The Golden Hurricane are the
athletic teams that represent the
University of Tulsa
The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church and the campus architectural style is predominantly Collegiate Gothic. The school traces its origin to ...
. These teams are referred to as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (or variously as TU or Tulsa). Before adopting the name Golden Hurricane in 1922, the University of Tulsa (TU) had many unofficial team nicknames including Kendallites (from TU's predecessor institution
Henry Kendall College), Presbyterians (from the university's founding by the
Presbyterian Church
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
), Tulsans, Tigers, Orange and Black, and Yellow Jackets. The name "Golden Tornadoes" was chosen by TU football coach H.M. Archer (1922–24) based on new gold and black uniforms (rather than the previous orange and black) and a remark made during practice of the team "roaring through opponents" (during a season when TU went undefeated, including wins over
Texas A&M
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
and the
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...
). However, it was quickly discovered that the same name had been chosen in 1917 by
Georgia Tech
The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...
. Archer then substituted the term "
hurricane
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
" for "
tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...
" and a team vote prior to leaving for the game against Texas A&M confirmed the official nickname as "Golden Hurricane".
Varsity sports
![The American logo in Tulsa colors](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/The_American_logo_in_Tulsa_colors.svg)
The Tulsa Golden Hurricane is a member of 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) ...
(The American). The Golden Hurricane were members of
Conference USA
Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...
from 2005 to 2014, winning 40 conference championships, including 16 postseason titles and nine regular season crowns (including three West Division titles). It's the most C-USA titles (Rice is second with 16) since the league re-aligned in 2005–06. It was a member of the
Western Athletic Conference
The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...
from 1996–2004 and the
Missouri Valley Conference
The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest.
History
The MVC was established ...
from 1935 to 1996. In 1985, the MVC dropped football so Tulsa participated as an
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
in football, but remained as an MVC member in other sports, including basketball. Prior to 1935, Tulsa was a member of several conferences.
On April 2, 2013, Tulsa announced that in July 2014 it would leave C-USA for the
Big East Conference
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and M ...
, which would rename itself the following day as 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) ...
(The American).
Tulsa has won six national championships (three NCAA): four in women's golf and two in men's basketball. The University of Tulsa currently fields a varsity team in eight men's sports and ten women's sports.
Football
Tulsa has the smallest undergraduate enrollment of all schools that participate in NCAA
Division I FBS
The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). A ...
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
. The football team is coached by
Philip Montgomery, who was the Offensive Coordinator at Baylor for 7 years. He replaced
Bill Blankenship
Bill Blankenship (born December 12, 1956) is an American football coach and former player. He was the head coach of the University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane from 2011 through 2014.Eric Bailey"Bill Blankenship named new Tulsa football coach" ''Tu ...
who replaced
Todd Graham
Michael Todd Graham (born December 5, 1964) is an American football coach and former player. He was most recently the head football coach at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (2020–2021). Graham has served as the head football coach at Rice ...
who had replaced
Steve Kragthorpe, who led the team to three
bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...
s in four seasons before accepting the head coaching job at the
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...
after the 2006–7 season. Graham, a former Tulsa
defensive coordinator
A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...
, returned to the team after serving as the head coach at
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...
for one season.
Tulsa has appeared in five
bowl games
In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Division I Fo ...
between the 2003 and 2008 seasons, including four straight: the
2005 Liberty Bowl,
2006 Armed Forces Bowl,
2008 GMAC Bowl, and
2009 GMAC Bowl
The 2009 GMAC Bowl was the tenth anniversary edition of the GMAC Bowl, an American college football bowl game. The contest was played on January 6, 2009, as part of the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season at Ladd–Peebles Stadium in Mobil ...
. Tulsa's football teams have appeared in a total of 16 bowl games and Tulsa was the first university to play in five straight New Year's Day bowl games: the
1942 Sun Bowl,
1943 Sugar Bowl,
1944 Sugar Bowl,
1945 Orange Bowl, and
1946 Oil Bowl. Tulsa football finished the 1991 season ranked 21st in the nation by the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
and
USA Today/Coaches polls. During the 2008 season Tulsa football was ranked as high as 19th nationally by the AP poll, and 18th in both the
BCS rankings and
USA Today/Coaches poll. Tulsa also led all Division I FBS schools in total offense in 2008 (7,978 yds) and in 2007 (7,832 yds). Tulsa football finished the 2010 season ranked 24th in the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
poll and finished the 2012 season ranked 25th in the
USA Today/Coaches poll.
The University of Tulsa has three
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...
inductees.
Steve Largent
Stephen Michael Largent (born September 28, 1954) is an American former football wide receiver and politician who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. A member of the Republican Party, he serv ...
and the late
Jim Finks
James Edward Finks (August 31, 1927 – May 8, 1994) was an American football and Canadian football player, coach, and executive.
Early life and playing career
Finks was born in St. Louis, Missouri, attended high school in Salem, Illinois, and a ...
were members of the 1995 class, while
Bob St. Clair
Robert Bruce St. Clair (February 18, 1931 – April 20, 2015) was a professional American football player. Because of his eccentricities, his teammates nicknamed him "The Geek".Graham Kislingbury"Bob St. Clair: The King of Kezar" ''Corvallis Gaz ...
was a 1990 inductee. TU shares the lead for the most NFL Hall of Famers among the Division I FBS football schools in the state of Oklahoma. The University of Tulsa can also take much of the credit for developing the
passing game in collegiate football in the 1960s. Tulsa led the nation in passing in 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1966. Quarterbacks
Jerry Rhome
Jerry Byron Rhome (born March 6, 1942) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns, Houston Oilers and Los Angeles Rams. He closed out his professional career with the ...
(1964) and
Billy Guy Anderson (1965) and receiver
Howard Twilley
Howard James Twilley Jr. (born December 25, 1943) is a former American football player. He played college football at the University of Tulsa and was the runner up for the Heisman Trophy in 1965. Twilley played professionally as a wide recei ...
(1964–65) set most of the NCAA passing and receiving records, some of which still stand today.
Basketball
The Tulsa Golden Hurricane
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
program has had a history of success, including
NIT championships in 1981 and 2001, an
Elite Eight
In the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship or the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship, the "Elite Eight" comprises the final eight teams, representing the regional finals, or national quarterfinals. In Division I and Divis ...
appearance in 2000, three Sweet Sixteen appearances, and 14 trips to the
Big Dance. The Golden Hurricane have a
long-standing basketball rivalry with
Oral Roberts Golden Eagles
The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles are the sixteen college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Oral Roberts University, located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Golden Eagles compete at the National Collegiate Athle ...
. The two teams have exchanged a
traveling trophy
A trophy is a tangible, durable reminder of a specific achievement, and serves as a recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are often awarded for sporting events, from youth sports to professional level athletics. In many sports medals (or, ...
, the
Mayor's Cup. Tulsa is also known for developing many coaches who have gone on to great success in the NCAA, including current
Texas Tech men's basketball coach Tubby Smith
Orlando Henry "Tubby" Smith (born June 30, 1951) is an American college basketball coach. He was the men's basketball coach at High Point University, his alma mater. Smith previously served in the same role at the University of Tulsa, the Univers ...
, who won a national championship while he coached at the
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...
,
Kansas' Bill Self
Billy Eugene Self Jr. (born December 27, 1962) is an American basketball coach. He is the head men's basketball coach at the University of Kansas, a position he has held since 2003. During his 19 seasons as head coach, he has led the Jayhawks to ...
, and one of
Arkansas' most notable former coaches,
Nolan Richardson
Nolan Richardson Jr. (born December 27, 1941) is a former American basketball head coach best known for his tenure at the University of Arkansas, where he won the 1994 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and led the Razorbacks to three F ...
, who is the only head coach to win the NJCAA tournament (with Western Texas Junior College), the NIT (with Tulsa), and the NCAA tournament (with Arkansas). The current men's basketball head coach is
Frank Haith
Frank James Haith Jr. (born November 3, 1965) is an American men's basketball coach, currently serving as an assistant coach for the University of Memphis. He previously served as head coach of the Tulsa Golden Hurricane from 2014 to 2022, and pr ...
.
In 2006, the Tulsa women's basketball team earned its first appearance in the
NCAA tournament by winning Conference USA's regular-season and tournament championships. The Golden Hurricane's accomplishment came after back-to-back 19-win seasons and
WNIT appearances in 2004 and 2005. Tulsa also appeared in the 2002 WNIT, making it to the second round.
Men's soccer
![College soccer yates iu v tulsa 2004](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/College_soccer_yates_iu_v_tulsa_2004.jpg)
The Tulsa Men's Soccer team has a strong history since it became a varsity sport in 1980. TU has won four conference championships (1991 MVC, 2007, 2008, 2009 C-USA) and eight conference tournaments (1991 MVC, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012 C-USA, 2014, 2015, 2016 AAC). Tulsa holds the NCAA record for both consecutive home wins and consecutive home games without a loss, set during the same stretch of 39 games from 1988 to 1992. The Golden Hurricane has twice reached the elite-eight of the
NCAA Men's Soccer Championship
The NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament, sometimes known as the College Cup, is an American intercollegiate soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I men's national champ ...
, falling to eventual champion
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
in 2004 and top seeded
Akron
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 prop ...
in 2009. Tulsa has participated in 11 NCAA tournaments (1991, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016) and has been frequently ranked in the top 25. The school has produced first team
All-American,
Ryan Pore
Ryan Pore (born September 23, 1983 in Mansfield, Ohio) is an American former professional soccer player and the current head men's soccer coach of he Kansas City Roos men's soccer team at the University of Missouri–Kansas City.
Career
Youth a ...
, who played for the
Portland Timbers
The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...
, and
Kansas City Wizards
Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and the team clubhouse and ...
of
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
.
Terry Boss
Terrence Boss (born September 1, 1981) is a retired professional soccer goalkeeper and a collegiate soccer coach.
Career
College and Amateur
Boss played college soccer for the University of Tulsa from 2000–2004, starting 20 games, and also fea ...
of
Seattle Sounders FC
Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...
and
Lawson Vaughn of
D.C. United
D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...
are former Golden Hurricane currently playing in MLS.
Dominic Cervi
Dominic Cervi (born July 9, 1986) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper.
Personal life
Cervi grew up in Norman, Oklahoma. He played eight seasons for his youth club, Norman Celtic '86. He attended Norman Nor ...
plays for
Celtic F.C.
The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a Scottish professional football club based in Glasgow, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. The club was founded in 1887 with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the immigran ...
of
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, and fellow goalkeeper
Tyrel Lacey
Tyrel Lacey (born 8 February 1986) is an American soccer goalkeeper who is a free agent.
Personal
Lacey grew up in Jenks, Oklahoma. He played for youth club Tulsa Nationals '86 and also attended Jenks High School.
Club career College
Lacey pla ...
has signed with
FC Lyn Oslo
Lyn 1896 Fotballklubb () is a Norwegian football club and a department of the sports club Ski- og Fotballklubben Lyn based in Oslo, whose members also participate in Nordic skiing and orienteering. Until 2010, SFK Lyn had two football departm ...
of
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
. Since 1995, the head coach has been Tom McIntosh, a prominent figure in Tulsa soccer for over 20 years. The team plays in the
Hurricane Soccer & Track Stadium.
Tennis
The Golden Hurricane Tennis program has string of success, including men's Missouri Valley championships in 1995 and 1996, men's Conference USA championships in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2011 and women's Conference USA championships in 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2011. In 2007, Tulsa's top-ranked player
Arnau Brugués-Davi Arnau may refer to:
Places
*Arnau Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria, a medieval church in Arnau (modern Rodniki) east of Kaliningrad
*German name for Hostinné, a town in the Czech Republic
* University Hospital Arnau de Vilanova, a public m ...
ranked as high as #1 in the nation and a four time All-American, advanced to the quarterfinals of the singles competition at the
NCAA Men's Tennis Championship
The NCAA Men's Tennis Championships are annual tournaments held in the spring to crown team, singles, and doubles champions in American college tennis. The first intercollegiate championship was held in 1883, 23 years before the founding of the NCA ...
, improving on his 2006 round of sixteen appearance. The University of Tulsa also boasts one of the nation's top tennis facilities, the
Michael D. Case Tennis Center
The Michael D. Case Tennis Center is a 2,000-seat tennis arena on the campus of the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The center officially opened on 2001-12-14 and was named after Mike Case, a local developer and philanthropist. In 2003, t ...
, which was host to the 2004 and 2008 NCAA tennis championships.
Women's golf
TU has won four team national titles in women's golf: the 1980 and 1982
AIAW
The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...
titles and the 1982 and 1988
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 ...
titles, with the 1988 title later vacated. Golfers
Nancy Lopez
Nancy Marie Lopez (born January 6, 1957) is an American former professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1977 and won 48 LPGA Tour events, including three major championships.
Amateur career
Lopez won the New Mexico Women's ...
(1976),
Kathy Baker
}
Katherine Whitton Baker (born June 8, 1950) is an American actress. Baker began her career in theater and made her screen debut in the 1983 drama film '' The Right Stuff''. She received the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Suppor ...
(1982 AIAW), and
Melissa McNamara
Melissa McNamara Luellen (born May 25, 1966) is the head women's golf coach for Auburn University, and a former American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour.
Career
McNamara was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She played college golf at t ...
(1988) have won individual national titles. Other notable Golden Hurricane female golfers are
Stacy Prammanasudh and
Kelly Robbins
Kelly Robbins (born September 29, 1969) is a former American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1992 and won nine LPGA Tour events, including one major championship, during her career.
Amateur career
Robbins was born i ...
. The team has won 12 conference championships:
*
Missouri Valley Conference
The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest.
History
The MVC was established ...
(3): 1994–96
*
Western Athletic Conference
The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...
(7): 1999–2005
*
Conference USA
Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...
(2): 2008, 2012
Men's golf
The men's golf team has won 11 conference championships:
*
Missouri Valley Conference
The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest.
History
The MVC was established ...
(8): 1982, 1987–88, 1990–91, 1994–96
*
Western Athletic Conference
The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...
(2): 2002, 2005 (co-champions)
*
Conference USA
Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...
(1): 2007
Baseball
Tulsa's baseball team played in the
College World Series
The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...
twice, finishing in second and third place. In
1969 the Golden Hurricane made it to the final game of the double-elimination tournament before losing to
Arizona State
Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
. First baseman Steve Caves and third baseman Les Rogers were named to the all-tournament team. In
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6).
The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history.
Events
Ja ...
Tulsa lasted until the next-to-last game of the tournament before being eliminated. First baseman
Jerry Tabb
Jerry Lynn Tabb (born March 17, 1952) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played all or part of three seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1976 until 1978, for the Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics.
Amateur ca ...
was named the tournament's most valuable player; pitcher
Steve Rogers and outfielder
Steve Bowling
Stephen Shaddon Bowling (born June 26, 1952) is a former Major League Baseball player. Bowling played for the Milwaukee Brewers in and the Toronto Blue Jays in . He batted and threw right-handed. Bowling played football and baseball at Webster ...
were also named to the all-tournament team.
[W. C. Madden, Patrick J. Stewart, ''The College World Series: A Baseball History, 1947–2003'' (]McFarland Publishing
McFarland & Company, Inc., is an American independent book publisher based in Jefferson, North Carolina, that specializes in academic and reference works, as well as general-interest adult nonfiction. Its president is Rhonda Herman. Its former ...
, 2004), , pp. 92–96, 102–104
Excerpts available
at Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...
. Tulsa held the number one ranking in the polls for part of the 1972 season
[John Klein]
"TU reunion was a reminder of its baseball past"
''Tulsa World
The ''Tulsa World'' is the daily newspaper for the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma. Tulsa World Media Company is part of Lee Enterprises. The new owners announced in January 202 ...
'', June 18, 2006 before being knocked out of that year's playoffs at the district level.
Of the Tulsa baseball players who later played in the major leagues, the most successful was Steve Rogers, who pitched for 12 years with the
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...
and was selected to five
All-Star teams. Other Hurricanes who played in the majors included
Bud Bloomfield
Clyde Stalcup "Bud" Bloomfield (January 5, 1936 – December 21, 2011) was an American professional baseball player. A backup infielder, he had an eight-year career in minor league baseball, interrupted by brief Major League appearances for the ...
, Steve Bowling,
Mark Calvert
Mark Calvert (born September 29, 1956) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the San Francisco Giants.[Mardie Cornejo
Nieves Mardie Cornejo (born August 5, 1951) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher who played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets. Cornejo played collegiately at University of Tulsa (TU), and is the father of fo ...](_blank)
,
Mike Sember
Michael David Sember (born February 24, 1953) is an American former professional baseball player. Primarily a shortstop in minor league baseball, he appeared in 12 games in the Major Leagues in –, most often as a late-inning defensive replacem ...
, and Jerry Tabb.
Tulsa dropped its baseball program in 1980, citing rising costs and the need to fund a full women's sports program.
Gene Shell
Eugene Franklin Shell (April 16, 1930 – October 8, 2020) was an American baseball, basketball, and American football, football coach. He played college baseball and college basketball at Northeastern State University, Northeastern State and Sout ...
, who had coached the program from 1965 to 1980, finished his career at Tulsa with a 478–199 record, and was the fourth winningest coach in college baseball when the program ended. In recent years, the university has been reported on several occasions to be considering whether to restore the baseball program; a formal study was conducted in 2009 after the
Tulsa Drillers
The Tulsa Drillers are a minor league baseball team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers major-league club.
Stadium
The Drillers play at ONEOK Field (pronounc ...
moved into their new
downtown stadium, leaving
Drillers Stadium
Drillers Stadium was a former minor league baseball stadium located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. From 1981 to 2009, Drillers Stadium was home to the Tulsa Drillers, of the Double-A Texas League. For a number of years Drillers Stadium also hosted one of th ...
potentially available for college baseball, but the school concluded that the financial demands of adding a new sport were more than it could accept.
Other sports
The Golden Hurricane softball team won Conference USA regular season and tournament championships in 2006 and 2009. The men's golf team won the Conference USA championship in 2007.
Mascot
From 1994 to 2009, Tulsa's mascot was ''Captain 'Cane'', an
anthropomorphized
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
golden
hurricane
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
with human attributes such as biceps, clothes, and a perpetual smirk. This representation of Captain 'Cane was named by
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 Fo ...
as the second worst mascot in the country. From 1977 to 1994, the mascot was known as ''Hurc'' or ''Huffy''.
[Bailey, Eric]
TU unveils new Captain 'Cane mascot
''Tulsa World
The ''Tulsa World'' is the daily newspaper for the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma. Tulsa World Media Company is part of Lee Enterprises. The new owners announced in January 202 ...
'', September 21, 2009. In 2009, Captain Cane was redesigned as a human superhero with the power to summon weather.
Championships
As of July 2, 2015, Tulsa has 3 team national championships (one NCAA and two AIAW titles), all in women's golf.
During the one year of overlapping dual NCAA and AIAW championships (1981–82), Tulsa was the only school to win both championships in one sport.
NCAA team championships
Tulsa has won one NCAA team national championship.
*Women's (1)
**NCAA
Golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
(1): 1982
Other team championships
*Women's (2)
**
AIAW
The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...
Golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
(2): 1980, 1982
See also:
*
American Athletic Conference NCAA team championships
*
References
External links
*
{{Oklahoma college sports