The Hampton Pirates and Lady Pirates refer to the sports teams representing

Hampton University Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missionary Association af ...

Hampton, Virginia Hampton () is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 137,148. It is the List ...

in intercollegiate athletics. The Pirates and Lady Pirates compete in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the

Colonial Athletic Association The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universi ...

. The Pirates were previously 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 ...

between 1995 and 2018 and 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 ...

from 2018 to 2022.

Teams

National championships

Team

Rivalries A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

Hampton has two main rivals:

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

, also known as

The Real HU (Howard-Hampton) The Real HU is an American college football rivalry game played annually by the Bison of Howard University and the Pirates of Hampton University. The series started in 1908 and is driven by several factors, which include the close proximit ...

Rivalry

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 ...

, also known as the

Battle of the Bay (Hampton–Norfolk State) The Battle of the Bay between the Hampton Pirates and the Norfolk State State Spartans is a rivalry match-up in football between two HBCUs in the state of Virginia. History Private Hampton University and public Norfolk State University are bo ...

During Hampton's switch from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference to the Big South Conference, both rivalries were put on hold. In September 2019, Hampton will revive their rivalry with Howard during the Chicago Football Classic. The rivalry with Norfolk will resume on October 2, 2021.

Conference Switch

A member of the

, Hampton sponsors teams in eight men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports. The school also sponsors a co-ed varsity sailing team, but sailing is not an NCAA sanctioned sport. The lacrosse team competes as an independent. On November 16, 2017, Hampton announced they would be leaving the

to join the

. Hampton is one of three Division I

HBCU Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...

(after

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

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 ...

and North Carolina A&T State of the

) to be a member of a conference other than the

Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United States. It participates in t ...

.' In 2022, Hampton joined the

References

External links

Women's SoccerWomen's Volleyball
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