The Bryant Bulldogs are the athletic teams representing
Bryant University
Bryant University is a private university in Smithfield, Rhode Island. It has two colleges, the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Business, and is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.
History
Butler Exc ...
in
Smithfield, Rhode Island
Smithfield is a town that is located in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. It includes the historic villages of Esmond, Georgiaville, Mountaindale, Hanton City, Stillwater and Greenville. The population was 22,118 at the 2020 cen ...
. As of July 1, 2022, the Bulldogs compete in most
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
America East Conference
The America East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I founded in 1979, whose members are located in the Northeastern United States.
The conference has nine core members including eight public research u ...
(AmEast). The move to the AmEast followed a 14-year tenure in the
Northeast Conference
The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Foo ...
(NEC), which it joined in 2008 when it began a transition from
NCAA Division II
NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...
to Division I. Bryant's largest rivalry during its Division II years was
Bentley College
Bentley University is a private university focused on business, accountancy, and finance and located in Waltham, Massachusetts. Founded in 1917 as a school of accounting and finance in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, Bentley moved to Waltham in ...
, both founders of the
Northeast-10 Conference
The Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the states of ...
(NE-10) and both have prominent business programs. Bryant University athletics started out as a member of the
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...
(NAIA) before it transitioned into Division II. Bryant competed in the NE-10 from the conference's founding in 1980 until 2008 when the university began the transition to Division I. In 2012, Bryant became a full Division I member.
History
The beginning: The Providence years
Bryant University originally competed independently before the NCAA had classifications. The first teams were men's basketball and rowing, which started in 1896. The first women's team was women's basketball. When the NCAA began more strict classifications Bryant moved to the NAIA in 1963. During Bryant's tenure in the NAIA, it competed as an independent school. The university's tenure in the NAIA saw the men's basketball team record an undefeated regular season, going 22-0 before losing the final two games of the 1966-67 season in the District 32 Tournament. The 22-2 overall record was the team's best during the NAIA years. The move to Division II was partly because of the new campus, and the school's goals.
During their NAIA playing years, they were known as the Indians, and were located in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
, near
Brown University
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
. The school's largest rivalry at the time was
Salem State College
Salem State University (Salem State or SSU) is a public university in Salem, Massachusetts. Established in 1854, it is the oldest and largest institute of higher education on the North Shore and is part of the state university system in Massa ...
. The school was still a small business school, who was still only known on a local level. In 1976 the college left the NAIA In 1977 the college exited the NAIA and became a member of the NCAA at the Division II level. From there they became a charter member of the Northeast-10 Conference when the conference formed in 1979 and began play in 1980.
The Charter Years: Move to Division II
In 1980 Bryant was one of the charter members of the
Northeast-10
The Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the states o ...
. Bryant along with other
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
schools helped create a Division II conference that could succeed on and off the playing field and create rivalries at the same time. With the conference affiliation Bryant was able to keep its closest current day rival Bentley College Falcons close both academically and athletically.
The university used the Indians nickname and logos since the inception of the athletics program in 1896 until 1995.
Entering the 2000s (decade) the university has won 40 conference championships; and the President's Cup 4 times in 2004, 2005, and 2007 and in their last season as a Division II member in 2008. They lost in 2006 by 1 point to
Stonehill College
Stonehill College is a Private college, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Easton, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1948 by the Congregation of Holy Cross and is located on ...
. In their last year of competition in Division II and in the Northeast-10, Bryant won the President's Cup by over 30 points, and sent 19 out of the 22 teams into the NCAA playoffs. They also amassed a record of 292-65-6 throughout the entire year.
The 2000s (decade) also saw the injection of many new coaches at the university. Before the move to Division I they had signed four former Division I coaches from
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
,
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...
,
Wagner College
Wagner College is a private liberal arts college in Staten Island, New York City. Founded in 1883 and with an enrollment of approximately 2,200 students, Wagner is known for its academic program, The Wagner Plan for the Practical Liberal Arts. It ...
, and
UNLV
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...
. These moves have been noted as being one of the reasons that Bryant athletics have had such a successful run. This run has also brought on the exploratory commission to explore the move to Division I.
Move to Division I
On October 18, 2007 Bryant announced it would join the
Northeast Conference
The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Foo ...
. The move had Bryant participating as a Division I institution starting in 2008. The NCAA voted in 2012 to make the university a full member, which would allow Bryant to be eligible for NCAA Division I member postseason tournament play as well as have voting rights for its conference.
Move to the America East
On March 29, 2022, Bryant was announced as a new member of the
America East Conference
The America East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I founded in 1979, whose members are located in the Northeastern United States.
The conference has nine core members including eight public research u ...
(AmEast), effective that July 1. It is the only private school in the AmEast following the 2022 departure of
Hartford
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
, which started a transition from D-I to
Division III
In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below.
Association football
*Belgian Thir ...
in 2021 and left to spend one year as a D-I independent before joining the D-III
Commonwealth Coast Conference
The Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA’s Division III. Member institutions are located in New England in the states of Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, with a Connecticu ...
in 2023.
Bryant fields six varsity teams in sports that the AmEast does not sponsor. On the same day Bryant's arrival in the AmEast was announced, the
Big South Conference
The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...
announced that Bryant would become a football-only member of that conference effective with the 2022 season. A month before Bryant was announced as a new Big South football member, that conference had announced that it would merge its football membership with that of the
Ohio Valley Conference
The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern and Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It participates in NCAA Divisi ...
in 2023. Barring further conference realignment, Bryant football will become part of this alliance.
In June 2022, Bryant's five remaining varsity teams found conference homes. The
Southland Conference
The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it pa ...
brought the Bulldogs in as members in men's & women's golf and tennis. Bowling, a women-only sport added for 2022–23, joined the Division II
East Coast Conference
The East Coast Conference (ECC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the states of C ...
, making it the only NCAA Division I member that competes in any sport as a member of a Division II conference. This arrangement is possible because the NCAA does not split that sport into divisions, currently holding a single championship event open to members of all three divisions. Also, scholarship limits in bowling are identical in Divisions I and II.
Sports
A member of the America East Conference, Bryant University sponsors teams in 25 NCAA-sanctioned sports, 11 for men and 14 for women:
Facilities
Beirne Stadium
Bulldog Stadium was completed in 1999 and has a
seating capacity
Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...
of 5,500 with a 4,200-seat permanent structure and press box on the home side of the field and 1,300 additional seats on the visitor's side. Bulldog Stadium was renamed Beirne Stadium September 24, 2016. In addition to serving as the home of Bryant Football, Beirne Stadium also serves as the home venue to the school's men's and women's lacrosse and men's and women's soccer teams. It has also been the host of Rhode Island's high school state championship games.
Conaty Park
Conaty Park, the home of Bryant's baseball program, is located in the northwest section of the campus near the other athletic facilities. The field has dimensions 330' down the left and right field lines, 385' to the right and left center field gaps and 400' to center field. It is equipped with step down dug outs, each with a connected clubhouse space. It also has bullpens down each line with two mounds and a hitting cage down the left field line just outside of the fence next to the bullpen. In addition to hosting several Northeast-10 Conference tournament games, the Bryant Baseball Complex hosted the 2004 NCAA Division II Baseball Northeast Regional Championship, won by the Bulldogs.
Other facilities
The Chace Wellness Center is a student recreation center that augments the current gymnasium and Multipurpose Activity Center (MAC). The center includes workout space, a fitness center, and an
aerobic
Aerobic means "requiring air," in which "air" usually means oxygen.
Aerobic may also refer to
* Aerobic exercise, prolonged exercise of moderate intensity
* Aerobics, a form of aerobic exercise
* Aerobic respiration, the aerobic process of cellu ...
and
martial arts
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...
studio. The Elizabeth & Malcolm Natatorium is an olympic-size pool originally constructed with the additions to the current Wellness and Athletic Center. The pool had only recreational use until the winter of 2005 when Bryant added men's and women's swim teams as a varsity sport. The
natatorium
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...
features six lanes equipped with a scoreboard, seating area, and sound system.
The Bryant Track and Turf Complex was built in 2005 and is the home venue for the men's and women's track & field teams. The facility also hosts soccer, field hockey and lacrosse games in addition to being used as the football practice field. The facility has a bleacher seating section with a capacity of 1,000 fans. Another valuable addition was the lights surrounding the track.
While competing as a charter member of the Northeast-10 conference from 1980 until 2008 the school won the President's Cup, awarded to the best overall athletic team in the NE-10, eight times. Bryant also finished in second five times and third three times. Considered to be one of the most successful teams in Northeast-10 History Bryant has won 93 conference championships. In the 2007-2008 school year, the university won 9 conference championships. During its Division II years, the university sponsored 22 of 23 sports that the Northeast-10 Conference offered.
Mascot
The Bulldog logo became the official new logo and mascot of the university after a 1995 campus-wide vote. The school now has a living mascot and a costumed mascot to represent the bulldogs mascot and university athletics. Bryant has also used two bulldog logos as they did during the Indian years; first using a realistic bulldog's head inside a diamond design, followed by the current design in 2004. The change came when Bryant went from being a college to a university.
Ironclad Tupper I, or Tupper for short, was an
English bulldog
The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.Ron Machtley and his wife, Kati. The Machtleys gave the dog to the school to honor the class of 2010's senior class gift campaign, which exceeded its goals and set two senior class gift records. Tupper served as Bryant University's mascot and attended campus events, as well as performed community service as a
therapy dog
A therapy dog is a dog that is trained to provide affection, comfort and support to people, often in settings such as hospitals, retirement homes, nursing homes, schools, libraries, hospices, or disaster areas. In contrast to assistance dogs, w ...
. He was the first live bulldog mascot in the university's history and received an honorary degree at 2010 commencement for "character and obedience." Tupper died on December 6, 2017 of an apparent stroke during the Festival of Lights celebration.
Tupper II was introduced to the university community on April 12, 2018. Tupper II, known as Tupper for short, serves as Bryant University's mascot and attends campus events. According to former President Ron Machtley, "he has all the qualities and traits of the best damn bulldog in the country.”