The school's mascot is Otto the Orange. Until 2004, the teams were known as the Orangemen and Orangewomen. The men's basketball, football, wrestling, men's lacrosse, and women's basketball teams play in the JMA Wireless Dome, referred to as the JMA Dome. Other sports facilities include the nearby Manley Field House complex, the Tennity Ice Skating Pavilion, and Drumlins Country Club.
Important firsts
Baseball team established: 1870
Rowing team founded: 1874
First recorded football game: 1884 vs. Medical College of Syracuse[citation needed]
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor
Syracuse is the only ACC school and one of only four Power 5 schools that do not sponsor baseball, the other three being Colorado, Iowa State, and Wisconsin.
The game was during the Big East Championship Tournament, and is the second-longest NCAA Division I basketball game of all time. Their recent success has included a trip to the 2013 Final Four and the 2016 Final Four. In the 2013–14 season they broke a record set two years prior by starting the season 25–0. The previous record was 20–0 set during the 2011–12 season. The 1917–18 and 1925–26 Syracuse teams were retroactively named the national champion by the Helms Athletic Foundation and the Premo-Porretta Power Poll.[3][4]
In 2008, Syracuse University announced that it would sanction a women's ice hockey team and become a member of the women-only College Hockey America (CHA). The team started playing in 2008.
Syracuse won the NCAA Men's Cross Country team title in 1951.
At the 2015 NCAA Division I cross country championships Syracuse won its second NCAA team title with a score of 82 points, beating out Colorado (91) and Stanford (151). Syracuse was led by Justin Knight (4th), Colin Bennie (8th), and Martin Hehir (9th), and an All-American performance from Philo Germano (39th) secured the victory. Joel Hubbard (47th) rounded out the scoring for the Orange. The coaching staff included Brien Bell, Adam Smith and Head Coach Chris Fox, who was subsequently named USTFCCCA National Men's Coach of the Year. [6]
At the ACC Championships, The Syracuse men's cross country team has finished first or second at this meet in 10 of their 11 seasons in the league, including six league titles (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019).[7] They joined the league in 2013 and won their first 5 ACC titles. Before then, they won the 2012 Big East Cross Country Championship. [8]
Syracuse fields a Division I NCAA college lacrosse team. Syracuse played its first intercollegiate lacrosse game in 1916, and captured its first USILL division championship in 1920. It would go on to win USILL championships in 1922, 1924, and 1925 and the USILA Division II co-national championship (Laurie Cox Trophy) in 1954. In the modern NCAA era, Syracuse has won ten national championships, with one additional championship (1990) vacated due to rules infractions. The Orange's ten national championship titles are the most of any team in NCAA Division I history. Most recently, Syracuse won the 2009 National Championship in a come-from-behind 10–9 overtime victory against Cornell University. Prior to that year, they won in 2008.
The Orange softball team began play in 2000. The team has made three NCAA Tournament appearances in 2010, 2011, 2012. The current head coach is Shannon Doepking.
Syracuse Orange men's soccer team are a Division I team in the Atlantic Coast Conference and play their games at the Syracuse Soccer Stadium. Syracuse is currently coached by Ian McIntyre who has brought the team to three NCAA tournament appearances and two ACC Conference Titles in 2015 and 2022. McIntyre was named the ACC Coach of the Year in 2014 and 2022.[9]
Syracuse University baseball team, the "Ball Nine" in 1888
Syracuse's club baseball team was established in 1979 and has been successful in tournaments. The sport is currently played at the club level and the team is part of the National Club Baseball Association (NCBA).
Many students, alumni, citizens and other baseball enthusiasts in the area are in favor of an NCAA varsity team being formed on campus, but the athletic budget is a difficult barrier.[citation needed] In a September 12, 2006, story in The Daily Orange, Michael Wasylenko, chairman of the Athletic Policy Board, said Title IX and Syracuse's athletic budget is still a major crutch.
Men's ice hockey
Men's ice hockey competes at the ACHA Division I level in the ESCHL league. The team has been on campus for over 60 years. They play out of the on-campus ice rink, The Tennity Ice Pavilion.
Rugby
Founded in 1969, Syracuse University Rugby Football Club plays in Division 1 in the Empire Conference. Syracuse has enjoyed success, including a trip to the Division 1 sweet 16 national playoffs in 2010.[11] Syracuse has participated in international tours to Europe, Argentina and Australia.[12] Syracuse are led by head coach Bob Wilson.[13]
Built in 1980, the JMA Wireless Dome is a 49,250-seat domed sports stadium located on the campus of Syracuse University. It is both the largest domed stadium on a college campus and the largest domed stadium in the Northeast. It is home to the Syracuse Orange football, basketball, and lacrosse teams. With regard to basketball, it holds another title, being the largest on-campus basketball arena, with a listed capacity of 33,000. This limit has been exceeded several times. The Dome sold an on-campus NCAA record of 35,446 tickets for a game against the Duke Blue Devils on February 1, 2014. The previous record was set on February 23, 2013, against the Georgetown Hoyas, with 35,012 in the stands.
Built in 1962, this complex houses many of the offices of SU Athletics including the Equipment Room. It also contains academic rooms and two weight rooms strictly for Syracuse athletes only. Adjacent to the complex there are a variety of fields used for softball, soccer, field hockey, as well as a track for the track and field team. Manley was initially used as an indoor training facility for the football team, as well as a home court for men's basketball. Its seating capacity, 9,500, for basketball, at the time among the largest campus facilities in the Northeast, supported the rise to national prominence of the men's basketball program. The team shifted to the JMA Wireless Dome after the 1980 season. In the final men's basketball game played at Manley, Georgetown snapped the Orangemen's 57 game home winning streak.
The name comes from Syracuse basketball star, Carmelo Anthony, who donated $3 million to the project. Anthony played one year with the Orange, the 2002–2003 season, in which he helped the program win its only NCAA Championship. It's a college basketball practice facility located in Syracuse, New York. The facility opened September 24, 2009. Both the men's and women's basketball teams for Syracuse University use the center. The facility houses two practice courts, locker rooms and office facilities for the men's and women's basketball programs at Syracuse. It is located on the north side of Manley Field House, in between the Roy Simmons Sr. Coaches Wing and the Comstock Art Facility.[14]
Home of the NCAADivision I Syracuse University ice hockey programs playing in the College Hockey America conference. Named for donors Marilyn and Bill Tennity, the Pavilion opened in October 2000.
Drumlins Country Club
Drumlins Country Club in the 1920s
Owned by Syracuse University, the Drumlins Country Club, 800 Nottingham Road, DeWitt, New York, operates a private, 18-hole golf course; a public, 18-hole golf course; indoor tennis courts; and other facilities. The tennis courts are home of the Syracuse University's women's tennis team.[15][16]
The SU Soccer Stadium is a 1,500 seat soccer-specific stadium that is home to the Syracuse Orange men's and women's soccer programs. The stadium opened in 1996 and is located behind the Manley Field House.[17] The Hookway Fields Complex is a large practice facility with seven grass practice fields for training. The complex was completed in 2004 and is located near the soccer stadium.[18]
Thanks to a $600,000 gift by Syracuse University trustee and Standard Oil President, John D. Archbold, what was publicized as the "Greatest Athletic Arena in America" opened in 1907. Designed to resemble the Roman Colosseum and to never become outdated, Archbold Stadium became a trademark of Syracuse football. The stadium formed a massive concrete oval, 670 feet (204 m) long and 475 feet (145 m) wide. It was 100 feet (30 m) longer and only 22 feet (7 m) thinner than the JMA Wireless Dome, and more than 6 million Orangemen football fans passed through its gates.
From 1907 until 1978, Archbold Stadium was the home of SU football. Archbold opened up with a bang when the Orange defeated Hobart 28–0. It went out in style 71 years later, with an improbable victory over second-ranked Navy 20–17. Syracuse posted a record of 265–112–50 at Archbold, and it housed many great teams. It was home of the 1915 squad, which was invited to play in the prestigious Rose Bowl and outscored its opponents 331 to 16. The 1959 team also called Archbold home en route to SU's only National Championship.
In 1978, SU fans said good-bye forever to the historic stadium. Archbold was demolished to make way for the new on-campus facility, the JMA Wireless Dome, which opened in 1980.[14]
Championships
NCAA team championships
Syracuse University has won 16 NCAA team national championships.[19]
Men's (15)
Illustration of a Syracuse University crewman (1905)
* After the 1990 championship, the NCAA Committee on Infractions determined that Paul Gait had played in the 1990 championship while ineligible. Under NCAA rules, Syracuse and Paul Gait's records for that championship were vacated. The NCAA does not recognize Syracuse and Coach Roy Simmons Jr.'s 3–0 record, and Paul Gait's 7 goals, 7 assists and his participation in that championship.[24]
∆ No title games or contemporary selections made. Retroactive selections by Helms and Premo-Porretta.
# Syracuse and Lehigh claim 1920 title based on winning their USILL divisions. No title game played. Syracuse-Lehigh game won by Lehigh.
Dave Meggyesy (1959–1963) – NFL linebacker for seven seasons; author of Out of Their League in 1970; retired NFLPA Western Regional Director
Gene Mills (1977-1981) – Four-time NCAA Wrestling All-American, two-time NCAA champion and 1981 Outstanding Wrestler, 1980 U.S. Olympian, 1980 World Cup champion and Outstanding Wrestler, National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame
Century Milstead (1922) – Heavyweight wrestler on Syracuse's first team, NFL and AFL player, College Football Hall of Fame (1977)
Art Monk (1976–1979) – All American wide receiver, 3-time All Pro, Pro Football Hall of Fame
Joe Morris (1978–1981) – All-time Syracuse rushing leader, 2-time Pro Bowl selection
Andy Rautins (2005–2010) – Big East Second Team All American, Honorable All American Mention, Team Canada Basketball Player, 2nd All-Time in 3-point Field Goals Made in SU Basketball History, New York Knicks, player
Orange is the official school color, adopted as such in 1890. Prior to that time, the school's colors were rose pink and pea green. In 1898, a proposition to add secondary blue color was vehemently opposed by students and alumni.[27] Orange, blue, and white are traditionally used for athletic uniforms.[28] According to an 1890 newspaper article uncovered by the Syracuse Post Standard, the orange was originally a reference to the Netherlands, which first colonized New York State.[29] It's common in upstate New York for place names to make reference to the Dutch heritage. In a similar way, the original settlement that became Albany was called Fort Orange.
The athletic nickname derives from the official color. Prior to 2004, the official nicknames of the athletic teams were the "Orangemen" and "Orangewomen." These former nicknames are still affectionately used by some fans. However, beginning with the 2004–2005 school year, the official nickname was changed to the "Orange." This revision is gender-neutral, concise, and reflects the basis of the nickname as being the school color.
Other nicknames over the years have included the "Hilltoppers," for the school's location on a hill, and the "Saltine Warriors," for a former mascot.[citation needed]
In 1931, a Native American warrior known as Nathan March aka: "Saltine Warrior" became the athletic mascot. The name derived from an article describing an archaeological dig on campus allegedly uncovering the artifacts of a Native American warrior.[30] The warrior was called the "Saltine Warrior" because of the abundant salt deposits in the Syracuse, New York area. The article was later revealed to be a hoax, but the mascot remained for next four decades.
In the mid-1950s, the father of a Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity brother owned a cheerleading camp. He made a Saltine Warrior costume for his son to wear at Syracuse football games.[31] Thus began a nearly forty-year tradition of Lambda Chi brothers serving as the university's mascot.
In 1978, the Saltine Warrior was banned by the university as part of the national movement to eliminate Native American motifs, becoming one of the first colleges to do so. The mascot briefly morphed into a Roman warrior, but was eventually replaced unofficially in 1982 by a giant, cartoon-style Orange.[31]
The cheerleaders and mascots were at a UCA Cheerleading Camp in Tennessee that summer, and narrowed the field down to two potential names—"Opie" and "Otto." Figuring the name "Opie" would lead to the inevitable rhyme with "dopey," they settled on "Otto." Later that fall, word got out that the cheerleaders were calling the latest mascot costume Otto, and the name stuck.[32][33]
Otto the Orange was adopted by the university in 1995 as the university's official mascot, selected over a wolf and a lion also under consideration.[31]
^ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. pp. 534–38. ISBN978-0-345-51392-2.
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