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The Florida Atlantic Owls are the athletics teams of
Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, and Fort Pierce. FAU belongs to the 12-ca ...
. The Owls participate in the
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 ...
(NCAA)'s Division I as members of Conference USA. On October 21, 2021, Florida Atlantic accepted the invitation to join the
American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...
(AAC) and will become a full-member on July 1, 2023. Florida Atlantic has attracted high-profile coaches in the past for various sports, including
Howard Schnellenberger Howard Leslie Schnellenberger (March 16, 1934 – March 27, 2021) was an American football coach with long service at both the professional and college levels. He held head coaching positions with the National Football League's Baltimore Colts a ...
and Lane Kiffin for football and Mike Jarvis for
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 ...
. Other former coaches include Matt Doherty, Rex Walters, and Sidney Green. As of March 2018, the Owls are led by athletic director Brian White.


The Owls

The logo and mascot of
Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, and Fort Pierce. FAU belongs to the 12-ca ...
's athletic teams is the
burrowing owl The burrowing owl (''Athene cunicularia''), also called the shoco, is a small, long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America. Burrowing owls can be found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural areas, deserts, or an ...
. Owlsley and Hoot are the names of the mascots for Florida Atlantic University. The presence of this bird has been popular on the land of the university, even preceding the construction of FAU. At the dedication ceremony in 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson even made notice and reference to the popular presence of the bird. In 1971, the National Audubon Society designated FAU's land an official owl sanctuary, honoring the tradition of the bird's presence and moving to protect the birds from attempts to expand construction of the university. Owls are still dominant in their presence on the Boca Raton campus to this day. With the addition of intercollegiate athletics in the mid-1980s, the university used the bird as its mascot - an animal that denotes wisdom, determination and cognizance.


Conference affiliations


Sports sponsored


Football

Florida Atlantic University fielded its first football team in 2001, coached by former Miami and Louisville coach
Howard Schnellenberger Howard Leslie Schnellenberger (March 16, 1934 – March 27, 2021) was an American football coach with long service at both the professional and college levels. He held head coaching positions with the National Football League's Baltimore Colts a ...
. Their first game was a 40–7 loss against
Slippery Rock University Slippery Rock University, formally Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania (The Rock or SRU), is a public university in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. SRU is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). The university ...
on September 1, 2001. After just four seasons of existence, the Owls jumped from Division I-AA (now FCS) competition to Division I-A (now FBS), joining the Sun Belt Conference. Through the 2008 season, after eight years of competing in football, the Owls are 47–47 overall. In 2007 they competed in their first bowl game, the New Orleans Bowl, where they defeated the
Memphis Tigers The Memphis Tigers are the athletic teams that represent the University of Memphis, located in Memphis, Tennessee. The teams compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the American Athletic C ...
44–27. In 2008, the Owls competed in their second straight bowl game, the
Motor City Bowl The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl (known as the Motor City Bowl until 2009) was a post-season college football bowl game that was played annually from 1997 to 2013. The first five games (1997–2001) were played at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, ...
, where they defeated the
Central Michigan Chippewas The Central Michigan Chippewas are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Central Michigan University (CMU), located in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. The school fields sixteen men's and women's intercollegiate teams that compete at the ...
by a score of 24–21. In 2010, quarterback Rusty Smith became the first FAU player to be drafted. The Owls opened their new on-campus
FAU Stadium Howard Schnellenberger Field at FAU Stadium is a college football stadium located at the north end of the main campus of Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Boca Raton, Florida. Opened in 2011, it is home to the Florida Atlantic Owls football te ...
on October 15, 2011, against
Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...
. The Owls' natural rival are the Florida International Golden Panthers, who are located just 50 miles from Florida Atlantic and also compete in Conference USA. The rivals meet annually in a conference match up named the
Shula Bowl The Shula Bowl is the name given to the Florida Atlantic–Florida International football rivalry. It is an annual college football rivalry game between the only two public universities in the Miami metropolitan area: Florida Atlantic Univer ...
, after
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...
coach Don Shula. The first Shula Bowl was played in 2002 at the Miami Dolphins' Pro Player Stadium (now
Hard Rock Stadium Hard Rock Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Miami Gardens, Florida. The stadium is the home field for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) and the Miami Hurricanes, the University of Miami's NCAA Division I coll ...
), and since alternated between FAU at Sun Life Stadium and
FIU Stadium Riccardo Silva Stadium is a college football and soccer stadium on the campus of Florida International University (FIU) in Westchester, Florida. It is home stadium of the FIU Panthers football team and the Miami FC soccer team from the USL Cha ...
annually; the first game in the series at the Owls' new stadium was in 2012. FAU leads the all-time series thirteen games to four. On December 5, 2011, the football program hired its second coach in its history; former University of Nebraska Defensive Coordinator,
Carl Pelini Carl Anthony Pelini (born July 15, 1965) is an American football coach. He served as defensive coordinator at Youngstown State University for the 2019 season. Pelini previously served as the head coach of Florida Atlantic from 2012 to 2013. He i ...
. In 2013, the Owls joined Conference USA. On December 16, 2013, the program hired its third coach in its history; Charlie Partridge. On December 12, 2016, the program hired the fourth coach in program history; Lane Kiffin. Kiffin was formerly the head coach for the Oakland Raiders of the NFL, the University of Tennessee Volunteers, and the University of Southern California as well as the former Offensive Coordinator for the University of Alabama under
Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. (; born October 31, 1951) is an American football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama since 2007. Saban previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins ...
. He led the Owls to two conference championships in 2017 and 2019, as well as a 2017 Boca Raton Bowl victory, where the Owls defeated the
Akron Zips Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city pr ...
by a score of 50-3. On December 11, 2019, FAU announced the hiring of former Florida State University head coach
Willie Taggart Willie Author Taggart (born August 27, 1976) is an American football college coach. He has held the head coach position at five NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision programs: Western Kentucky (2009 to 2012 seasons); South Florida (2013 to ...
as the next head coach. On December 21, 2019, former interim head coach and current University of South Florida defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer led the Owls to their fourth bowl victory in the Boca Raton Bowl, where the Owls defeated the
SMU Mustangs The SMU Mustangs are the athletic teams that represent Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas, United States. The Mustangs were founded in 1911 and joined the Southwest Conference, competing against Baylor, Rice, Texas, Texa ...
by a score of 52-28.


Baseball

Florida Atlantic Baseball fielded its first squad in 1981. Since inception FAU has had only three coaches. Kevin Cooney, the most successful coach in school history, was the Florida Atlantic head baseball coach from 1988 through 2008. By many accounts, Cooney built a mid-major dynasty in the baseball world.
University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,0 ...
head coach Brian Cleary called FAU "one of the country's best baseball programs," and added, "it's been an incredibly successful program over the last several years." Coach Cooney won his 800th career game on March 15, 2006, when FAU played Columbia. At FAU, Cooney won more than 700 games. The Owls baseball team plays its home games at
FAU Baseball Stadium FAU Baseball Stadium is a baseball venue located in Boca Raton, Florida, United States. It has been home to the Florida Atlantic Owls baseball team since 1991.
.FAU Baseball Stadium
at fausports.com, URL accessed June 28, 2010

06-28-10
Currently the Owls are coached by long-time assistant for Cooney, John McCormack. McCormack was an assistant under Cooney at FAU for 18 seasons. 40+ years of Florida Atlantic baseball: *12 Regionals (1985, 1993, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2019) *1 Super Regional (2002) *7 Regular Season Conference Championships (1983, 1999, 2003, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2019) *2 Conference Tournament Championships (2004, 2013) *
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 ...
record of 34 consecutive wins (February 19, 1999 – March 16, 1999) *21
All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...
ns *10 Freshmen
All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...
ns *112 players sign professionally *12 players reach the majors


Basketball

FAU basketball began play in 1988 and in its 19+ seasons has experienced limited success, marred with frequent coaching changes. Along with the other FAU athletics teams, basketball entered the Sun Belt Conference in the 2006–2007 season, and has shown signs of maturing into a national competitor. The Owls competed on the Division II level from 1988 to 1993 before joining the
Atlantic Sun 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 Div ...
when moving to Division I in the 1993–1994 season. *December 1, 1998: FAU played
Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
in the
Gallagher-Iba Arena Gallagher-Iba Arena, also once known as ''"The Rowdiest Arena in the Country"'' and ''"The Madison Square Garden of the Plains”'', is the basketball and wrestling venue at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. Origi ...
in
Stillwater, Oklahoma Stillwater ( iow, Ñápinⁿje, ''meaning: "Water quiet"'') is a city in, and the county seat of, Payne County, Oklahoma, United States. It is located in north-central Oklahoma at the intersection of U.S. Route 177 and State Highway 51. As of t ...
. The Cowboys were undefeated and ranked in the top 10 of both national polls. FAU shocked the nation and upset OSU 83–81. This is still considered the biggest upset in FAU basketball history. *2002 season: FAU won the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship, defeating Georgia State 76–75 in the Championship Game of the conference tournament. The Owls received a 15-seed in the national tournament, but fell short in a bid to upset 2nd-seeded
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...
. The Owls were coached by Rex Walters in 2006–2008, a former standout at
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 ...
. Walters played a major role in the Jayhawks' run to the Final Four in 1993. Coach Walters became the 6th head coach of FAU basketball, after Matt Doherty left the university a year into his tenure to coach at SMU. The Owls are currently coached by Dusty May, in his first head coaching opportunity. The Owls play at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena, formerly known as FAU Arena & RoofClaim.com Arena and commonly referred to as The Burrow.


Softball

In 2007, their first year as a member in the Sun Belt Conference, the FAU women's softball team became Sun Belt Conference champions winning both the Sun Belt regular-season and the Sun Belt tournament title. Florida Atlantic University is only the second Sun Belt champion in league history, knocking off defending champions Louisiana-Lafayette, which had won the first seven Sun Belt titles. Additionally, the Lady Owls were only one of two teams to win their final post season game. Coach Joan Joyce was named the Sun Belt's Coach of the Year after guiding the Owls to the top of the conference. Prior to joining the Sun Belt Conference, FAU softball had won nine Atlantic Sun Conference titles in the previous 10 years.


Non-varsity sports


Ice hockey

The Florida Atlantic University Ice Hockey Club participates in Division II of the Collegiate Hockey Federation (CHF) and has been a member of the College Hockey South (CHS) since the 2019-2020 season. The Owls competed in the ACHA National Tournament in 2005 & 2011 and qualified for the Regional Tournament in the 2017-2018 and 2019-2020 seasons. Open tryouts are held at the beginning of the fall semester in preparation for the 25+ multi-conference season games, the CHS Playoffs, and the CHF Federation Cup.


Rivalries


Florida International

The rivalry between Florida Atlantic and Florida International started in 2002 when FIU's newly formed football program signed on to an annual matchup with FAU, alternating between home fields; the game has come to be called the
Shula Bowl The Shula Bowl is the name given to the Florida Atlantic–Florida International football rivalry. It is an annual college football rivalry game between the only two public universities in the Miami metropolitan area: Florida Atlantic Univer ...
. FAU leads the football series 16-4 as of 2022. On the basketball court, FAU leads the series 21-18 as of 2023.


Facilities

Source:


Traditions

Owlsley & Hoot are the official mascots of Florida Atlantic. Fight song: The Florida Atlantic University
fight song A fight song is a rousing short song associated with a sports team. The term is most common in the United States and Canada. In Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand these songs are called the team anthem, team song, or games song. First associated ...
was created in 2004, in response to the university's growing football program. FAU fielded its first
marching band A marching band is a group of musical instrument, instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass instrument, brass, woodwind instrument, woodwind, and percus ...
in the 2002 football season, collectively called the Florida Atlantic Marching Owls. *A growing tradition at football and basketball games is a marching band rendition of the songs "
Move Along ''Move Along'' is the second studio album by the American rock band The All-American Rejects, released on July 12, 2005, by Interscope Records. It spawned three top 15 singles, which helped the album ship 2 million units to be certified double ...
" by
The All-American Rejects The All-American Rejects is an American rock band from Stillwater, Oklahoma, formed in 1999.Sugar, We're Goin' Down" by
Fall Out Boy Fall Out Boy is an American rock band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer Andy Hurle ...
and " Time Warp" from the movie ''
The Rocky Horror Picture Show ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is a 1975 musical comedy horror film by 20th Century Fox, produced by Lou Adler and Michael White and directed by Jim Sharman. The screenplay was written by Sharman and actor Richard O'Brien, who is also ...
''. *During a
free-throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the Key (basketball), restricted ...
attempt by an Owl at home basketball games, the
student section A student section or student cheering section is a group of student fans that supports its school's athletic teams at sporting events; they are known for being one of the most visible and vocal sections of a sports crowd as well as for their occa ...
holds up both arms and makes ''owl fingers'' with their fingers (in the form of the traditional OK sign). When the shot is made, the students follow with: ''Stomp, stomp, clap, clap'' and yell F-A-U! This is quickly followed by a circular motion of the owl fingers of the right hand over the head to represent a flying owl. *At the beginning and end of basketball games, a rap song titled "Represent FAU" is played. The song is rapped by a group that attended the university. *Owl fans have traditionally worn red to support the athletics teams during rivalry games, made popular by the "Real Fans Wear Red" shirts and the "Bury the Burrow in Red" events (the Burrow is the nickname for Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena). Fans wear FAU Blue or FAU Red for non-rivalry games.


Media

FAU Owls home and road games for football and
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 ...
can be heard locally (the tri-county area of South Florida - Palm Beach, Broward, and
Miami-Dade Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in ...
counties) on WMEN
Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...
640 AM South Florida (formerly known as "640 The Hurricane Sports Radio") on the radio, on the station's webstream, and thru their stream on the
TuneIn TuneIn is a global audio streaming service delivering live news, radio, sports, music, and podcasts to over 75 million monthly active users. TuneIn is operated by the company TuneIn Inc. which is based in San Francisco, California. The compan ...
application. The voice of Owls football is part-time
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
106.3 West Palm 's Ken LaVicka. All football and basketball games can be heard live o
FAU's website
as well. Occasional FAU football and, as of 2019, all FAU men's basketball games are broadcast by ESPN+, the streaming service from
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
. Other networks that have broadcast FAU games in recent years include FOX, ESPNU,
NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League (NFL) and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and NF ...
,
CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known a ...
, Stadium, and ABC.


Hall of Fame

For an alphabetical list of inductees, see footnote The Florida Atlantic University Athletic Hall of Fame inducted its inaugural class of members in 2006.


Notable Hall of Famers

*
Steve Traylor Steve Traylor (born February 15, 1951) is an American former college baseball and basketball coach. In basketball, he was the head coach of Greensboro College. In baseball, he was the head coach at Florida Atlantic, Duke, and Wofford. Traylor ...
(baseball, former head coach) *
Yolanda Griffith Yolanda Evette Griffith (born March 1, 1970) is an American professional basketball hall of fame player who played in both the ABL and WNBA. A former WNBA MVP, she is considered one of the greatest rebounders and defensive players in the history ...
(women's basketball, F) *
Howard Schnellenberger Howard Leslie Schnellenberger (March 16, 1934 – March 27, 2021) was an American football coach with long service at both the professional and college levels. He held head coaching positions with the National Football League's Baltimore Colts a ...
(football, founding head coach) * John McCormack (baseball, head coach) *
Brittany Bowe Brittany Starr Bowe (born February 24, 1988) is an American speed skater and former inline skater and basketball player. She has eight gold, one silver, and two bronze medals from the world inline speedskating championships. From her junior year ...
(women's basketball, PG) * Joan Joyce (softball, head coach)


References


External links

* {{Navboxes , titlestyle = {{CollegePrimaryStyle, Florida Atlantic Owls, color=white , list = {{Conference USA navbox {{American Athletic Conference navbox {{Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association navbox {{South Florida Sports {{Divison1floridacolleges {{Florida College Sports