| Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens | |
| University | University of Delaware |
|---|---|
| Conference(s) | CAA |
| NCAA | Division I |
| Athletics director | Bernard M. Muir |
| Location | Newark, DE |
| Varsity teams | 23 |
| Football stadium | Delaware Stadium |
| Basketball arena | Bob Carpenter Center |
| Baseball stadium | Bob Hannah Stadium |
| Soccer stadium | Delaware Mini-Stadium |
| Mascot | YoUDee |
| Nickname | The Blue Hens |
| Fight song | The Delaware Fight Song |
| Colors | Royal Blue and Gold
|
| Homepage | http://www.bluehens.com/ |
The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens represent the athletic teams at the University of Delaware. The Blue Hens compete in Division I in the NCAA. Although there are currently 23 varsity teams at Delaware, the University is reducing the number to 21.[1]
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UD varsity sports compete in the NCAA Division-I (FCS for football). Delaware is a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in all sports. Delaware was a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference in football until the 2006 season.
The Blue Hens have won four CAA Championships since joining in 2001: one each for the women's 2004 field hockey team, the 2007 men's lacrosse team, the 2007 women's volleyball team, and the 2010 football team (shared with William & Mary). (Unofficially, the women's rowing team has won the CAA title four times since 2001, placing second the other two times.)
In January 2011, UD announced that men's cross country and outdoor track & field teams would be reclassified to club status, while women's golf would be added.[1]
Football is the most popular and most successful sport at Delaware. The Fighting Blue Hens football teams have won six national titles, including the 2003 NCAA I-AA Championship. In 2007, the Delaware Blue Hens were the runners up in the NCAA I-AA National Championship game, but were defeated by defending champion Appalachian State. In 2010 they were once again runners-up, that time to Eastern Washington.
Former head football coaches Bill Murray, Dave Nelson and Harold "Tubby" Raymond are College Football Hall of Fame inductees. Delaware is one of only two schools to have three straight head coaches inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame (Georgia Tech is the other).[2]
Delaware's only non-football NCAA National Championship came in 1983 for Women's Division I Lacrosse.[3] The 2007 men's lacrosse program reached the final four of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in its history.
The men's soccer team played in the 1968 and 1970 editions of the College Cup.
The men's ice hockey team is a club level college ice hockey program that plays its home games at the Fred Rust Ice Arena. The Fightin' Blue Hens are a member of the Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League, which plays at the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division I level.[4]
The athletic teams at Delaware are known as the Fightin' Blue Hens with a mascot named YoUDee. YoUDee is a Blue Hen Chicken, after the team names and the state bird of Delaware. YoUDee was the 2002 UCA National Mascot Champion, was elected into the mascot hall of fame in 2006, and was the 2009 UCA Open Division Mascot National Champion.
In November 2007, it was announced that the University of Delaware and Delaware State University would have their first game against each other, the game being in the first round of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. The game was played on November 23, with University of Delaware winning 44-7.[5] Delaware was the victor in the teams' first regular season match-up in September 2009. Future contests are scheduled for 2012-2014.
"The Delaware Fight Song" first appeared in the Student Handbook in 1933.[6] It was composed by alumnus George F. Kelly (Class of 1915).
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