The Troy Trojans are the sports teams of

Troy University Troy University is a public university in Troy, Alabama. It was founded in 1887 as Troy State Normal School within the Alabama State University System, and is now the flagship university of the Troy University System. Troy University is accredi ...

. They began playing in the

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 ...

Division I-A 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). As ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, became 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 ...

only member of the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

in 2004, and joined that conference for all other sports in 2005. Troy University's athletics nickname was the Red Wave until the early 1970s when the student body voted to change the name to Trojans. Prior to becoming a member of NCAA Division One athletics in 1993, Troy University was a member of the

Gulf South Conference The Gulf South Conference (GSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Southeastern United States. History Originally known as the Mid ...

of the NCAA Division II ranks. At the time, Troy's primary rivals were

Jacksonville State University Jacksonville State University (JSU) is a public university in Jacksonville, Alabama. Founded in 1883, Jacksonville State offers programs of study in six academic schools leading to bachelor's degree, bachelor's, master's degree, master's, educati ...

, Livingston University (now the

University of West Alabama The University of West Alabama (UWA) is a public university in Livingston, Alabama. Founded in 1835, the school began as a church-supported school for young women called Livingston Female Academy. The original Board of Trustees of Livingston F ...

), and the

University of North Alabama The University of North Alabama (UNA) is a public university in Florence, Alabama. It is the state's oldest public university. Occupying a campus in a residential section of Florence, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes ...

. The rivalry between Troy and Jacksonville State was arguably the fiercest of those. However, since Troy University moved to Division I-A participation in football and because Troy and JSU no longer share the same conference affiliation, this once heated rivalry has cooled significantly. Troy has Sun Belt rivalries with all East Division schools (Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, and South Alabama). Currently, the Trojans' most prominent rival in all sports is their main Sun Belt rival,

South Alabama South Alabama is the various parts of southern Alabama. Although it is not a strictly defined geographic region, it generally includes all Alabama counties south of the Black Belt. In that view, ''South Alabama'' consists of just the two counties ...

Sports sponsored

A member of the

, Troy sponsors teams in eight men's and nine women's

sanctioned sports.

Men

Football

Troy University has fielded a football team continuously since 1946. Troy has won national championships at the NAIA level in 1968 and at 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 ...

level in 1984 and 1987. Troy University football began playing in the NCAA's Division I-A in 2001, became a football only member of the

in 2004, and joined that conference for all other sports in 2005. In 2001, Troy defeated

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

Starkville, Mississippi Starkville is a city in, and the county seat of, Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, United States. Mississippi State University is a land-grant institution and is located partially in Starkville but primarily in an adjacent unincorporated area desig ...

to notch the Trojans' first victory over a BCS level program. On September 9, 2004, the Trojans garnered the program's first win over a ranked opponent when they defeated then #17 ranked

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, 24-14, upsetting former Heisman-hopeful

Brad Smith Brad or Bradley Smith may refer to: Sportspeople * Bradley Smith (cricketer) (born 1969), English former cricketer * Brad Smith (footballer, born 1948), Australian rules footballer and premiership coach of East Fremantle * Brad Smith (ice hockey) ...

's Heisman Trophy chances. Three years later in 2007, the Trojans routed

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 M ...

at home by a score of 41-23. The Trojan football team made its first bowl game appearance in the

Silicon Valley Football Classic The Silicon Valley Football Classic (SVFC), sometimes referred to as the Silicon Valley Bowl or Silicon Valley Classic, was an National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA-certified Division I-A post-season college football bowl game that was ...

against

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...

on December 30, 2004, but lost. The Trojans won their first bowl game on December 20, 2006 at the

New Orleans Bowl The New Orleans Bowl is an NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game that has been played annually since 2001. It is normally held at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans; when the Superdome and the rest of the city suffered damage due to ...

against

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 ...

by a score of 41-17. The football program won five straight Sun Belt titles from 2006 to 2010, finishing their run in 2010 with a New Orleans Bowl win over

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

by a score of 48-21. At the end of the 2014 season, longtime head coach

Larry Blakeney Larry Blakeney (born September 21, 1947) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Troy University from 1991 to 2014, compiling a record of 178–113–1 in 24 seasons. He is one of only two coaches t ...

retired from coaching. He finished his career at Troy with a 178-113-1 record, 8 conference championships, and 5 bowl appearances. He was inducted into the

Alabama Sports Hall of Fame The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame (ASHOF) is a state museum located in Birmingham, Alabama, dedicated to communicating the state’s athletic history. The museum displays over 5,000 objects related to athletes who were born in Alabama or earned fame ...

in 2009.

Neal Brown Neal Brown (born March 11, 1980) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at West Virginia University. Brown was previously the head coach at Troy University from 2015 to 2018. Brown also previously ...

was hired as head coach following Blakeney's retirement. After starting his first season ever as a head coach in 2015, going 4-8, he led a monumental turnaround for the football program in the 2016 season, as the Trojan finished 10-3, including a 28-23 win over

in the

Dollar General Bowl The LendingTree Bowl is a postseason NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game that has been played annually in Mobile, Alabama since 1999. In 2021, the game was moved from Ladd-Peebles Stadium to Hancock Whitney Stadium, on the c ...

. During that season, Troy cracked the

AP Top 25 The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

for the first time since the program joined the FBS in 2001. Troy was also the first football program in the

to ever receive a Top 25 ranking.

Chip Lindsey Chip Lindsey (born September 9, 1974) is an American college football coach and former player who is currently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He served as the head coach at Troy ...

was hired after Neal Brown accepted the head coaching position at

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

in 2019. Lindsey had an overall record of 15-19 while at Troy. He was fired November 21, 2021 with one game left in the season. Defensive coordinator Brandon Hall served as interim head coach until

Jon Sumrall Jon Sumrall (born July 5, 1982) is an American college football coach. He is the head football coach at Troy University, a position he has held since the 2022 season. Coaching career Sumrall began his coaching career at his alma mater, Kentucky, ...

was hired December 2, 2021. Sumrall previously served as assistant head coach under Neal Brown from 2015-2017. During his first season as head coach Sumrall lead the Trojans 12-2. The Trojans hosted

Coastal Carolina Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, it became an in ...

for the

Sunbelt Conference Championship The Sun Belt is a region of the United States generally considered to stretch across the Southeast and Southwest. Another rough definition of the region is the area south of the 36th parallel. Several climates can be found in the region — de ...

December 3, 2022 where the Trojans took home a 45-26 victory. Following the championship victory, Troy was ranked No. 24 in the CFP Rankings. This was the first time the Trojans had been ranked by the CFP Committee in program history. Troy also earned a No. 23 ranking in the

and was also ranked No. 24 in the

Coaches Poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officially ...

. On December 16, 2022 Troy defeated UTSA in the

Cure Bowl The Cure Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game that has been played in December of each year in Orlando, Florida since 2015. It was originally held at Camping World Stadium before moving to Exploria Stadium in 2022. The Cure Bow ...

. The Trojans ended the 2022 season with an 11 game win streak. The Trojans football team has won three national titles: 1968 ( NAIA), 1984 ( Div. II), and 1987 ( Div. II).

Basketball

The Troy University men's basketball team is currently under the direction of head coach Scott Cross.

Don Maestri Donald D. Maestri Jr. (born October 25, 1946) is an American college basketball coach who was the head men's basketball coach at Troy University from 1982 to 2013. Prior to accepting this position, Maestri was an assistant coach at Mississippi St ...

is currently the winningest coach in Troy University history. The Trojans' last NCAA Tournament appearance was in the

2003 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2003 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 18, 2003, and ended with the championsh ...

as a 14 seed after winning the 2003

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 Divisi ...

tournament. The Trojans faced 3-seed Xavier in the first round, but the Trojans lost 71–59. They finished the 2003 season with a 26-6 overall record. In their most recent post-season appearance in 2010, the Trojans won the

regular-season title but lost in the conference tournament final. Because of this, Troy made its way back to the NIT for the second time since 2004, falling to Ole Miss in the first round. The Trojan basketball team is recognized in recent Division I Basketball history for leading the nation in three-pointers from 2004 to 2006, making 1068 three-pointers over the course of 89 games (11.66 per game) during those three seasons. Troy's most famous claim to fame, however, is their game against

DeVry Institute DeVry University () is a private for-profit university with its headquarters in Naperville, Illinois. It was founded in 1931 by Herman A. DeVry and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. DeVry is predominantly an online educator bu ...

of Atlanta on January 12, 1992 when the Trojans came out victorious by the NCAA-record score of 258–141. This is currently the highest scoring game in NCAA basketball history.

Baseball

The Troy University baseball team won two Division II national championships in 1986 and 1987 under the leadership of baseball coach,

Chase Riddle Charles Ludy "Chase" Riddle (September 17, 1925 – June 12, 2011) was an American baseball player, coach, manager and scout. Riddle made his mark in both professional baseball, where he had a 36-year career (1943–78), mostly with the St. Louis ...

. One of Troy's most significant victories in baseball came in April 1998 when the Trojans knocked off the #3 nationally ranked

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as a mem ...

by a score of 8-4 at Riddle-Pace Field on the Troy campus. In 2006, Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year Bobby Pierce led the Trojans to a regular season conference title, conference tournament title, and an NCAA Regional appearance with an overall record of 47–16. The Men of Troy were the 2-seed in the Tuscaloosa Regional in 2006, defeating the

Southern Miss Golden Eagles The Southern Miss Golden Eagles and Lady Eagles (also known as Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles and Lady Eagles) are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Southern Mississippi (USM), located in Hattiesburg, Missi ...

twice, but were eliminated by the

in the championship game. Following the season, Jared Keel, Mike Felix, and Tom King were selected in the

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

draft. Troy's highest rank of the season was #29 by the

NCBWA The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) is an association of baseball writers, broadcasters, and publicists in the United States. It was founded in 1962. The NCBWA compiles a preseason ranking of the top 35 teams in the nati ...

. In 2007 the Trojans went 34–27, finishing in a tie for second in the

, and were selected as a number three seed in the Oxford Regional hosted by Ole Miss. The Trojans were defeated by

Southern Miss The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...

and

Sam Houston State Sam Houston State University (SHSU or Sam) is a public university in Huntsville, Texas. It was founded in 1879 and is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools west of the Mississippi River and ...

in consecutive games and eliminated from the regional. In 2011, the Trojans struck again by winning the Sun Belt regular season title and earning a bid to the Nashville Regional as a 3-seed. The Trojans defeated 2-seed

in the first round, but fell to 1-seed Vanderbilt and Belmont consecutively. The Trojans ended the 2011 season with a 42-17 record. Troy's highest rank of the season was #18 in the ''Baseball America'' poll. Troy had also reached a ranking of #25 in the ''USA Today'' coaches poll and #22 in the ''College Baseball News'' poll. Troy once again won a regular season title in 2013, this time in a thrilling fashion. The Trojans played #18

during the last series of the regular season. After losing the first game of the series, the Trojans went on to win the next two games and clinch a share of the Sun Belt title. They finished the regular season with a 39-16 record. Troy finished the 2013 regular season ranked #21 in the ''College Baseball News'' poll.

Golf

The Troy men's golf team has a deep history of winning championships. A three-time NCAA national champion, the Trojan men were one of the most dominant golf teams in Division II, making 19-straight appearances in the NCAA Division II Golf Championships from 1975 to 1993. In that span, they managed to win three national championships in 1976, 1977, and 1984.

Tennis

Troy's men's tennis team began to rise to prominence in the early 1990s, after finishing ranked #8 in the nation in the NCAA Division II

ITA Ita or ITA may refer to : Places and jurisdictions * ITA, ISO 3166-1 country code for Italy * Ita (Africa), an ancient city and former bishopric in Roman Mauretania, presently a Latin Catholic titular see * Itá, Paraguay People * Ita (prin ...

Rankings. Soon after moving to Division I, Troy still brought their successes with them, winning the

Mid-Continent Conference The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States from Illinois on the East of the Mississippi River to the Dakotas and Nebraska on the W ...

championship. The team would also go on to win conference titles in 2010 and 2015 in the

Track & Field

Troy's track and field men's teams routinely feature some of the best athletes in the Sun Belt Conference, as well as the country. Multiple athletes have qualified for the NCAA Championships. The team won eight

titles from 1977 to 1986, with head coaches John Anderson, Charles Oliver, and Rick Stetson all being named Coach of the Year a combined eight seasons.

Cross Country

The Trojans men's cross country program has been a dominant team for many years. Troy has won a total of 15 conference championships as a member of the Gulf South Conference, winning titles in 1971 and going on a streak of title runs from 1974 to 1988.

Women

Basketball

In 1997, the Troy University women's basketball team, under the direction of head coach Jerry Hester, won the Mid Continent Conference (now the

Summit League The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States from Illinois on the East of the Mississippi River to the Dakotas and Nebraska on the W ...

) tournament championship in Buffalo, New York, and received an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament where the Trojans traveled to

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...

, and fell in the first round to the

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

by a score of 96–74. Under current head coach

Chanda Rigby Chanda Rigby (born April 16, 1968) is an American basketball coach. Since 2012, she has been the head coach of the Troy Trojans women's basketball The Troy Trojans women's basketball program is the intercollegiate women's basketball of Troy ...

, Troy has been to the NCAA Tournament twice and has won two Sun Belt tournament titles. In 2020, the Trojans won the Sun Belt regular season conference championship for the first time in program history.

Softball

Upon Troy University's athletics moving all sports to the NCAA's Division I in 1993, the Troy softball program was started that same year and officially began their first season in 1994 under head coach Melanie Davis. Under Davis' leadership, the program immediately became a competitive softball program, finishing their first season in Division I with a 40-13 record, including a 4-3 win over an already prominent program in

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 ...

. In just Troy's third season of playing softball (1996), the team managed to make history by winning their first ever conference title and receiving a bid to play in an NCAA Regional. The team finished the season with a 47-22-1 record, winning the

regular season title and conference tournament title. The Lady Trojans would receive a bid to play in the NCAA Play-In Series versus

Southeast Missouri State Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing the Holland Col ...

, where they would sweep the Redhawks by scores of 3-2 and 1-0. The ladies would then receive a bid to play in the NCAA West Regional as the #4 seed. In their first game against

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, the Trojans were outmatched, losing 0-8 to the Wildcats. The Trojans were knocked out of the tournament after dropping a heartbreaker against

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

, 5-6. The Trojans are currently coached by Beth Mullins, who is in her 4th season.

Volleyball

The Troy women's volleyball team has won three conference tournament championships, one regular season championship, and two conference divisional championships in their history. In 2019, the Trojans advanced to the Second Round of the

National Invitational Volleyball Championship The National Invitational Volleyball Championship is an NCAA Division I women's college volleyball postseason tournament sponsored by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and operated by Triple Crown Sports. Its original incarnation ...

, defeating

North Carolina A&T North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...

in the first round, before falling to

in the second round.

Tennis

The Troy men's and women's tennis teams have a short but successful history in the sport. The women have won conference championships in the Atlantic Sun Conference and the Sun Belt Conference and received national rankings in various years. The men's team has won the 2010 and 2015 Sun Belt titles, finishing with rankings as high as #51 in the nation. Troy Golf Facility

Women's Golf

Just like the men's golf team, the women's golf team has a deep of history winning as well. In the NCAA's Division II, the Troy State women's golf team was one of the strongest teams in the nation in the 1980s, winning three national championships in 1984, 1986, and 1989. Despite the shorter history of the women's team, they've established themselves as proven winners. The women have been extremely successful recently, capturing three Sun Belt Conference titles and also receiving an individual at-large NCAA Regional berth for player Fátima Fernández Cano in 2016.

Cross Country

The women's cross country team was dominant while a member of the Gulf South Conference, winning the conference title five-straight years from 1982 to 1986.

Defunct Programs

Rodeo

Troy University had one of the top collegiate

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working va ...

programs in the nation during its existence. In 2007, Troy calf roper Ben Mayworth won the calf roping national championship at the National Finals College Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming. The rodeo program's home facility was the Pike County Cattlemen's Arena in Troy where it hosted a three-day rodeo each October that featured college rodeo programs from throughout the southern region of the United States. The university discontinued its rodeo program at the end of the 2014 season.

National Championships

Troy has won 14

national championships across five different sports, as well as 2 NAIA national championships.

Team

* Football ** 1968 NAIA National Champions ** 1984

National Champions ** 1987

National Champions * Baseball ** 1986

National Champions ** 1987

National Champions * Men's Basketball ** 1993

National Finalists * Men's Golf ** 1976

National Champions ** 1977

National Champions ** 1978

National Finalists ** 1983

National Finalists ** 1984

National Champions ** 1992

National Finalists * Women's Golf ** 1984

National Champions ** 1986

National Champions ** 1989

National Champions

Individual

* Men's Golf ** 1980

Individual National Champion - Paul Perini * Men's Track & Field ** 1976 NAIA 400-meter dash National Champion - Charles Oliver * Men's Rodeo ** 2007

College National Finals Rodeo {{Unreferenced, date=October 2021 The College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR), sanctioned by the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA), is held every June. Since 1999, the CNFR has been held at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper, Wyoming. B ...

Sports sponsored

Men

Football

Basketball

Baseball

Golf

Tennis

Track & Field

Cross Country

Women

Basketball

Softball

Volleyball

Tennis

Women's Golf

Cross Country

Defunct Programs

Rodeo

National Championships

Team

Individual

Facilities

References

External links