The Delaware State Hornets are the sixteen sports teams representing

Delaware State University Delaware State University (DSU or Del State) is a public historically black land-grant research university in Dover, Delaware. DSU also has two satellite campuses: one in Wilmington and one in Georgetown. The university encompasses four col ...

Dover, Delaware Dover () is the capital and second-largest city of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County and the principal city of the Dover, DE, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County and is part of ...

in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's basketball, cross country, tennis, and track and field; women's-only bowling, softball, and volleyball; and men's-only baseball. The Hornets complete in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

; they have been members of the

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National C ...

since 1970. While most teams play in the MEAC, the women's soccer team competes as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

, the women's equestrian team plays in the ECAC/

National Collegiate Equestrian Association The National Collegiate Equestrian Association ('NCEA''), formerly known as Varsity Equestrian, was created as the governing body for NCAA Equestrian teams. The NCEA is headquartered in Waco, Texas. Currently the NCEA has 24 official member colle ...

, the baseball and women's golf teams compete 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 ...

, and the women's lacrosse team competes in the

ASUN Conference The ASUN Conference, formerly the Atlantic Sun Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Divisio ...

. The university's Department of Intramural Sports provides a wide variety of quality recreational programs for students, faculty and staff.

Teams

A member of the

(MEAC), Delaware State sponsors teams in six men's and twelve women's

NCAA 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 ...

sanctioned sports. ;Notes

Football

The football team won the 2007 MEAC football championship with a win over

Norfolk State University Norfolk State University (NSU) is a public historically black university in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Virginia High-Tech Partnership. History The institution was founded on September 18, 1935 a ...

with a score of 28 to 21 in overtime giving them an automatic bid into the NCAA Division I FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) playoffs. During that tournament the Hornets lost to the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

with a score of 44–7 in the first round, the first-ever meeting between the two schools. DSU and UD now compete for the First State Cup as part of the

Route 1 Rivalry The "Route 1 Rivalry" is the name given for the American football rivalry between the University of Delaware and Delaware State University. The winner of the game is awarded the First State Cup. Delaware has won each of the eleven games of th ...

games during the regular season. The Hornets have yet to win a game in the series, which Delaware currently leads 7–0.

Basketball

The university has both men's and women's basketball teams. Its men's basketball team won the 2005 MEAC championship and earned a berth in the 2005 NCAA tournament. Playing as a sixteen-seed, the Hornets lost 57–46 in the opening round to one-seed

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 ...

. The Hornets also have made back to back

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...

appearances in 2006 and 2007. The women's basketball team won the 2006 MEAC championship and earned a berth in the 2006 NCAA tournament. Playing as a fifteen-seed, the Lady Hornets kept the game close down by only three until nine minutes remained in the game, but lost 62–47 in the opening round to two-seed

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

References

External links

* {{Delaware sports