The Pikeville Bears are the athletic teams that represent the

University of Pikeville The University of Pikeville (UPIKE) is a private university affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and located in Pikeville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1889 by the Presbyterian Church and is located on a campus on a hillside overlooking ...

, located in

Pikeville, Kentucky Pikeville () is a city in and the county seat of Pike County, Kentucky, United States. During the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, the population within Pikeville's city limits was 7,754. In Kentucky's current city classification sys ...

, in intercollegiate sports as a member 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 stu ...

(NAIA), primarily competing in the

Appalachian Athletic Conference The Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Members of the conference are located in the Southeastern United States in Tennessee, Kentuc ...

(AAC) since the 2023–24 academic year. The Bears previously competed in the

Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The River States Conference (RSC), formerly known as the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC), is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Although it was historical ...

(KIAC; now currently known as the River States Conference (RSC) since the 2016–17 school year) from 1958–59 to 1999–2000. More recently, the Bears competed in the Mid-South Conference from 2000–2001 to 2022–2023.

Conference affiliations

NAIA *

(1958–2000) *

Mid-South Conference The Mid-South Conference (MSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. The league is headquartered in Lou ...

(2000–2023) *

(2023–present)

Varsity teams

UPike competes in 25 intercollegiate varsity sports: men's sports include baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, track & field and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track & field and volleyball; and co-ed sports include archery, cheerleading, dance and eSports.

Accomplishments

Pikeville athletics have won numerous conference championships and three national championships: two in women's bowling in 2004 and 2008 and a

NAIA Division I men's basketball championship The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics men's basketball national championship has been held annually since 1937 (with the exception of 1944 and 2020). The tournament was established by James Naismith to crown a national champion for ...

in 2011.

References

External links

* {{Appalachian Athletic Conference navbox

Bears Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the North ...