The Ferris State Bulldogs (FSU Bulldogs) are the athletic teams that represent
Ferris State University
Ferris State University (FSU or Ferris) is a public university with its main campus in Big Rapids, Michigan. It was founded in 1884 and became a public institution in 1950. Ferris is the ninth-largest institutions of higher education by enroll ...
, located in
Big Rapids, Michigan
Big Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 10,601 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Mecosta County. The city is located within Big Rapids Township, but it is politically independent. Big Rapids is home o ...
, in
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 ...
intercollegiate sporting competitions. The Bulldogs compete as members of the
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) is a competitive college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level.
The GLIAC was founded in June 1972. Its ele ...
for 14 of 15 varsity sports, while the men's hockey team (the only team that competes at the
Division I level) plays in the
Central Collegiate Hockey Association
The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) is a college athletic conference that participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. The current CCHA began play in the 2021–22 season; a previous incarnation, which the curre ...
. The Bulldogs have been members of the GLIAC since 1972.
Year in and year out, nearly 400 student-athletes have the opportunity to compete for the Bulldogs on a regional and national level for conference titles and NCAA Championships. Ferris’ men’s club ice hockey won the
American Collegiate Hockey Association
The American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) is a college ice hockey association. The ACHA's purpose is to be an organization of collegiate affiliated non-varsity programs, which provides structure, regulates operations, and promotes qualit ...
Division 2 national title in 1994, the men's basketball team won the NCAA Division II national title in 2018, and the
football program won the
Division II national title in
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
and
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
.
Varsity teams
Facilities
The Ferris Ice Arena and Sports Complex features basketball courts, volleyball courts, hockey rink and a general ice-skating rink located in the
Ewigleben Arena, named after former college president Robert Ewigleben. This sports complex hosts university and high school competitions as well as community sports programs.
Championships
National Championships:
*
2018: Men's Basketball—NCAA Division II
*
2021: Football–NCAA Division II
*
2022: Football–NCAA Division II
National Runners-up:
* 1989: Wrestling—NCAA Division II
* 2004: Women's Golf—NCAA Division II
* 2006: Women's Golf—NCAA Division II
* 2012: Men's Ice Hockey—NCAA Division I
*
2018: Football—NCAA Division II
Club Sports National Championships:
* 1994: Men's Ice Hockey—ACHA Division 2
Individual sports
Basketball
Led by power forward/center
Zach Hankins
Zach Hankins (born July 27, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He played college basketball for the Xavier Musketeers his senior season. As a power forward/center, H ...
in 2015-16, who had 130
blocks on the season, which led Division II and set the school single-season school record,
the team won a
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) is a competitive college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level.
The GLIAC was founded in June 1972. Its ele ...
(GLIAC) regular-season and tournament title and had a then-school record for wins with a 28–5 record. Ferris State reached the second round of the
2017 NCAA Division II Tournament before falling to GLIAC rival
Findlay 68–63. In his junior season, Hankins averaged 15.1 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 3.3 blocks per game and had a field goal percentage of 63 percent. His 128 blocks led the nation.
Hankins repeated as GLIAC Player of the Year. He was named the
National Player of the Year
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
by the
National Association of Basketball Coaches
The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of men's college basketball coaches. It was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, head men's basketball coach at the University o ...
. On the season, Ferris State compiled a 38–1 record and claimed the school’s first national championship in the
2018 NCAA Division II Tournament, defeating
Northern State in the final by a score of 71–69.
Ice hockey
The 2011–12 season marked the first time in school history that the Bulldogs reached the
NCAA Division I Ice Hockey National Championship Finals. In the national championship match at the Frozen Four the Bulldogs lost 4–1 to
Boston College
Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...
in the title contest, leading to the cheer "Save Ferris" . The season came to a close with a 26–12–5 overall record and included a trip to the Frozen Four and a national runner-up finish. Ferris State's 26 wins were the second-most in school history, and the season highlights also included the school's second-ever Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) Regular-Season Championship and a Midwest Regional crown.
Prior to the 2011–12 season, the program's best season performance in the NCAA Division I was the 2002/03 campaign with a school-best 31–10–1 overall record. The Bulldogs also claimed their first-ever CCHA Regular-Season Championship title with a first-place 22–5–1 league mark and advanced to the
NCAA Championship Tournament's West Regional title game in their initial NCAA Tourney appearance. Ferris State also earned the distinction of being the nation's first team to reach the 30-win plateau in 2002/03 and also competed in the CCHA Super Six Championship Tourney for the first time since 1993.
Football
Conferences
*1899–1937: Independent
*1938–1941:
Michigan-Ontario Collegiate Conference The Michigan-Ontario Collegiate Conference was an intercollegiate athletic conference that existed from 1930 to 1941. The league had members in the states of Michigan and Ohio as well as the Canadian province of Ontario.
Football champions
* 1930 ...
*1946–1955: Independent
*1956–1973: NAIA Independent
*1974–1989:
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) is a competitive college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level.
The GLIAC was founded in June 1972. Its ele ...
*1990–1998:
Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference
The Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference (MIFC) was a football-only NCAA Division II conference formed for the 1990 football season. The conference was formed as the result of a merger of the football only Heartland Collegiate Conference a ...
*1999–present:
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) is a competitive college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level.
The GLIAC was founded in June 1972. Its ele ...
Results
The Bulldogs had good success after
Tony Annese was hired, winning multiple GLIAC championships with quarterback Jason Vanderlann. Unfortunately even though they had good success in the regular season that did not result in post-season success. In the best seasons Ferris State football ever had they went 1–2 in the postseason. Their one win was vs 7 seed Texas A&M Commerce at home in 2015, while they got beat by ODU in 2014 and GVSU in 2015, both GVSU and ODU were in-conference teams who were lower seeds, and both losses came in Big Rapids at home. In 2016, Ferris State defeated rival Grand Valley in the playoffs in Allendale. The win sent the Bulldogs to the National Semifinals. In 2017 the Bulldogs returned to the playoffs and defeated Ouachita Baptist and Fort Hays St before losing to Harding in a 16–14 Regional Championship. The Bulldogs are currently 7–2 vs arch-rival GVSU under Coach Annese. In 2021, the Bulldogs returned again to the playoffs and would win their first National Championship in school history.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competi ...