of the most prestigious, all eight universities place in the top fifteen of the U. S. News & World Report 2017 nation university rankings, including the top four schools and five of the top eight. Undergraduate enrollments range from about 4,000 to 14,000, making them larger than those of a private liberal arts college. Total enrollments, including students, range from approximately 6,400 at Dartmouth to over 20,000 at Columbia, Cornell, Harvard. Ivy League financial endowments range from Browns $3 billion to Harvards $36.4 billion, as of 2014, Harvard University has an endowment of $36.4 billion. Additionally, each university receives millions of dollars in grants and other subsidies from federal. Harvard University uses the date that the legislature of the Massachusetts Bay Colony formally allocated funds for the creation of a college, Harvard was chartered in 1650, although classes had been conducted for approximately a decade by then. The University of Pennsylvania initially considered its founding date to be 1750, later in Penns early history, the university changed its officially recognized founding date to 1749, which was used for all of the nineteenth century, including a centennial celebration in 1849. In 1899, Penns board of trustees adopted a third founding date of 1740. Penn was chartered in 1755, the same year classes began. Religious affiliation refers to financial sponsorship, formal association with, and promotion by, all of the schools in the Ivy League are private and not currently associated with any religion. Students have long revered the ivied walls of older colleges, planting the ivy was a customary class day ceremony at many colleges in the 1800s. In 1893 an alumnus told The Harvard Crimson, In 1850, the custom of planting the ivy, while the ivy oration was delivered, arose about this time. At Penn, graduating seniors started the custom of planting ivy at a university building each spring in 1873, Ivy planting ceremonies are reported for Yale, Simmons, Bryn Mawr and many others
38.
Millikin University
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Millikins campus is in Decatur, Illinois and serves approximately 2,200 students with a student/faculty ratio of 12 to 1 and an average class size of 23 students. The school was founded in 1901 by prominent Decatur businessman James Millikin, the Decaturian, also known as the Dec, is the bi-weekly student newspaper. The Decaturian was established in 1903 and its issues are archived online from 1903–1951, WJMU is Millikin Universitys student-operated freeform format radio station. In addition to its musical responsibilities, WJMU also creates its own public service announcements, liners, news, Millikin sports programming, Alpha Phi Omega Sigma Tau Delta Alpha Psi Omega Sigma Delta Pi Millikin University teams participate as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Associations Division III. The Big Blue are a member of the College Conference of Illinois, ryman – Disney artists, imagineer, and chief designer of the Cinderella Castle Millikin University was a member of the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1910 to 1937. Oberhelman – Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Caterpillar Inc
Homecoming. #Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to game.
