Troy Trojans

Troy Trojans
University	Troy University
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
NCAA	Division I/FBS
Athletic director	Jeremy McClain
Location	Troy, Alabama
Varsity teams	15
Football stadium	Veterans Memorial Stadium
Basketball arena	Trojan Arena
Baseball stadium	Riddle-Pace Field
Softball stadium	Troy Softball Complex
Soccer stadium	Colley Track/Soccer Complex
Mascot	T-Roy
Nickname	Trojans
Fight song	Trojans, One and All
Colors	Cardinal, Silver, and Black[1]
Website	www.troytrojans.com

Troy is a member of the Sun Belt Conference

The Troy Trojans are the sports teams of Troy University. They began playing in the NCAA's Division I-A in 2001, became a football only member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2004, and joined that conference for all other sports in 2005. Troy University's athletics nickname was the Red Wave until the early 1970s when the student body voted to change the name to Trojans.

Prior to becoming a member of NCAA Division One athletics in 1993, Troy University was a member of the Gulf South Conference of the NCAA Division II ranks. At the time, Troy's primary rivals were Jacksonville State University, Livingston University (now the University of West Alabama), and the University of North Alabama. The rivalry between Troy and Jacksonville State was arguably the fiercest of those. However, since Troy University moved to Division I-A participation in football and because Troy and JSU no longer share the same conference affiliation, this once heated rivalry has cooled significantly. Troy has Sun Belt rivalries with all East Division schools (Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, and South Alabama). Currently, the Trojans' most prominent rival in all sports is their main Sun Belt rival, South Alabama.

Teams

A member of the Sun Belt Conference, Troy sponsors teams in eight men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports.^[2]

Football

Troy Trojans football player Gary Banks during a game in October 2007

Troy University has fielded a football team continuously since 1946. Troy has won national championships at the NAIA level in 1968 and at the NCAA Division II level in 1984 and 1987.

Troy University football began playing in the NCAA's Division I-A in 2001, became a football only member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2004, and joined that conference for all other sports in 2005. In 2001, Troy defeated Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi to notch the Trojans' first victory over a BCS level program. On September 9, 2004, the Trojans garnered the program's first win over a ranked opponent when they defeated then #17 ranked Missouri, 24-14, upsetting former Heisman-hopeful Brad Smith's Heisman Trophy chances. Three years later in 2007, the Trojans routed Oklahoma State at home by a score of 41-23. The Trojan football team made its first bowl game appearance in the Silicon Valley Football Classic against Northern Illinois University on December 30, 2004, but lost. The Trojans won their first bowl game on December 20, 2006 at the New Orleans Bowl against Rice University by a score of 41-17. The football program won five straight Sun Belt titles from 2006 to 2010, finishing their run in 2010 with a New Orleans Bowl win over Ohio by a score of 48-21. At the end of the 2014 season, longtime head coach Larry Blakeney retired from coaching. He finished his career at Troy with a 178-113-1 record, 8 conference championships, and 5 bowl appearances. He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.

Current head coach Neal Brown was hired following Blakeney's retirement. After starting his first season ever as a head coach in 2015, going 4-8, he led a monumental turnaround for the football program in the 2016 season, as the Trojan finished 10-3, including a 28-23 win over Ohio in the Dollar General Bowl. During that season, Troy cracked the AP Top 25 for the first time since the program joined the FBS in 2001. Troy was also the first football program in the Sun Belt Conference to ever receive a Top 25 ranking.

The Trojans football team has won three national titles: 1968 (NAIA), 1984 (Div. II), and 1987 (Div. II).

Basketball

Men's basketball

The Troy University men's basketball team is currently under the direction of head coach Phil Cunningham. Don Maestri is currently the winningest coach in Troy University history.

The Trojans' last NCAA Tournament appearance was in the 2003 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament as a 14 seed after winning the 2003 Atlantic Sun Conference tournament. The Trojans' faced 3-seed Xavier in the first round, but the Trojans lost 71–59. They finished the 2003 season with a 26-6 overall record. In their most recent post-season appearance in 2010, the Trojans won the Sun Belt Conference regular-season title but lost in the conference tournament final. Because of this, Troy made its way back to the NIT for the second time since 2004, falling to Ole Miss in the first round.

The Trojan basketball team is recognized in recent Division I Basketball history for leading the nation in three-pointers from 2004 to 2006, making 1068 three-pointers over the course of 89 games (11.66 per game) during those three seasons. Troy's most famous claim to fame, however, is their game against DeVry Institute of Atlanta on January 12, 1992 when the Trojans came out victorious by the NCAA-record score of 258–141. This is currently the highest scoring game in NCAA basketball history.^[3]

Women's basketball

In 1997, the Troy University women's basketball team, under the direction of head coach Jerry Hester, won the Mid Continent Conference (now the Summit League) tournament championship in Buffalo, New York, and received an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament where the Trojans traveled to Charlottesville, Virginia, and fell in the first round to the Virginia by a score of 96–74. Under current head coach Chanda Rigby, Troy has been to the NCAA Tournament twice and has won two Sun Belt tournament titles.

Baseball

Former Trojans baseball player Shohei Fujita attempting to turn a double play in a baseball game in March 2008

The Troy University baseball team won two Division II national championships in 1986 and 1987 under the leadership of baseball coach, Chase Riddle. One of Troy's most significant victories in baseball came in April 1998 when the Trojans knocked off the #3 nationally ranked Alabama Crimson Tide by a score of 8-4 at Riddle-Pace Field on the Troy campus.

In 2006, Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year Bobby Pierce led the Trojans to a regular season conference title, conference tournament title, and an NCAA Regional appearance with an overall record of 47–16. The Men of Troy were the 2-seed in the Tuscaloosa Regional in 2006, defeating the Southern Miss Golden Eagles twice, but were eliminated by the Alabama Crimson Tide in the championship game. Following the season, Jared Keel, Mike Felix, and Tom King were selected in the MLB draft. Troy's highest rank of the season was #29 by the NCBWA.

In 2007 the Trojans went 34–27, finishing in a tie for second in the Sun Belt Conference, and were selected as a number three seed in the Oxford Regional hosted by Ole Miss. The Trojans were defeated by Southern Miss and Sam Houston State in consecutive games and eliminated from the regional.

In 2011, the Trojans struck again by winning the Sun Belt regular season title and earning a bid to the Nashville Regional as a 3-seed. The Trojans defeated 2-seed Oklahoma State in the first round, but fell to 1-seed Vanderbilt and Belmont consecutively. The Trojans ended the 2011 season with a 42-17 record. Troy's highest rank of the season was #18 in the Baseball America poll. Troy had also reached a ranking of #25 in the USA Today coaches poll and #22 in the College Baseball News poll.

Troy once again won a regular season title in 2013, this time in a thrilling fashion. The Trojans played #18 South Alabama during the last series of the regular season. After losing the first game of the series, the Trojans went on to win the next two games and clinch a share of the Sun Belt title. They finished the regular season with a 39-16 record. Troy finished the 2013 regular season ranked #21 in the College Baseball News poll.

Tennis

The Troy men's and women's tennis teams have a short but successful history in the sport. The women have won conference championships in the Atlantic Sun Conference and the Sun Belt Conference and received national rankings in various years. The men's team has won the 2010 and 2015 Sun Belt titles, finishing with rankings as high as #51 in the nation.

The Troy Golf Clubhouse

Golf

The Troy men's and women's golf teams have had a very successful history since the early 1970s. The Trojan men were one of the most dominant golf teams in Division II, making 19-straight appearances in the NCAA Division II Golf Championships from 1975 to 1993. In that span, they managed to win three national championships in 1976, 1977, and 1984. While the women's golf team has a shorter history than the men's, they also lay claim to three national championships in 1984, 1986, and 1989. Under head coach Bart Barnes, the women have been extremely successful recently, capturing three Sun Belt Conference titles and also receiving an individual at-large NCAA Regional berth for player Fátima Fernández Cano in 2016.

Rodeo

Troy University had one of the top collegiate rodeo programs in the nation. In 2007, Troy calf roper Ben Mayworth won the calf roping national championship at the National Finals College Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming. The rodeo program's home facility was the Pike County Cattlemen's Arena in Troy where it hosted a three-day rodeo each October that featured college rodeo programs from throughout the southern region of the United States.

The university discontinued its rodeo program at the end of the 2014 season.^[4]

Facilities

Image	Name	Sport	Seating capacity	Opened
	Veterans Memorial Stadium	Football	30,406	1950
	Trojan Arena	Men's basketball Women's basketball Volleyball	5,200	2012
	Riddle-Pace Field	Baseball	2,000	1931
	Troy Softball Complex	Softball	800	2002
	Troy Golf Practice Facility	Men's golf Women's golf	-	2014
	Colley Track & Field/Soccer Complex	Women's soccer Track & field	500	2003
	Jimmy Lunsford Tennis Complex	Men's tennis Women's tennis	150	2001

References

External links

• Official website