1.
University of Georgia
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Its primary location is a 762-acre campus adjacent to the college town of Athens, Georgia, approximately an hours drive from the global city of Atlanta. The university has been labeled one of the Public Ivies, a publicly funded university considered to provide a quality of education comparable to those of the Ivy League. The university was founded in 1785 as the United States first state-chartered university and its historic North Campus is on the U. S. National Register of Historic Places as a designated historic district. The contiguous campus areas include rolling hills, gardens, and extensive green space including nature walks, fields, shrubbery, and large and varied arboreta. Close to the campus is the universitys 58-acre Health Sciences Campus that also has an extensive landscaped green space, more than 400 trees. The university offers over 140 degree programs in an array of disciplines. Consisting of thirteen separate libraries, the UGA Libraries rank among the nation’s largest and best research libraries containing 5.7 million volumes, the University of Georgia is one of 126 member institutions that comprise the Association of Research Libraries. The university is organized into seventeen schools and colleges, the university has three primary campuses. The largest one is the campus in Athens that has 460 buildings. The university has two campuses located in Atlanta and Lawrenceville, Georgia. The university operates several service and outreach stations spread across the state, the total acreage of the university in 30 Georgia counties is 41,539 acres. Varsity and intramural student athletics are a part of student life. UGA served as a member of the SEC in 1932. In their 121-year history, the varsity sports teams have won 39 national championships and 130 conference championships. The Georgia Redcoat Marching Band, the marching band of the university, plays at sports. The Senatus Academicus was composed of the Board of Visitors and the Board of Trustees with the Georgia Senate presiding over those two boards, the first meeting of the universitys board of trustees was held in Augusta, Georgia on February 13,1786. The meeting installed its first president, Abraham Baldwin, a native of Connecticut, Baldwin was a delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, and one of two Georgia delegates to sign the final document. Many features on the University of Georgia campus resemble the campus of Yale, on July 2,1799, the Senatus Academicus met again in Louisville, Georgia and decided that the time was right to open the university
2.
Georgia Lady Bulldogs basketball
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The Georgia Lady Bulldogs basketball team represents the University of Georgia in basketball. The Lady Bulldogs are a member of the Southeastern Conference, the Lady Dawgs, as they are sometimes called, play in Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Georgia. The team is coached by Joni Taylor, coach Landers was hired as the teams first full-time coach in 1979. Since the initial NCAA Womens Division I Basketball Tournament in 1982, the Lady Dogs have appeared every year with the exception of 1992,1994, &10 assists. vs. Alabama 1 Mar 1986 Tracy Henderson 14 points,13 rebs. &10 blocks vs. Louisville 19 Mar 1995 Uga Womens College Basketball Championship History Page, archived from the original on 2009-07-30
3.
Tom Crean (basketball)
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Thomas Aaron Crean is an American college basketball coach and the former head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers mens basketball team. Prior to that, he served as coach at Marquette University. Creans basketball philosophy emphasizes fast breaks, transition offense, and defensive pressure and his guidance of the Indiana program to success from unthinkable depths was regarded as one of the most remarkable rebuilding projects in NCAA basketball history. In 2012, he was named the mid-season Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year, the Sporting News Big Ten Coach of the Year, and the ESPN. com National Coach of the Year. In 2016, Crean was named by the coaches and media the Big Ten Coach of the Year after coaching Indiana to their second outright Big Ten regular-season championship in four years, Crean was born and raised in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, where he played basketball for four years. According to Crean, I didnt play a lot, although my coach called me his biggest tool, while a student at Central Michigan University, Crean was an assistant coach at Mount Pleasant High School for five seasons, and at Alma College. Crean received his bachelors degree in studies from Central Michigan in 1989. Her father, Jack Harbaugh, was the football coach at WKU at the time Crean was an assistant basketball coach there. Crean and his wife have three children, Megan, Riley, and Ainsley, Crean says he is a Christian. From 1990 to 1994 Crean served as the head coach under Ralph Willard at Western Kentucky. When Willard left Western Kentucky to become coach at Pittsburgh in 1994. Ultimately Crean followed Willard to Pittsburgh, serving as head coach for one year. In 1995, Crean returned to Michigan State as assistant coach under the leadership of Tom Izzo, Izzo and Crean became such good friends that Crean lived in Izzos house and Izzo was an usher in Creans wedding. According to Crean at the time, It was an opportunity for me to go back home. Weve been friends a long time, I dont think I would have left Ralph for anything else. During this period Crean served at times as recruiting coordinator and. In each of Creans four seasons, Michigan States win total increased, culminating with a 33-5 season, on March 30,1999, Crean was named head coach at Marquette University. According to Crean, Once Marquette became available, thats where my sights were, I had unbelievable respect for the tradition and the name
4.
Southeastern Conference
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The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the Southern part of the United States. Its fourteen members include the public universities of ten states. The conference is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, the SEC participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I in sports competitions, for football, it is part of the Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-A. The SEC was also the first NCAA Division I conference to hold a game for college football and was one of the founding members of the Bowl Championship Series. The current SEC commissioner is Greg Sankey, the conference sponsors team championships in nine mens sports and twelve womens sports. The SEC consists of 14 member institutions located within the borders of 11 contiguous states and these divisional groupings are applied exclusively to football and baseball as well as their scheduling and standings. The other charter members were, The University of the South left the SEC on December 13,1940 and it is currently a member of the Division III Southern Athletic Association. Georgia Institute of Technology left the SEC in 1964, in 1975, it became a founding member of the Metro Conference, one of the predecessors to todays Conference USA. Georgia Tech competed in the Metro Conference in all sports except football, in 1978, Georgia Tech joined another Southern Conference offshoot, the Atlantic Coast Conference, for all sports, where it has remained ever since. Tulane University left the SEC in 1966, along with Georgia Tech, it was a charter member of the Metro Conference. Unlike Tech, however, Tulane remained in the Metro Conference until it merged with the Great Midwest Conference in 1995 to form Conference USA, Tulane remained an independent in football until C-USA began football competition in 1996. Tulane left C-USA in 2014 for the American Athletic Conference, in 1990, the SEC expanded from ten to twelve member universities with the addition of the Arkansas Razorbacks and the South Carolina Gamecocks. The two new members began SEC competition with the 1991–1992 basketball season, at the same time, the SEC organized competition for some sports into two divisions. Initially, the format was used in football, baseball. The divisional format was dropped for mens basketball following the 2011–2012 season, the 1992 and 1993 championship games were held at Legion Field in Birmingham, and all championship games from 1994 onward have been held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. On November 6,2011 the SEC commissioner announced that the University of Missouri would also join the SEC on July 1,2012, for football, Texas A&M was scheduled to compete in the Western Division, and Missouri in the Eastern Division. Texas A&M and Missouri both left the Big 12 Conference, the office of Commissioner was created in 1940. Under the leadership of Michael F, the SECU rebranded its mission to better serve as a means through which the collaborative academic endeavors and achievements of Southeastern Conference universities would be promoted and advanced
5.
Athens, Georgia
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Athens is a consolidated city–county in the U. S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former city of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia, the flagship public research university, is located in this college town. In 1991, after a vote the preceding year, the city abandoned its charter to form a unified government with Clarke County. As of the 2010 census, the consolidated city-county had a population of 115,452. Athens is the sixth-largest city in Georgia, and the city of the Athens-Clarke County, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area. Athens-Clarke County has the smallest geographical area of a county in Georgia, in the late 18th century, a trading settlement on the banks of the Oconee River called Cedar Shoals stood where Athens is located today. On January 27,1785, the Georgia General Assembly granted a charter by Abraham Baldwin for the University of Georgia as the first state-supported university. Sixteen years later, in 1801, a committee from the board of trustees selected a site for the university on a hill above Cedar Shoals in what was then Jackson County. On July 25, John Milledge, one of the trustees and later governor of Georgia, bought 633 acres from Daniel Easley, Milledge named the surrounding area Athens after the city that was home to the academy of Plato and Aristotle in Greece. The first buildings on the University of Georgia campus were made from logs, the town grew as lots adjacent to the college were sold to raise money for the additional construction of the school. By the time the first class graduated from the university in 1804, completed in 1806 and named in honor of Benjamin Franklin, Franklin College was the University of Georgias and the City of Athens first permanent structure. This brick building is now known as Old College, Athens officially became a town in December 1806 with a government made up of a three-member commission. The university continued to grow, as did the town, with cotton mills fueling the industrial and commercial development, Athens became known as the Manchester of the South after the city in England known for its mills. The university essentially created a reaction of growth in the community which developed on its doorstep. During the American Civil War, Athens became a significant supply center when the New Orleans armory was relocated to what is now called the Chicopee building, fortifications can still be found along parts of the North Oconee River between College and Oconee St. In addition, Athens played a part in the ill-fated Stoneman Raid when a skirmish was fought on a site overlooking the Middle Oconee River near what is now the old Macon Highway. As in many towns, there is a Confederate memorial. It is located on Broad Street, near the University of Georgia Arch, during Reconstruction, Athens continued to grow
6.
Stegeman Coliseum
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Stegeman Coliseum is a 10, 523-seat multi-purpose arena in Athens, Georgia, United States. It is home to the University of Georgia Bulldogs basketball and gymnastics teams and it was also the venue of the rhythmic gymnastics and preliminary indoor volleyball matches during the 1996 Summer Olympics, as well as the 1989,1995, and 2008 NCAA gymnastics championships. It replaced Woodruff Hall, a 3, 000-seat field house built in 1923, the ceiling is barrel-shaped, with the Sanford Drive side being curved as well. The resulting inside seating is in a U shape, with the flat end, the Sanford Drive side was decorated with the Olympic insignia and other markings for the 1996 Olympics. Also, the roof is a structure from the coliseum itself. The roof has four outward supports in an arc style, which were used in fraternity initiations until gated off. The university has undertaken several renovations, originally, Stegeman Coliseum had a stage at one end. Today, a scoreboard, a new section for student seating, in anticipation of the 1996 Olympic Games, Stegeman Coliseum received new scoreboard systems, including the first video replay board in an SEC basketball venue. In 2000, all of the old, wooden seats in the level were removed, the concrete was resealed. More recently, new LED ribbon boards have been installed around the ring of the Coliseum. The building has undergone several cosmetic changes to the exterior in the past few years. Currently, the university has plans to undertake a drastic overhaul of the building, including dropping the event level down several feet to increase capacity. In October 2006, a practice facility for mens and womens basketball. The Coliseum underwent a $13 million expansion and renovation after the 2009–10 season, also included were 10,000 square feet of expanded lobby space and 30,000 square feet of renovated concourse, restrooms, and concessions. Renovations began on May 12,2010, and were complete in time for the 2010–11 basketball season. The expansion was dedicated on January 18,2011. Georgia upset arch-rival Georgia Tech in the Coliseums first game on February 22,1964, 81–68, the inaugural game set an attendance record of 13,200 that has never been surpassed. The original design afforded the Coliseum 11,200 seats, but in the excitement of the opening of The Jewel of North Georgia and this would be the first and the last time that this was done
7.
Georgia Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs
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The Georgia Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs are the athletic teams of the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference, the official mascot is an English Bulldog named Uga, while the costumed character version of Uga is Hairy Dawg. Those 19 teams have won a combined 41 national championships and 151 Southeastern Conference championships through the end of the 2013–14 school year, in 2006, the Bulldogs recorded the highest profit margin of any athletic program in the country, pulling in $23.9 million. The first mention of Bulldogs in association with Georgia athletics occurred on November 28,1901, traditionally, the choice of a Bulldog as the UGA mascot was attributed to the alma mater of its founders and first president, who graduated from Yale University. The Bulldogs play in the 3, 291-seat Foley Field stadium. The Georgia Baseball team has seen most of its success in recent years, including winning the 1990 College World Series, as well as making the trip to Omaha in 1987,1990,2001,2004,2006, and 2008. The Diamond Dawgs, as they are called, are coached by Scott Stricklin, the program dates back to 1886 and, according to former Sports Information Director Dan Magill, was once the most popular sport on campus. However, from the mid-1950s to the late-1980s, and then through most of the 1990s, since 2001, however, the program has enjoyed a resurgence, winning three championships in the Southeastern Conference, and participating in the College World Series four times in those seven seasons. The Georgia-Georgia Tech baseball rivalry is one of the Souths most fierce, the teams annual Spring Baseball Classic at Turner Field draws some of the largest crowds in college baseball. Landers currently stands as the winningest womens basketball coach not to have won the national championship. The Lady Dogs all-time AP ranking stands at 4th as of 2005, while Dominique Wilkins is considered the greatest player in school history, the teams most successful season came one year after his graduation. The Bulldogs made their first NCAA appearance in 1983 – which would have been Wilkins senior year had he not opted for the NBA and that team advanced to the Final Four before falling to eventual national champion NC State. Equestrian was added as UGAs 21st intercollegiate varsity sport in 2001, UGAs newest varsity team first competed in the 2002–2003 season. Head coach Meghan Boenig guided the team to a championship in the Varsity Equestrian National Championships that year as well as a repeat national championship the following year. After a series of finishes, the team reclaimed the top spot in 2007–2008 and repeated as champions in 2008–2009. They also earned the 2014 national championship title, the University of Georgia consistently ranks number 1 in the nation for recruits per National Collegiate Equestrian Associations Coaches poll. In January 2009, Georgia riders moved into their spacious new home, the site is approximately 12 miles south of the Athens, Georgia campus. The 109-acre farm was used in the 1996 Summer Olympics as a training site for the U. S. Dressage Team
8.
College basketball
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The history of basketball is traced back to a YMCA International Training School, known today as Springfield College, located in Springfield, Massachusetts. The date of the first formal basketball game played at the Springfield YMCA Training School under Naismiths rules is generally given as December 21,1891, Basketball began to spread to college campuses by 1893. Governing bodies in Canada include U Sports and the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association, each of these various organizations are subdivided into from one to three divisions based on the number and level of scholarships that may be provided to the athletes. The first basketball games in the United States were played at YMCAs in 1891 and 1892, by 1893, the game was being played on college campuses. The original rules for basketball were very different from todays modern rules of the sport, in the beginning James Naismith established 13 original rules, The ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands. The ball may be batted in any direction with one or both hands, but never with the fist, a player cannot run with the ball. The player must throw it from the spot on which he catches it, the ball must be held by the hands. The arms or body must not be used for holding it, no shouldering, holding, pushing, striking, or tripping in any way of an opponent is allowed. A foul will be called when a player is seen striking at the ball with the fist, or when violations of rules 3 and 4, if either side makes three consecutive fouls it shall count as a goal for the opponents. A goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from the grounds into the basket and stays there, if the ball rests on the edges, and the opponent moves the basket, it shall count as a goal. When the ball out of bounds, it shall be thrown into the field. In case of dispute the umpire shall throw it straight into the field, the thrower-in is allowed five seconds. If he holds it longer, it shall go to the opponent, if any side persists in delaying the game, the umpire shall call a foul on them. The umpire shall be the judge of the men and shall note the fouls and he shall have power to disqualify men according to rule 5. The referee shall be judge of the ball and shall decide when the ball is in play, in bounds, to side it belongs. He shall decide when a goal has been made and keep account of the goals, the time shall be two fifteen-minute halves, with five minutes rest between. The side making the most goals in that time shall be declared the winner, the following is a list of some of the major NCAA Basketball rule changes with the year they went into effect. The first known college to field a team against an outside opponent was Vanderbilt University
9.
Georgia Bulldogs football
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The Georgia Bulldogs football program represents the University of Georgia in the sport of American football. The Bulldogs compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and they play their home games at historic Sanford Stadium on the universitys Athens, Georgia, campus. Georgias inaugural season was in 1892, UGA claims two national championships, the AP and Coaches Polls have each voted the Bulldogs the national champion once. UGA declines to claim four national championships awarded by some selecting organizations and publications. The Bulldogs have won 14 conference championships, including 12 SEC Championships, and have appeared in 52 bowl games, the program has also produced two Heisman Trophy winners, four No.1 National Football League draft picks, and many winners of other national awards. The team is known for its history, unique traditions. Georgia was a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Georgia participated in the SIAA from its establishment in 1895 until 1921, during its tenure in the SIAA, Georgia was conference co-champion in two years,1896 and 1920. In 1921, the Bulldogs, along with 12 other teams, left the SIAA, during its time in the Southern Conference, the team never won a conference championship. In 1932, the Georgia Bulldogs left the Southern Conference to form and join the SEC, the first mention of Bulldogs in association with Georgia athletics occurred on November 28,1901, at the Georgia-Auburn football game played in Atlanta. Traditionally, the choice of a Bulldog as the UGA mascot was attributed to the alma mater of its founders and first president, Abraham Baldwin, prior to that time, Georgia teams were usually known as the Red and Black. After a 0-0 tie with Virginia in Charlottesville on Nov.6,1920, the name has been used ever since. Uga is the name of a lineage of white Bulldogs which have served as the mascot of the University of Georgia since 1956. The current mascot, Que, officially took the role of Uga X on October 23,2015, shortly before Uga IX, or Russ, deceased Ugas are interred in a mausoleum near the main entrance to Sanford Stadium. Georgia is the school to bury its past mascots inside the football stadium. Glory, Glory is the song for the Georgia Bulldogs and was sung at football games as early as the 1890s. The rally song was arranged in its current form by Georgia professor Hugh Hodgson in 1915, while Glory, Glory is the most commonly played Georgia song, the schools official fight song is Hail To Georgia which is played after field goals. Today, freshmen are no longer required to do the chore, with students, alumni, how bout them Dawgs is a slogan of recent vintage that first surfaced in the late 1970s and has become a battle cry of Bulldog fans
10.
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
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The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as the sports most complete library, in addition to promoting and preserving the history of basketball, dedicated to Canadian physician and inventor of the sport James Naismith, it was opened and inducted its first class in 1959. As of the induction of the Class of 2016 on September 9,2016, the Naismith Hall of Fame was established in 1959 by Lee Williams, a former athletic director at Colby College. In the 1960s, the Basketball Hall of Fame struggled to raise money for the construction of its first facility. The Basketball Hall of Fames Board named four inductees in its first year, in addition to honoring those who contributed to basketball, the Hall of Fame sought to make contributions of its own. In 1979, the Hall of Fame sponsored the Tip-Off Classic and this Tip-Off Classic has been the start to the college basketball season ever since, and although it does not always take place in Springfield, Massachusetts, generally it returns every few years. In the 17 years that the original Basketball Hall of Fame operated at Springfield College, the popularity of the Basketball Hall of Fame necessitated that a new facility be constructed, and in 1985, an $11 million facility was built beside the scenic Connecticut River in Springfield. As the new hall opened, it also recognized women for the first time, with such as Senda Berenson Abbott. In 2002, the Basketball Hall of Fame moved again—albeit merely 100 yards south along Springfields riverfront—into a $47 million facility designed by renowned architects Gwathmey Siegel & Associates, the buildings architecture features a metallic silver, basketball-shaped sphere flanked by two similarly symmetrical rhombuses. The dome is illuminated at night and features 80,000 square foot, including numerous restaurants, the second Basketball Hall of Fame was not torn down but rather converted into an LA Fitness health clubs. The current Basketball Hall of Fame features Center Court, a basketball court on which visitors can play. Inside the building there are a gallery, many interactive exhibits, several theaters. A large theater for ceremonies seats up to 300, the honorees inducted in 2002 included the Harlem Globetrotters and Magic Johnson, a five-time NBA champion, three-time NBA finals MVP and Olympic gold medalist. As of 2011, the current Basketball Hall of Fame has greatly exceeded attendance expectations, despite the new facilitys success, a logistical problem remains for the Basketball Hall of Fame and the City of Springfield. Urban planners at universities such as UMass Amherst have called for the I-91 to be moved, in 2010, the Urban Land Institute announced a plan to make the walk between Springfields Metro Center and the Hall of Fame easier. Since 2011, the induction process employs a total of seven committees to both screen and elect candidates, since 2011, the Veterans and International Committees also vote to directly induct one candidate for each induction class. Contributor Direct Election Committee Note that other committees may choose to elect contributors, for example, the 2014 class included two contributors. However, each screening committee is limited as to the number of candidates it can put forth to the Honors Committee—10 from the North American Committee, any individual receiving at least 18 affirmative votes from the Honors Committee is approved for induction into the Hall of Fame
11.
Dominique Wilkins
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Jacques Dominique Wilkins is an American retired professional basketball player who primarily played for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association. Wilkins was a nine-time NBA All-Star, and is viewed as one of the best dunkers in NBA history. In 2006, Wilkins was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Wilkins was born in Paris, France while his father was stationed there as an airman in the U. S. Air Force. Wilkins family then moved to Dallas and Baltimore before settling in Washington, North Carolina and he was the back-to-back MVP for the teams consecutive Class 3-A State Championships. Wilkins then starred in the McDonalds All-American Game, The Capital Classic, The Kentucky Derby Festival Classic and he had 16 points and 12 rebounds in the McDonalds,26 points in the Capital, and 22 points in the Derby Classic. He entered the University of Georgia in 1979 with a reputation as an exciting player. Wilkins averaged 21.6 points a game over his career and was named SEC Mens Basketball Player of the Year in 1981 and he left college after his junior year and was selected third overall by the Utah Jazz in the 1982 NBA draft. Despite Wilkinss reluctance to play in Utah, the trade is now considered among the most lopsided deals in NBA history, as Drew, Wilkins was instrumental in the Hawks prominence in the 1980s, when the club recorded four consecutive 50-win seasons during the decade. As Wilkins entered his thirties and the Hawks needed more of a contribution from their star. A nine-time NBA All-Star and the winner of two NBA slam dunk contests, Wilkins registered 26,668 points and 7,169 rebounds in his NBA career, as of 2016, he ranks 15th on the NBA scoring list. Wilkinss nickname was the The Human Highlight Film for his athletic ability and his trademark dunk was a powerful one- or two-handed windmill, dunks he used to capture the slam dunk contest titles in 1985 and 1990. As a basketball player he was known as a scorer, somewhat of a gunner, though an outstanding finisher. His #21 jersey was retired by the Hawks on January 13,2001 and he is one of four players whose jerseys have been retired by the Hawks. Wilkins notched his first Slam-Dunk Championship at the NBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis during the 1984–85 season and he went on to finish the season with a 27.4 scoring average, good for sixth in the NBA. He ranked second on the Hawks in rebounding and steals, for the first of two straight seasons he led the NBA in field-goal attempts, with 1,891. After going 0-for-11 from the three-point line the previous season, Wilkins made 25 of 81 three-point shots in 1984–85 and he also shot better than 80 percent from the free throw line for the first of 10 consecutive seasons. Despite Wilkinss efforts, Atlanta finished 34-48 and failed to reach the playoffs, Wilkins exploded into the NBAs elite circle in 1985–86, winning the league scoring title with an average of 30.3 points per game. He was an NBA All-Star for the first time and was voted to the All-NBA First Team at the end of the season and he failed in his bid to repeat as NBA Slam-Dunk champion, his competition coming from an unlikely source
12.
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
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The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association was one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. Twenty-seven of the current Division I FBS football programs were members of this conference at some point, the SIAA was founded on December 21,1894, by Dr. William Dudley, a chemistry professor at Vanderbilt, at the Kimball House in Atlanta. Dudley was a member of the Vanderbilt Athletic Association, formed in 1886 with Dr. W. M. Baskerville as president, most students at Vanderbilt were members. The early sports played on the Vanderbilt campus were baseball, bicycling, Dudley was primarily responsible for the formation of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Sewanees opposition stopped it from occurring, the original members were Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Johns Hopkins, North Carolina, Sewanee, Vanderbilt, and Virginia. Virginia and North Carolina soon dropped before the inaugural 1895 season, the conference was originally formed for the development and purification of college athletics throughout the South. In 1903, a single-game football playoff occurred, but it seems to have been coordinated more so by the two competing schools than the conference itself, several other efforts over the years by individual schools to hold a conference title game fell through. Most SIAA titles claimed by schools in sports were actually more mythical in nature than officially sanctioned by the league. In 1915, a disagreement arose within the conference regarding the eligibility of freshman athletes, generally, the larger universities opposed the eligibility of freshman players, while the smaller schools favored it. As a result, some of the universities formed the Southern Intercollegiate Conference. At the conferences annual meeting on December 10,1920, the SIAA rejected proposals to ban freshman athletes, in protest, some schools that had voted in favor of the propositions immediately announced they would seek to form a new conference. In 1922, the Southern Conference underwent an expansion and added six more members, all at the expense of the SIAA, Florida, Louisiana State, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tulane, and Vanderbilt. With the departure of most of the colleges, the SIAA became a de facto small college conference in 1923. In the 1920s and 1930s, the SIAA increased its membership with the addition of additional small universities. The conference eventually disbanded in 1942 with the onset of American involvement in World War II, original charter members are denoted in boldface. Invited charter members are denoted with an asterisk, in the era in which the SIAA operated, teams tended to join in December, therefore, the first year of conference play in a given sport was often the following calendar year. Conference affiliations reflect those for the 2016–17 school year
13.
Southern Conference
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The Southern Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision, member institutions are located in the states of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The Southern Conference ranks as the fifth-oldest major college conference in the United States. Among conferences currently in operation, the Big Ten and Missouri Valley are indisputably older, the Pac-12 Conference did not operate under its current charter until 1959, but claims the history of the Pacific Coast Conference, founded in 1915, as its own. The Southwest Conference was founded in 1914, but ceased operation in 1996 once the Big 12 Conference began play, the Southern Conference is considered one of the stronger football conferences in the Football Championship Subdivision and is considered a mid-major conference in basketball. In 2015, Furman defeated UCF 16–15 and The Citadel topped South Carolina 23–22 for their win over the Gamecocks in the past three meetings. The SoCon also frequently sees multiple teams selected to participate in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, talks of a new conference for southern athletics had started as early as fall of 1920. The conference was formed on February 25,1921 in Atlanta as fourteen member institutions split from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association, in 1922, six more universities – Florida, LSU, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tulane, and Vanderbilt joined the conference. The first year of competition for the conference was in 1922, the new rules banned freshman play. Later additions included Sewanee, Virginia Military Institute, and Duke, the SoCon is particularly notable for having spawned two other major conferences. In 1932, the 13 schools located south and west of the Appalachians all departed the SoCon to form the Southeastern Conference, in 1953, seven additional schools withdrew from the SoCon to form the Atlantic Coast Conference. The SoCon became the first league to hold a basketball tournament to decide a conference champion. Although first played in 1921, it did not become official until 1922, held at the Municipal Auditorium in Atlanta from February 24 – March 2,1922, the first meeting was won by North Carolina who defeated non-member Mercer in the Finals 40-25. The SoCon Basketball Tournament continues as the nations oldest conference tournament, the next-oldest tournament overall is the SEC Mens Basketball Tournament, founded in 1933, but that event was suspended after its 1952 edition and did not resume until 1979. The all-sports membership changed to 10 schools in 2014 following the departure of Appalachian State, Davidson, Elon, and Georgia Southern, plus the arrival of East Tennessee State, Mercer, the current football membership stands at nine. UNC Greensboro does not sponsor football, while ETSU, which relaunched its previously dormant football program in 2015, on January 9,2014, the SoCon and Atlantic Sun Conference announced a new alliance in lacrosse that took effect with the 2014–15 school year. Under its terms, sponsorship of mens lacrosse shifted from the ASUN to the SoCon, bellarmine, which had announced it would join the ASUN for mens lacrosse for the 2015 season, instead joined the SoCon. The most recent additions to the associate membership came with the start of the 2016–17 school year, Full members Full members Other Conference Other Conference Due to space limitations, one portion of Washington and Lees affiliation history is not indicated in the table
14.
National Basketball Association
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The National Basketball Association is the major mens professional basketball league in North America, and is widely considered to be the premier mens professional basketball league in the world. It has 30 teams, and is a member of USA Basketball. The NBA is one of the four professional sports leagues in the United States. NBA players are the worlds best paid athletes by average annual salary per player, the league was founded in New York City on June 6,1946, as the Basketball Association of America. The league adopted the name National Basketball Association on August 3,1949, the leagues several international as well as individual team offices are directed out of its head offices located in the Olympic Tower at 645 Fifth Avenue in New York City. NBA Entertainment and NBA TV studios are directed out of offices located in Secaucus, the Basketball Association of America was founded in 1946 by owners of the major ice hockey arenas in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Canada. On November 1,1946, in Toronto, Canada, the Toronto Huskies hosted the New York Knickerbockers at Maple Leaf Gardens, the first basket was made by Ossie Schectman of the Knickerbockers. During its early years, the quality of play in the BAA was not significantly better than in competing leagues or among leading independent clubs such as the Harlem Globetrotters. For instance, the 1948 ABL finalist Baltimore Bullets moved to the BAA and won that leagues 1948 title, Following the 1948–49 season, the BAA took in the remainder of the NBL, Syracuse, Anderson, Tri-Cities, Sheboygan, Denver, and Waterloo. The new league had seventeen franchises located in a mix of large and small cities, as well as arenas and smaller gymnasiums. The process of contraction saw the leagues smaller-city franchises move to larger cities, the Hawks shifted from the Tri-Cities to Milwaukee in 1951, and then to St. Louis in 1955. The Rochester Royals moved from Rochester, New York, to Cincinnati in 1957, japanese-American Wataru Misaka broke the NBA color barrier in the 1947–48 season when he played for the New York Knicks. He remained the only player in league history prior to the first African-American, Harold Hunter. During this period, the Minneapolis Lakers, led by center George Mikan, won five NBA Championships, to encourage shooting and discourage stalling, the league introduced the 24-second shot clock in 1954. If a team does not attempt to score a goal within 24 seconds of obtaining the ball, play is stopped. In 1957, rookie center Bill Russell joined the Boston Celtics, who already featured guard Bob Cousy and coach Red Auerbach, and went on to lead the club to eleven NBA titles in thirteen seasons. Center Wilt Chamberlain entered the league with the Warriors in 1959 and became a dominant individual star of the 1960s, russells rivalry with Chamberlain became one of the greatest rivalries in the history of American team sports. The 1960s were dominated by the Celtics, led by Russell, Bob Cousy and coach Red Auerbach, Boston won eight straight championships in the NBA from 1959 to 1966
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NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
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The tournament was created in 1939 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, and was the idea of Ohio State University coach Harold Olsen. Played mostly during March, it has one of the most famous annual sporting events in the United States. The tournament teams include champions from 32 Division I conferences, and 36 teams which are awarded at-large berths, the 68 teams are divided into four regions and organized into a single-elimination bracket, which pre-determines, when a team wins a game, which team it will face next. Each team is seeded, or ranked, within its region from 1 to 32, after an initial four games between eight lower-ranked teams, the tournament occurs during the course of three weekends, at pre-selected neutral sites across the United States. The Final Four is usually played during the first weekend of April and these four teams, one from each region, compete in a pre-selected location for the national championship. The tournament has been at least partially televised since 1969, currently, the games are broadcast by CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV under the trade-name NCAA March Madness. Since 2011, all games are available for viewing nationwide and internationally, such as in the Philippines, as television coverage has grown, so too has the tournaments popularity. Currently, millions of Americans fill out a bracket, attempting to predict the outcome of all 67 games of the tournament. With 11 national titles, UCLA has the record for the most NCAA Mens Division I Basketball Championships, the University of Kentucky is second, with eight national titles. The University of North Carolina is in place, with six titles, while Duke University. The University of Connecticut is sixth with four national titles, the University of Kansas and University of Louisville are tied with three championships. During that time Villanova, Michigan, UNLV, Duke, Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Maryland, Syracuse, the NCAA has changed the tournament format several times since its inception, most often representing an increase of the number of teams. This section describes the tournament as it has operated since 2011, for changes during the course of its history, and to see how the tournament operated during past years, go to Format history, below. A total of 68 teams qualify for the tournament played during March, thirty-two teams earn automatic bids as their respective conference champions. Of the 32 Division I all-sports conferences, all 32 currently hold championship tournaments to determine which team receives the automatic qualification. The Ivy League was the last Division I conference that did not conduct a tournament, through the 2015–16 season, if two or more Ivies shared a regular-season championship, a one-game playoff was used to decide the tournament participant. Since 2017, the league conducts their own postseason tournament, the committee also determines where all sixty-eight teams are seeded and placed in the bracket. The tournament is divided into four regions and each region has at least sixteen teams, the committee is charged with making each of the four regions as close as possible in overall quality of teams from wherever they come from
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NC State Wolfpack men's basketball
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The NC State Wolfpack mens basketball team represents North Carolina State University in NCAA Division I mens basketball competition. The Wolfpack currently competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference, of which it was a founding member, prior to joining the ACC in 1954, the Wolfpack was a member of the Southern Conference, where they won seven conference championships. As a member of the ACC, the Wolfpack has won ten conference championships, States unexpected 1983 title was one of the most memorable in NCAA history. Since 1999, the Pack has played most of its games at PNC Arena. Prior to 1999, they played at Reynolds Coliseum, NC State began varsity intercollegiate competition in mens basketball in 1911. The teams all-time record is 1, 697–1,055, the program saw its greatest success during the head coaching tenures of Everett Case, Norm Sloan, and Jim Valvano. NC State has produced some of the ACCs best players, including Tom Burleson, Rodney Monroe, Monte Towe, David Thompson, who led the Wolfpack to its first NCAA title in 1974, has been recognized as one of college basketballs greatest players. The Wolfpack has won a total of 17 conference tournament championships and 13 regular season conference titles, State has appeared in the NCAA Tournament 26 times, with three Final Four appearances and two national titles. The Wolfpack also appeared in the Final Four of the 1947 National Invitational Tournament, in 1910 Guy Bryan formed a special committee that proposed to the university administration the organization of the schools first basketball team. The program played its first official basketball game on February 16,1911 against a much more experienced squad from Wake Forest. NC State, then known as the North Carolina A&M Farmers, lost, the two teams met again five days later in Raleigh, with A&M earning its first-ever victory, 19-18. The following year, the schools athletics council officially recognized basketball as a sport, before the 1920–21 season the university changed its name from North Carolina A&M to North Carolina State College. At that time the nickname was the Tech. That season the program joined the fledgling Southern Conference as a charter member, State College changed its nickname yet again in 1923, this time to the Red Terrors. The name was drawn from a combination of the play of Rochelle Red Johnson, also in 1923, State opened its first basketball facility, Frank Thompson Gym. The gym, named in honor of an athlete from the school who died in action during World War I. During the first years of the program, the team had no practice facility and was forced to practice on a field in nearby Pullen Park. Gus Tebell took over the team as head coach in 1924
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2008 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament
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The 2008 SEC Mens Basketball Tournament took place on March 13–16,2008 in Atlanta, Georgia. The first, quarterfinal, and semifinal rounds were televised by Raycom/LF Sports, the University of Georgia, the improbable winner of the tournament, earned the Southeastern Conferences automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Tournament. The tournament was scheduled to be played at the Georgia Dome. While that game was completed, SEC officials decided not to risk playing the fourth game and that quarterfinal was subsequently postponed until Saturday morning. That game and all subsequent games were played at Alexander Memorial Coliseum on the campus of Georgia Tech, due to the smaller capacity, only the players families, credentialed media, school officials and 400 fans from each school were allowed to attend the rest of the tournament. Coincidentally, Georgia won the SEC tournament championship on the court of its bitter rival. This was Georgias first SEC mens basketball tournament championship since 1983, * Denotes game ended in overtime. † Game originally scheduled for 9,45 p. m. the day before, ‡ - Game was originally to have been telecast on CBS. m. The National Weather Service had issued a warning at 9,26 p. m. because radar indicated a thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado. The storm tore open a panel on the side of the dome, sheared bolts. After the storm passed, the returned to the court at 10,30. The Kentucky–Georgia basketball game, originally scheduled for Friday night, was postponed and it was rescheduled for Saturday at noon. Due to the damage suffered at the Georgia Dome, the remainder of the tournament was moved to Georgia Techs Alexander Memorial Coliseum. The semifinals began at 6, 00pm Saturday in Alexander Memorial Coliseum, because the games were moved to a significantly smaller arena, only players families & friends, bands, cheerleaders, and persons with working credentials were admitted. However, tournament officials were told by the NCAA tournament selection committee that it had to finish the tournament in order to preserve the leagues automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The championship game was slated to be televised by CBS but was bumped to ESPN2 after the SEC opted to move the tip time to 3,30 p. m. The move to ESPN2 was because CBS televised the Big Ten tournament final at 3,30 p. m. However, CBS still produced the game, with announcers Verne Lundquist, all CBS affiliates in the finalists home markets also carried the game. Southeastern Conference SEC Tournament Tournament Homepage Tournament recap from SECSports. com
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Ole Miss Rebels
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The Ole Miss Rebels are the intercollegiate athletic teams officially representing the University of Mississippi. Originally known as the Mississippi Flood, the teams were renamed the Rebels in 1936, the only exception is the rifle team, which participates in the Great America Rifle Conference because the SEC does not sponsor that sport. The schools colors are red and navy blue, purposely chosen to mirror the school colors of Harvard and Yale, with a long history in intercollegiate athletics, the university competes in 18 mens and womens sports. Student-athletes,630 in all, received all-conference academic honors from 1995 to 2004, although a campus committee adopted the Rebel Black Bear as an on-field mascot for sporting events to replace Colonel Reb, the teams retain the name Rebels. The Rebels compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletics Association, the football history of Ole Miss includes the formation of the first football team in the state and the 26th team on the list of college footballs all-time winning programs. The Ole Miss Rebels posted their 600th win on September 27,2008 when they defeated the Florida Gators 31–30 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, throughout the 115-year history of Ole Miss football, the Rebels have won six Southeastern Conference titles and three national championships. The Ole Miss Rebels baseball team represents the University of Mississippi in NCAA Division I college baseball, the team participates in the West division of the Southeastern Conference. They are currently coached by head coach Mike Bianco and assistant coaches Carl Lafferty and they are currently the second most populated team in the nation - an achievement reached by keeping extra utility players on the roster. They play home games at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field, Ole Miss has played in the College World Series five times, most recently in 2014. The Mississippi Rebels mens basketball represents the University of Mississippi in intercollegiate mens basketball and they have participated in the NCAA Tournament in 1981,1997,1998,1999,2001,2002,2013 and 2015. In 2008 and 2010, the team made it to the National Invitation Tournament Semifinals at Madison Square Garden, the Rebels have won the SEC Western Division in 1997,1998,2001,2007, and 2010. From 1999 to 2006, Rod Barnes coached the Rebels basketball team, in 1981, the Ole Miss basketball team won their first SEC tournament championship in Birmingham, Alabama and earned their second one in 2013 at Nashville, Tennessee. The Ole Miss womens basketball began in 1974, and has been a fixture in post-season tournaments since that time. They have reached the Sweet Sixteen eight times and the Elite Eight five times and they have also appeared in the Womens National Invitation Tournament in 1999,2001, and 2006. Entering the 2008 season, the program has an all-time win-loss record of 686-353, the 1992 team won the SEC with an 11-0 conference record, and finished the season with a final record of 29-3, the most wins in team history. Perhaps the most decorated player in the history, guard Armintie Price, joined the Rebels for the 2003-2004 season. In her collegiate career, Price was named to the All-SEC First Team three times and became the first player to be named SEC Defensive Player of the Year twice. With Cheryl Miller she is one of two players in NCAA history to record 2000 points,1000 rebounds,400 assists and 400 steals
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Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
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The Kentucky Wildcats mens basketball team is an American college basketball team that represents the University of Kentucky. Kentucky is the most successful NCAA Division I basketball program in history in terms of both wins and all-time winning percentage. The Wildcats are currently coached by John Calipari, further, Kentucky has played in 17 NCAA Final Fours,12 NCAA Championship games, and has won 8 NCAA championships. In addition to these titles, Kentucky won the National Invitation Tournament in both 1946 and 1976, making it the school to win multiple NCAA and NIT championships. Kentucky also leads all schools with 61 20-win seasons,15 30-win seasons, throughout its history, the Kentucky basketball program has featured many notable and successful players, both on the collegiate level and the professional level. Kentucky holds the record for the most NBA Draft selections as well as the most #1 NBA Draft picks, the Wildcats have also been led by many successful head coaches, including Adolph Rupp, Joe B. Hall, Eddie Sutton, Rick Pitino, Tubby Smith, Kentucky is the only program with 5 different NCAA Championship coaches. The first recorded intercollegiate game at the college was a 15–6 defeat to nearby Georgetown College, the team went 1–2 for their first season, also losing to Kentucky University but defeating the Lexington YMCA. Through 1908, the team did not manage a winning season, in the fall of that year a full-time head coach was hired. This made him the first paid coach in Kentuckys basketball history and that year, the team went 5–4, and only three years later, boasted their first undefeated season with nine victories and no losses. During this early era Kentucky was unstable in that the school went through multiple coaches, in 1919, George Buchheit became the new head coach of the Wildcats. An alumnus of the University of Illinois, he brought him a new system of basketball. The Buchheit system or Illinois system, focused on defense and featured one player standing under each basket, buckheit varied the system he learned in Illinois in one important way. While the Illinois system employed a zone defense, Buchheits system used an aggressive man-to-man scheme, on offense, he used a complicated system of passing called the zig-zag or figure eight offense. Both of these teams were composed entirely of native Kentuckians, anchored by All-American Basil Hayden, the tournament victory was considered Kentuckys first major success, and the 1921 team became known as the Wonder Team. In 1922, the team was unable to build on the success of the Wonder Team, although every player was eligible in 1922, two key players, Hayden and Sam Ridgeway, were injured before the start of the season. Hayden returned from his injury during the season, but was never able to play at the level he had the previous year. Ridgeway fought a battle with diphtheria, and although he recovered
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Atlanta
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Atlanta is the capital of and the most populous city in the U. S. state of Georgia, with an estimated 2015 population of 463,878. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, home to 5,710,795 people, Atlanta is the county seat of Fulton County, and a small portion of the city extends eastward into DeKalb County. In 1837, Atlanta was founded at the intersection of two lines, and the city rose from the ashes of the American Civil War to become a national center of commerce. Atlantas economy is considered diverse, with dominant sectors that include logistics, professional and business services, media operations, Atlanta has topographic features that include rolling hills and dense tree coverage. Revitalization of Atlantas neighborhoods, initially spurred by the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, has intensified in the 21st century, altering the demographics, politics. Prior to the arrival of European settlers in north Georgia, Creek Indians inhabited the area, standing Peachtree, a Creek village located where Peachtree Creek flows into the Chattahoochee River, was the closest Indian settlement to what is now Atlanta. As part of the removal of Native Americans from northern Georgia from 1802 to 1825, the Creek ceded the area in 1821. In 1836, the Georgia General Assembly voted to build the Western, the initial route was to run southward from Chattanooga to a terminus east of the Chattahoochee River, which would then be linked to Savannah. After engineers surveyed various possible locations for the terminus, the zero milepost was driven into the ground in what is now Five Points. A year later, the area around the milepost had developed into a settlement, first known as Terminus, and later as Thrasherville after a merchant who built homes. By 1842, the town had six buildings and 30 residents and was renamed Marthasville to honor the Governors daughter, later, J. Edgar Thomson, Chief Engineer of the Georgia Railroad, suggested the town be renamed Atlantica-Pacifica, which was shortened to Atlanta. The residents approved, and the town was incorporated as Atlanta on December 29,1847, by 1860, Atlantas population had grown to 9,554. During the American Civil War, the nexus of multiple railroads in Atlanta made the city a hub for the distribution of military supplies, in 1864, the Union Army moved southward following the capture of Chattanooga and began its invasion of north Georgia. On the next day, Mayor James Calhoun surrendered Atlanta to the Union Army, on November 11,1864, Sherman prepared for the Union Armys March to the Sea by ordering Atlanta to be burned to the ground, sparing only the citys churches and hospitals. After the Civil War ended in 1865, Atlanta was gradually rebuilt, due to the citys superior rail transportation network, the state capital was moved from Milledgeville to Atlanta in 1868. In the 1880 Census, Atlanta surpassed Savannah as Georgias largest city, by 1885, the founding of the Georgia School of Technology and the citys black colleges had established Atlanta as a center for higher education. In 1895, Atlanta hosted the Cotton States and International Exposition, during the first decades of the 20th century, Atlanta experienced a period of unprecedented growth. In three decades time, Atlantas population tripled as the city expanded to include nearby streetcar suburbs
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Georgia Dome
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The Georgia Dome was a domed stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, between downtown to the east and Vine City to the west. It was owned and operated by the State of Georgia as part of the Georgia World Congress Center Authority and it was primarily the home stadium for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League and the Georgia State Panthers football team from Georgia State University. Also, it has hosted the Peach Bowl from 1992 until 2016, in addition, the Georgia Dome has also hosted several soccer matches since 2009 that have drawn over 50,000 fans. The Dome was accessible by rail via MARTAs Blue and Green lines, in 1992, the Georgia Dome was completed at a cost of $214 million, which came from the Georgia General Assembly, making it one of the largest state-funded construction projects in Georgia history. For most Georgia State football games, the dome was configured with 28,155 seats, with tickets for only the bulk of the lower level, the record for overall attendance at the Georgia Dome is 80,892 for the 2008 SEC Championship Game in football. The dome was the largest cable-supported dome in the world and its roof was made of teflon-coated fiberglass fabric and had an area of 374,584.08 square feet. From its completion until the December 31,1999 opening of the 20-acre Millennium Dome in London, the Georgia Dome originally used AstroTurf artificial surface for its football events. In 2003, Arthur Blank, the new owner of Atlanta Falcons, in 2006, the Atlanta Falcons and the Georgia World Congress Center Authority announced a $300 million renovation to the Georgia Dome. The project was separated into two stages, the first stage, which took place before the 2007 NFL season, focused on updating the premium seating areas, including the creation of eight super-suites as well as an owners club. The entrance gates and concourses were also renovated and updated before the 2008 football season, in 2009, the video screens in both endzones were relocated to a new exterior monument sign on Northside Drive. The interior endzones each received a new and considerably wider High Definition video screen that significantly enhances views of replays, as well as graphics, a new sound system was installed in the same year, replacing the previous system that was nearly 20 years old. Three years after the completion of the Dome, the integrity of its roof became an issue. During a Falcons pre-season game in August 1995, a rainstorm caused water to pool on the fabric, tearing part of the material. The collapse occurred after fans left the stadium, and no one was injured during the incident, the roof was eventually repaired in a way that prevented similar incidents from occurring in the future. The quarterfinal game to follow between the Kentucky Wildcats and Georgia Bulldogs was postponed until the following day, the resulting damage forced the rest of the tournament to be moved to the Alexander Memorial Coliseum, now known as Hank McCamish Pavilion, at Georgia Tech. The Falcons final football game in the Dome was the 2016 NFC Championship Game on January 22,2017, the stadiums final public event took place on March 4 and 5,2017 with back-to-back Monster Jam events. Salvage operations and interior demolition will take place throughout the spring, the Georgia Dome site will become greenspace for tailgating at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and other community events, a 600-car parking garage and a convention center hotel is also planned for the site. The stadium also hosted Super Bowl XXVIII in 1994 and Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000, the new incarnation of Turner Field is now tentatively known as Georgia State Stadium
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Mississippi State Bulldogs
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Mississippi State Bulldogs is the name given to the athletic teams of Mississippi State University, in Starkville, Mississippi. The university is a member of the Southeastern Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, Mississippi State sponsors teams in seven mens and nine womens NCAA sanctioned sports, Throughout its history, Mississippi State has been a competitive force in mens basketball. Mississippi State has also made seven appearances in the National Invitation Tournament. Coach Babe McCarthy sneaked the team out of Starkville to travel to East Lansing, Michigan, to face Loyola University Chicago, only to lose to the Ramblers, who went on to win the title that year. This was one of the first times that an all-white Deep South school faced a team with black members, boston Celtics great Bailey Howell played at Mississippi State and is the only MSU player to be in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. That team earned its national championship ticket with impressive wins over No.1 seed Connecticut. States 26 wins that season were the most in history at the time. Mississippi States Humphrey Coliseum is the largest on-campus basketball arena in the state of Mississippi, opened in 1975, Humphrey Coliseum remains one of the premier basketball venues in the Southeastern Conference, with a seating capacity of 10,500. On February 16,2010, a crowd of 10,788 fans watched the Bulldogs play host to #2 Kentucky, in 2011, The Mize Pavilion, a new basketball practice facility and atrium entrance, opened in front of the coliseum. The Bulldogs have sold out of tickets for the fourth year in a row. The Bulldogs have shown marked improvement over the last decade, nine Bulldogs have made the All-SEC team 16 times, and even more impressive, the women have earned 28 SEC honor roll memberships since 1990. Mississippi State University, then Mississippi A&M, began playing football in 1895 under the nickname Maroons, the sport continues to be a favorite among the Bulldog faithful. Home games are played at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field, the second oldest football stadium in NCAA Division I-FBS, the largest crowd in attendance was 62,945 when No.3 MSU beat No.2 Auburn on Oct.11,2014. After this game, the Bulldogs took over as AP number 1 in the AP rankings, over its history, Mississippi State has produced an SEC championship team in 1941 and a divisional championship team in 1998, along with 16 postseason bowl appearances. The Bulldogs represented the SEC Western Division in the 1998 SEC Championship Game, jackie Sherrill, who was the head coach of the Bulldogs from 1991 to 2003, is MSUs all-time winningest coach. Sherrill led MSU to 6 postseason bowl games and an appearance in the SEC Championship Game in 1998, allyn McKeen, who led the Bulldogs to its first and only SEC championship in 1941, has the highest winning percentage. Some also credit McKeen with a championship in 1940. The Bulldogs finished off a 9-0-1 season with a victory over Georgetown 14-7 in the Orange Bowl
