The Fort Hays State Tigers are the athletic teams that represent

Fort Hays State University Fort Hays State University (FHSU) is a public university in Hays, Kansas. It is the fourth-largest of the six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents, with a total enrollment of approximately 15,100 students. History FHSU w ...

, located in Hays,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the

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 ...

ranks, primarily competing in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) for most of its sports since the 2006–07 academic year; while its men's soccer team competes in the Great American Conference (GAC). The Tigers previously competed in the

Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) from approximately 1910 through the late 1960s, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (N ...

(RMAC) from 1989–90 to 2005–06 (which they were a member on a previous stint from 1968–69 to 1971–72); in the Central States Intercollegiate Conference (CSIC) 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 st ...

(NAIA) from 1976–77 to 1988–89; in the

Great Plains Athletic Conference The Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The con ...

(GPAC) from 1972–73 to 1975–76; in the

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Central Intercollegiate Conference (CIC) was an American intercollegiate athletic conference that operated from 1928 to 1968. It was less often referred to as the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIAC), particularly towards the begin ...

(CIC) from 1923–24 to 1967–68; and in the

Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The KCAC is the oldest conference in the NAIA and the second oldest in the United Stat ...

(KCAC) from 1902–03 to 1922–23.

Athletics department overview

Fort Hays State offers eighteen sports at a varsity level. Entering the 2010–2011 school year, Fort Hays State has captured 58 Conference titles. They also have captured nine total national championships.

Conference membership history

* 1902–1927: Kansas Intercollegiate Athletic Association * 1928–1968: Central Intercollegiate Conference * 1969–1975:

* 1976–1990:

* 1991–2006:

* 2006–present: Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association

Varsity teams

Fort Hays State competes in 18 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball.

Basketball

Men's

The Fort Hays State

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

program holds several national basketball titles; the men's team claimed national championships in 1984 and 1985 ( NAIA), back to back, and in 1996 (

) with a remarkable 34–0 record. In 2020, the team upset Division I

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

with an 81–68 victory.

Women's

The women's basketball team also brought home the national title in 1991 (NAIA). The team is currently coached by Tony Hobson.

Football

The football program at Fort Hays began in 1902. The first year a coach was assigned to the team was 1913 when

Ira Van Cleave Ira Harlan "Sphinx" Van Cleave (July 30, 1888 – May 29, 1943) was an American football, basketball, baseball, and track and field coach, athletics administrator, and physical education instructor. He served as the head football coach at Fort Hay ...

led the team to a record of 4 wins and 2 losses.College Football Data Warehouse
Fort Hays State 1913 results Other coaches in the school's history include Wayne J. McConnell, Jim Gilstrap, James J. Yeager, and former

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Andrew Frank Schoeppel Andrew Frank Schoeppel (November 23, 1894 – January 21, 1962) was an American politician and a member of the Republican Party. He was the 29th governor of Kansas from 1943 to 1947 and a U.S. Senator from 1949 until his death. He was born in 18 ...

. The coach beginning in 2011 is Chris Brown. Fort Hays State captured their first ever MIAA conference championship with a 13–12 win over Northwest Missouri State University on November 4, 2017, as they won their 10th game of the season against no losses with one regular season game against the University of Nebraska at Kearney remaining.

References

External links

* {{Kansas Sports