The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The official mascot is an English Bulldog named Uga, (derived from an abbreviation of the ''University of Georgia''), while the costumed character version of Uga is

Hairy Dawg Hairy Dawg is the costumed mascot of the University of Georgia Bulldogs. Hairy Dawg made his first appearance at the 1981 Sugar Bowl and has been an official mascot of UGA since. Hairy Dawg attends all Georgia Bulldogs football games and most hom ...

. The university sponsors nineteen sports – baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, women's equestrian, football, men's and women's golf, women's gymnastics, women's soccer, softball, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track, and women's volleyball. Those 19 teams have won a combined 47 national championships (including 31 NCAA championships) and 173 Southeastern Conference championships (plus 264 individual national championships through the end of the 2013–14 school year). University students have also won 56 Olympic medals. In 2006, the Bulldogs recorded the highest profit margin of any athletic program in the country (according to the EADA report), pulling in $23.9 million.

Nickname and mascot

The first mention of "Bulldogs" in association with Georgia athletics occurred on November 28, 1901, at the Georgia-Auburn football game played in Atlanta. The Georgia fans "had a badge saying 'Eat'em Georgia' and a picture of a bulldog tearing a piece of cloth"; however, it was not until 1920 that the nickname "Bulldog" was used to describe the athletic teams at the University of Georgia. Traditionally, the choice of a Bulldog as the UGA mascot was attributed to the alma mater of its founders and first president, who graduated from Yale University. On November 3, 1920, Morgan Blake, a sportswriter for the Atlanta Journal wrote a story about school nicknames for football teams and proposed:

"The Georgia Bulldogs would sound good because there is a certain dignity about a bulldog, as well as ferocity."

Shortly thereafter, another news story appeared in the '' Atlanta Constitution'' in which the name "Bulldogs" was used several times to describe the Georgia football team, and the nickname has been used ever since then.

Sports sponsored

Baseball

The Bulldogs play in the 3,291-seat Foley Field stadium. The Georgia Baseball team has seen most of its success in recent years, including winning the

1990 College World Series The 1990 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1990 NCAA Division I baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Series, ...

, as well as making the trip to

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

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 ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. The ''Diamond Dawgs'', as they are called, are coached by Scott Stricklin. In its history, the team has claimed five Southeastern Conference tournament titles, in 1933, 1954, 1955, 2001, and 2004, and five regular season conference titles, in 1933, 1953, 1954, 2004, and 2008. The program dates back to 1886 and, according to former Sports Information Director

Dan Magill Daniel Hamilton Magill Jr. (January 25, 1921 – August 23, 2014) was an American Sports Information Director, Head Tennis Coach, and Georgia Bulldog Club secretary for the University of Georgia, known throughout the state of Georgia and the South ...

, was once the most popular sport on campus. However, from the mid-1950s to the late-1980s, and then through most of the 1990s, there were only scattered bright spots as the team managed only a modicum of success. Since 2001, however, the program has enjoyed a resurgence, winning three championships in the Southeastern Conference, and participating in the College World Series four times in those seven seasons. The Georgia-Georgia Tech baseball rivalry is one of the South's most fierce. The teams' annual Spring Baseball Classic at

Turner Field Turner Field was a baseball stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia. From 1997 to 2016, it served as the home ballpark to the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). Originally built as Centennial Olympic Stadium in 1996 to serve as the c ...

draws some of the largest crowds in college baseball (the 2004 game was seen by 28,836 spectators, the second-largest crowd in college baseball history).

Basketball

Women's basketball

Coach

Andy Landers Andrew Grady Landers (born October 8, 1952) is a retired American college basketball coach who was head women's basketball coach at the University of Georgia from 1979 to 2015. Landers graduated from Friendsville (Tenn.) High School in 1970, the ...

, a pioneer in the sport, coached the Lady Bulldogs from 1979 to 2015, leading them to seven regular-season SEC titles, four SEC tournament championships, twenty 21-win seasons (an average of 24.4 wins per season), 23 NCAA tournaments, and five Final Fours. Landers currently stands as the winningest women's college basketball coach not to have won the national championship. The Lady Dogs' all-time AP ranking stands at 4th .

Men's basketball

Georgia's men's basketball program has enjoyed several impressive seasons, including a run to the 2008 SEC Championship and berth in the NCAA tournament under former head coach

Dennis Felton Dennis Alan Felton (born June 21, 1963) is an American basketball coach who is the associate head coach at George Mason University. His previous tenure was as an assistant coach at Fordham University. He is also the former head men's basketball c ...

. While Dominique Wilkins is considered the greatest player in school history, the team's most successful season came one year after his graduation. The Bulldogs made their first NCAA appearance in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

– which would have been Wilkins' senior year had he not opted for the NBA. That team advanced to the Final Four before falling to eventual national champion NC State. Under the Tom Crean regime, the Bulldogs landed the number one recruit in the country in Anthony Edwards in 2018, the highest rated recruit in school history. Edwards would go on to be selected first in the

2020 NBA Draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecti ...

by the Minnesota Timberwolves, the first Georgia basketball player to do so. Since making its first postseason tournament in 1980, Georgia has received 21 postseason invitations under coaches Hugh Durham, Tubby Smith,

Ron Jirsa Ronald Howard Jirsa (born December 21, 1959) is an American college basketball coach who is currently an assistant coach at UNC Greensboro. He was previously the head coach at Georgia and Marshall. Early life and education Jirsa was born in New ...

Jim Harrick James Richard Harrick (born July 25, 1938) is a former American basketball coach. He has been the head coach at UCLA, Pepperdine University, the University of Rhode Island and the University of Georgia over a combined total of 23 seasons. During ...

, and

, including 10 trips to the NCAA tournament.

Equestrian

Equestrian was added as UGA's 21st intercollegiate varsity sport in 2001. UGA's newest varsity team first competed in the 2002–2003 season. Head coach Meghan Boenig guided the team to a national championship in the Varsity Equestrian National Championships ( NCEA) that year as well as a repeat national championship the following year (2003–2004). After a series of runner-up finishes, the team reclaimed the top spot in 2007–2008 and repeated as champions in 2008–2009 and 2009–2010. They also earned the 2014 and 2021 national championship titles. The University of Georgia consistently ranks number 1 in the nation for recruits per National Collegiate Equestrian Association's Coaches' poll. In January 2009, Georgia riders moved into their spacious new home, the UGA Equestrian Complex, located in

Bishop, Georgia Bishop is a town in Oconee County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 332. The town's historic district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.Athens, Georgia campus. The 109-acre farm was formerly used in the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

as a training site for the U.S. Dressage Team. The team originally trained and held meets at the Animal Science Arena on South Milledge Avenue. The Animal Science Arena is maintained by University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES). As the academic programs grew at CAES, the team relocated to the UGA Equestrian Complex.

Football

The 92,746 seat Dooley Field at

Sanford Stadium Sanford Stadium is the on-campus playing venue for football at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States (also known as UGA). The 92,746-seat stadium is the tenth-largest stadium in the NCAA. Architecturally, the stadium is kn ...

is the home of the Georgia football team. The white, and now also brown Bulldog is UGA's mascot and is properly known as the late "Uga VIII", now "Uga X", previously known as "Que". The Bulldogs play in the tradition-rich Southeastern Conference. The Bulldogs claim three football national championships: one for the 1942 seasons based on the determinations of several selecting organizations, and two consensus national championships for the 1980 and 2021 seasons based on the votes of the AP and Coaches Polls (several selectors have recognized the Bulldogs as national champions for the 1927, 1946, and 1968 seasons as well). Georgia has won 13 Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships (the most recent coming in 2017). Georgia owns the nations longest active bowl streak at 24, surpassing the previous leader Virginia Tech, who reeled off 27 in a row. The bulldogs are 19-6 in that stretch, excluding the CFP National Championship game in 2018. In that time period; Georgia has accumulated 3 Peach Bowl victories, 3 Sugar Bowl victories, and a CFP Semi-Final Rose Bowl win to send them to the 2018 CFP National Championship game. Georgia's brand has grown exponentially under coach Kirby Smart, who's pieced together three #1 recruiting classes in his five seasons as Head Coach and led the Bulldogs to the 2021 National Championship victory over Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide team 33-18.

Rivalries

The Bulldogs' most historic rivalry is with the

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

, referred to as the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry and dating back to 1892. The other rivalries are between the Bulldogs and the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

's Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (" Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate") and the Florida Gators (" World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party"). In addition, UGA enjoyed a strong rivalry with the nearby Clemson Tigers for many years in football, especially in the 1980s. The Bulldogs and the Tennessee Volunteers annual showdown on the second Saturday of October has become a rivalry as a result of the 1992 division of the Southeastern Conference into Eastern and Western divisions. Before 1992, the two teams had only met 21 times since 1899. Beginning in 1992, the two teams have played annually as members of the same division. Georgia also enjoys a healthy rivalry with the South Carolina Gamecocks, meeting on the football field 70 times since 1894. The Georgia-Florida game is held annually in late October/early November in Jacksonville, Florida, a site intended to be neutral. However, the game's location is a point of contention for many Georgia fans; many of whom argue that Jacksonville's location relative to the two universities favors Florida. The city lies 342 miles from Athens, Georgia, home of the Bulldogs, but only 73 miles from Gainesville, Florida, home of the Gators. The game is considered a must-do for many UGA students and alumni. The game was traditionally referred to as the "World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" due to the tailgating and celebration by fans, but in recent years the city and universities have dropped the usage to discourage drunkenness among fans. However, fans and former players on both sides of the rivalry still refer to it by that name, or a shortened "Cocktail Party," choosing not to ever use the sanitized "official" name. Georgia holds the all-time advantage in the series, posting a win–loss record of 54–44–2 (53–44–2 according to the University of Florida, which does not include the 1904 game in Macon, Georgia, played before officially sanctioning its football program). The University of Florida closed what was a substantial gap in the series by posting a better overall record in the 1990s and 2000s. Georgia turned the tables in the 2010s, winning 6 of 10, and splitting the first two games of the 2020s. The most recent game in the rivalry was a decisive 34–7 Bulldogs win over a reeling Gators football team that would soon fire their defensive coordinator and head coach.

Golf

Men's golf

From 1946 to 1970,

Howell Hollis Howell T. Hollis (March 18, 1903 – March 11, 1991) was a football player, football and golf coach and administrator at the University of Georgia. As the men's golf coach from 1946 – 1970 his teams won 13 Southeastern Conference champion ...

built the Georgia men's golf team into a conference power, claiming 13 SEC titles. George Hamer won the individual national title in 1946. Current coach Chris Haack has led the team to two golf national titles (1999, 2005). Overall, the men's golf team leads all Georgia sports with 29 conference championships, including seven since 2000 (1941, 1950–52, 1957–59, 1961–65, 1969–72, 1977–78, 1982–83, 1988, 1998, 2000–01, 2004, 2006, 2009–10, 2016). Notable alumni include two-time Masters' champion Bubba Watson, as well as the winner of the 2019 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, Kevin Kisner.

Women's golf

First organized by Liz Murphey, the Georgia women's golf team is a fixture among the nation's top finishers. In 1981

Terri Moody Terri is an alternative spelling of Terry. It is a common feminine given name and is also a diminutive for Teresa. Notable people with the name include: *Terri Allard (born 1962), American country/folk singer/songwriter *Terri S. Armstrong, Am ...

won the

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 ...

individual national intercollegiate golf championship on her home course. Todd McCorkle coached the Georgia women's golf team from 2001 to 2007, when he abruptly resigned before the NCAA Women's Golf Championship under a cloud of sexual harassment allegations. His inaugural UGA team won the national championship. UGA's sixth place tie at the 2006 national event marks the seventh top-10 final ranking in the last nine years. The program has won eleven SEC titles. Former players include

Vicki Goetze Vicki Goetze-Ackerman (born October 17, 1972) is an American professional golfer. Goetze was born in Mishicot, Wisconsin. Living in Hull, Georgia, she was voted "Player of the Year" from 1988 to 1990 by the American Junior Golf Association. I ...

, now on the LPGA Tour.

Women's gymnastics

Since 1986, the Gymdogs have brought home 10 gymnastics national championships (1987, '89, 1993, '98, '99, 2005, '06, '07, '08, '09), the most of any team in NCAA history. (while Utah has also won ten national titles, their first was an

Championship in 1981). Georgia is also only the second team (Utah, 1982–86) to win the national title in five consecutive years, winning in 2005–2009. The Gymdogs have won 16 Southeastern Conference titles. The Gymdogs consistently draw upwards of 10,000 fans to their meets, ranking them second only to football in average attendance among Georgia sports. No Bulldog team has dominated its sport as much in the past 20 years as the

Georgia Gymdogs The Georgia Gymdogs (officially the Georgia Bulldogs) is the women's gymnastics team of the University of Georgia. The team is part of NCAA Division I and competes in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Gymdogs compete in Stegeman Coliseum in A ...

, under the direction of

Suzanne Yoculan Suzanne Paige Yoculan was the head coach of the women's gymnastics program at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia from 1983 to 2009. During her tenure, she built the Georgia gymnastics program into a national powerhouse and is one of the ...

. On October 18, 2007, Yoculan announced her retirement after the 2009 season. Longtime assistant Jay Clark succeeded Yoculan as head coach from 2009-2012.

Danna Durante Danna Durante (née Lister) is an American gymnastics coach who served as the head coach of the University of Georgia Gym Dogs gymnastics program from 2012 to 2017. Prior to her head coaching appointment at Georgia, Durante has been involved w ...

served as head coach from 2012-2017. In 2017 former Gymdog Courtney Kupets-Carter became the head coach and Suzanne Yoculan became a volunteer assistant coach for the transition period.

Women's soccer

Turner Soccer Complex Turner Soccer Complex is a 1,700-capacity stadium located in Athens, Georgia. It is primarily used for soccer and serves as the home field for the Georgia Bulldogs women's soccer team. The complex is named for Hoyt "Jack" Turner, an Athens nativ ...

Women's swimming and diving

UGA Alum and Coach

Jack Bauerle Jack Bauerle (born February 7, 1952) is the former head coach of the University of Georgia (UGA) men's and women's swimming teams. At the end of his coaching career, Bauerle finished his 42nd year as a head coach for the UGA women's team and his ...

has placed the women's program among the nation's elite. As of the 2016 season the women's team is tied with the University of Texas for the second highest number of

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

at seven (1999, 2000, '01, '05, '13, '14, '16) and posted eight national runner-up finishes (2002, '03, '04, '06, '09, '11, '12, '15). The Lady Bulldogs have also brought home twelve SEC team championships (1997, '98, '99, 2000, '01, '06, '10, '11, '12, '13, '14, '15). Bauerle has coached 11 female Olympians and 88 SEC individual champions. Graduates of the Georgia Swimming and Diving program include three individual recipients of the NCAA Woman of the Year Award: Lisa Coole in 1997, Kristy Kowal in 2000 and

Kim Black Kimberly A. "Kim" Black (born April 30, 1978) is an American former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. Black began her college swimming career at the University of Southern California, where she competed alongside future fellow Olymp ...

in 2001.

Softball

The Bulldog softball team began play in 1997. The team has won two SEC regular season championships in 2003 and 2005. The Team won the SEC tournament in 2014. The team has made eighteen NCAA tournament appearances. The team has made four Women's College World Series appearances in 2009, 2010, 2016, 2018, and 2021. The current head coach is

Lu Harris-Champer Lu Harris-Champer (born June 16, 1967) is a former American softball coach who most recently served as the head coach at Georgia. Early life and education Lu Harris-Champer was born in San Diego, California on June 16, 1967. She would later go o ...

Tennis

Men's tennis

Under the direction of

from 1954 to 1988 and his successor (and current head coach) Manuel Diaz, the Georgia Men's Tennis program ranks among the nation's best. The team has won a total of eight tennis national championships in 1985, '87, '99, 2001, '06 (indoor), 07 (indoor and NCAA Division I), and 2008. The Bulldogs' six NCAA team championships rank fourth all-time. The 2007 indoor championship made Georgia only the sixth team in history to successfully defend the ITA Indoor title. Coach Manuel Diaz is the only NCAA Division I active coach with more than one NCAA team Championships, with four. The squad has won 32 Southeastern Conference championships, 25 regular season championships and seven SEC tournament championships. The NCAA Men's Tennis Championship has been held in Athens 24 times in the past 35 years, including consecutively from 1977 to 1989 and in 2007. All but one (2008) of UGA's NCAA team championships have been won in Athens.

Women's tennis

UGA alum Jeff Wallace has coached the Georgia Women's Tennis program since 1985, and is currently the winningest active NCAA women's tennis coach. His teams have won two

NCAA team championships 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 ...

(1994 and 2000), three ITA Indoor Championships (1994, 1995 and 2002) and nine SEC titles. Coach Walace's players have also won several individual NCAA titles. The NCAA Women's Tennis Championship has been held in Athens 3 times.

Track & field and cross country

Men's track & field

Notable UGA men's track and field athletes include Olympic gold medalist

Forrest Towns Forrest Grady "Spec" Towns (February 6, 1914 – April 9, 1991) was an American track and field athlete. He was the 1936 Olympic champion in the 110 m hurdles and broke the world record in that event three times. Born in Fitzgerald, Georgia, ...

and bronze medalist

Reese Hoffa Michael Reese Hoffa (born ''Maurice Antawn Chism''; October 8, 1977 in Evans, Georgia) is an American shot putter. Reese won the shot put in the 2006 World Indoor Track and Field Championships and in the 2007 World Outdoor Championships. He al ...

. UGA coach Petros Kyprianou guided the UGA men's track and field team to the 2018 NCAA men's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championship title.

Men's cross country

Notable UGA men's cross country athletes include World Marathon Champion Mark Plaatjes.

Women's track & field

UGA coach Petros Kyprianou guided the UGA women's track and field team to the 2018

NCAA Women's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championship The NCAA Women's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championship is an annual collegiate indoor track and field competition for women from Division I institutions organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Athletes' performances i ...

. Notable UGA women's track and field athletes include Olympic gold medalists Gwen Torrence and

Shaunae Miller-Uibo Shaunae Miller-Uibo (born 15 April 1994) is a Bahamian track and field sprinter who competes in the 200 and 400 metres. She is a two-time Olympic champion after winning the women's 400 metres at the 2016 Rio Olympics and again at the 2020 Tok ...

, silver medalist

Hyleas Fountain Hyleas Fountain (born January 14, 1981) is an American heptathlete. She was the silver medalist in the event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Career Early years Fountain was born in Columbus, Georgia, and was a member of the 1992 Harrisburg Parks ...

, and bronze medalist

Debbie Ferguson Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie (born 16 January 1976) is a former Bahamian sprint athlete who specialised in the 100 and 200 metres. Ferguson-McKenzie participated in five Olympi ...

Other sports

Other notable sports teams include the perennial power men's swimming team. Notable track and field athletes include Olympic gold medalists

and Gwen Torrence as well as bronze medalist

Debbie Ferguson Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie (born 16 January 1976) is a former Bahamian sprint athlete who specialised in the 100 and 200 metres. Ferguson-McKenzie participated in five Olympi ...

Club sports

The University of Georgia offers a number of non-varsity sports such as ultimate frisbee, fencing, rugby, lacrosse, women's tennis and ice hockey. Club sports are administered by the university's Department of Recreational Sports. Teams frequently play intercollegiate rivals and join club sports conferences, such as the

South Eastern Collegiate Hockey Conference College Hockey South (CHS), formerly known as the South Eastern Collegiate Hockey Conference (SECHC), is a non-varsity ice hockey conference in the Southern United States. The conference plays in Division 2 and Division 3 of the Collegiate Hockey ...

Rugby

Founded in 1967, the University of Georgia Rugby Football Club plays Division 1 college rugby in the Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference against its traditional SEC rivals. Georgia finished the 2012 regular season with a 4–2 conference record, just missing the conference playoffs. The Bulldogs are led by head coach Doug Porter. The UGA Rugby Club won the 1979 Savannah St. Patrick's Day Rugby Tournament.

Championships

NCAA and other collegiate team championships

Georgia has won 47 team national championships. The Bulldogs earned 31 NCAA championships at the Division I level. *Men's (10) **Baseball (1): 1990 **Golf (2): 1999, 2005 **Tennis (6): 1985, 1987, 1999, 2001, 2007, 2008 **Outdoor Track & Field (1): 2018 *Women's (21) **Golf (1): 2001 **Gymnastics (10): 1987, 1989, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 **Swimming (7): 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2013, 2014, 2016 **Tennis (2): 1994, 2000 **Indoor Track & Field (1): 2018 Below are 16 national team titles in varsity sports that were not bestowed by the NCAA. *Men's (5) **Football (3): 1942, 1980, 2021 **Indoor Tennis (2): 2006, 2007 *Women's (11) **Indoor Tennis (4): 1994, 1995, 2002, 2019 **Equestrian (7): 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2021 Note: Georgia's website has multiple pages which list national championships by sport; before the 2021 football title victory, it only called out two seasons for football (1942 and 1980). Pre-2022 Georgia football media guides contain a year-by-year results section in which five seasons (1927, 1942, 1946, 1968, 1980) have "National Champions#" headers paired with selector callouts, but also a "Championship History" page which pairs 1942 and 1980 into a "The Consensus National Champions" section and groups 1927, 1946, and 1968 together as national champions without description, beyond identification of those specific selectors.

SEC Team Championships

Georgia has won 174 SEC team championships. *Men's (96) **Football (14): 1942, 1946, 1948, 1959, 1966, 1968, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1982, 2002, 2005, 2017, 2021, 2022 **Baseball (6): 1933, 1953, 1954, 2001, 2004°, 2008 **Basketball (3): 1983t, 1990, 2008t **Golf (29): 1941, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1977, 1978, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2016 **Tennis (41): 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1991t, 1993, 1993t, 1995, 1995t, 1996, 1997, 1999°, 2001, 2001t, 2002, 2004t, 2006, 2006t, 2007, 2007t, 2008, 2011°, 2012t, 2013, 2013t, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017°, 2017t **Outdoor Track & Field (1): 1937 **Swimming (3): 1951, 1952, 1955 *Women's (76) **Basketball (8): 1983, 1984, 1986, 1991, 1996, 1997, 2000°, 2001t **Equestrian (3): 2015, 2017, 2018 **Golf (11): 1983, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2007 **Gymnastics (16): 1986, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 **Softball (4): 2003, 2005, 2014, 2014t **Swimming (12): 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 **Tennis (18): 1983, 1983t, 1989, 1990, 1994, 1994t, 2000, 2001t, 2002, 2007, 2007t, 2008t, 2009, 2009t, 2013, 2014t, 2019,2021 **Indoor Track & Field (1): 2006 **Outdoor Track & Field (2): 1995, 2006 **Volleyball (2): 1985, 1986 ° = co-champions, t = tournament

Athletic directors

The athletic department suffered through several controversies in the early 2000s, including a major scandal within the men's basketball program. In 2003, a power struggle between University President Michael Adams and athletic director and Bulldog legend Vince Dooley stole headlines when Adams refused to renew Dooley's contract, effectively firing him. The battle became one painted as academics versus athletics, though this idea was rejected when the University's Franklin College of Arts and Sciences faculty issued a vote of "no confidence" on Adams' leadership in 2004. The firestorm has calmed slightly since then, however, largely due to the success of Dooley's successor,

Damon Evans Damon M. Evans is the athletics director/chief financial officer at the University of Maryland. Since October 2017, Evans has served as the interim athletic director at Maryland and in June 2018, was named the permanent athletic director. Afte ...

. In 2006, the Bulldogs recorded the highest profit margin of any athletic program in the country (according to the EADA report), pulling in $23.9 million, and also recorded another highly successful year on the field. However, Evans was arrested for DUI on June 30, 2010; his passenger, a 28-year-old woman, was arrested for disorderly conduct who told police that she had been seeing Evans for about one week. Evans has been asked for his resignation effective on Monday, July 5, 2010 and he has agreed to resign. Damon Evans was replaced by

Greg McGarity Greg McGarity (born October 1, 1954) is the former athletic director for the University of Georgia. Early years and education McGarity began his association with University of Georgia Athletics at the age of 10, when he worked as a helper for te ...

, a Georgia alum and Associate AD at the University of Florida, in 2010. McGarity's tenure as Georgia's AD was one that saw a great surge in fundraising prowess, but much of that money was put away into what fans would derisively call, "The Rainy Day Fund," a reserve fund of money that would grow to $100M that McGarity would not spend on improving facilities in a manner fans believed he should, as other Athletics Associations in the SEC, such as the Alabama Crimson Tide, were doing. This refusal to improve Georgia's football facilities in particular would derisively become known as, "The Georgia Way," among disappointed fans who saw their football team fall behind Nick Saban's Crimson Tide in every conceivable way. McGarity oversaw the eventual firing of Georgia coaches in the three most important so-called "money sports":

Dave Perno David Perno is the former head baseball coach at the University of Georgia. In 11 seasons he compiled a record of 384-329-1. He led the program to five NCAA tournaments, including three College World Series. He was named the 2004 Coach of the Y ...

, Mark Richt, and Mark Fox, and in the instance of Perno and Fox, McGarity replaced them with coaches who have underperformed compared to the previous coach. He would also have to hire a replacement for Georgia Gymnastics legend

during his time as AD, only to fire his first replacement and his second hire also fairing poorly. In replacing Richt, McGarity originally looked to hire Dan Mullen, who he knew from his time at Florida, but was eventually overruled by influential boosters who wanted Kirby Smart. As can be seen by the majority of McGarity's coaching hires, most of whom have fared poorly, hiring Mullen would have been a mistake as Smart is the most recent coach to win the College Football Playoff National Championship, the first Georgia Football National Title in 41 years, and Mullen was recently fired as the head coach at Florida. Kirby Smart came to Georgia from the successful Alabama football program, and did so with a list of demands for facilities improvements and a recruiting apparatus and budgetary overhaul that McGarity was not willing to provide Richt, but was happy to provide now for Smart. Greg McGarity was replaced in the summer of 2021 by

Josh Brooks Josh Brooks (born May 28, 1980) is an American university sports administrator who currently serves as athletic director at the University of Georgia. He was previously the athletic director for Millsaps College. Early years and education Josh ...

, who is the Athletic Director of record for the Bulldogs'

2022 College Football Playoff National Championship The 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship was a college football bowl game played on January 10, 2022, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. The eighth College Football Playoff National Championship, the game determined t ...

win. McGarity left Brooks many Georgia Athletics teams in trouble due to his many poor coaching hires, with the

2021–22 Georgia Bulldogs Basketball Team The 2021–22 Georgia Bulldogs basketball team represented the University of Georgia during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by fourth-year head coach Tom Crean, and played their home games at Stegeman Coli ...

playing historically badly.

Notable alumni

The Georgia Bulldogs football team boasts two

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

winners ( Frank Sinkwich, 1942, and

Herschel Walker Herschel Junior Walker (born March 3, 1962) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. He was also the Republican nominee in the 2022 United States Senate election in Georgia. ...

, 1982), and holds the distinction of having three graduates become

Super Bowl MVP The Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award, or Super Bowl MVP, is presented annually to the most valuable player of the Super Bowl, the National Football League's (NFL) championship game. The winner is chosen by a panel of 16 football writers a ...

s (

Jake Scott Jacob E. Scott III (July 20, 1945 – November 19, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a free safety and punt returner from 1970 to 1978 for the Miami Dolphins and Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NF ...

, 1972,

Terrell Davis Terrell Lamar Davis (born October 28, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1995 to 2001. He is the Broncos all-time leading rusher and ...

, 1998, and Hines Ward, 2005). Notable former players include RB Herschel Walker, WR

Lindsay Scott Lindsay Eugene Scott (born December 6, 1960) is a former American football wide receiver, who played for the University of Georgia and the New Orleans Saints. He was the 13th overall pick in the 1982 NFL Draft and played four seasons for the S ...

, QB

Eric Zeier Eric Royce Zeier (born September 6, 1972) is a former American football quarterback. In his six years in the NFL, he played for the Cleveland Browns (1995), Baltimore Ravens (1996–1998), and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1999–2000). He is a for ...

, QB Fran Tarkenton, RB Frank Sinkwich, RB Charley Trippi, RB

Rodney Hampton Rodney Craig Hampton (born April 3, 1969) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Giants in the first round of the 1990 NFL D ...

, FB Mack Strong, RB Garrison Hearst, DE Bill Stanfill, DB Terry Hoage, CB Champ Bailey, RB Terrell Davis, RB

Olandis Gary Olandis C. Gary (born May 18, 1975) is a former American football running back who played for the Denver Broncos from 1999 to 2002 and the Detroit Lions from 2003 to 2004. He is an alumnus of the University of Georgia and Riverdale Baptist Schoo ...

, WR Hines Ward, DE Richard Seymour, LB

Boss Bailey Rodney "Boss" Bailey (born October 14, 1979) is a former American football linebacker who played in the National Football League. He was originally drafted by the Detroit Lions in the second round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played college football ...

, DE/LB

David Pollack David M. Pollack (born June 19, 1982) is a former professional American football linebacker who played in two seasons in the National Football League (NFL), having suffered a career-ending injury in the second game of his second season. He play ...

, QB David Greene, K

Kevin Butler Kevin Butler may refer to: * Kevin Butler (American football) (born 1962), American football placekicker * Kevin Butler (character), fictional character in Sony's PlayStation 3 marketing campaigns * Kevin Butler (streetball player) Kevin "Bizness" ...

, CB Sean Jones, SS/LB Thomas Davis, WR

Reggie Brown Reggie Brown may refer to: *Reggie Brown (American football coach) (1876–1961), American college football coach at Boston University from 1926–1929 *Reginald J. Brown (1940–2005), U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affa ...

, FS

Greg Blue Gregory B. Blue, Jr. (born March 12, 1982) is a former American football player and current college football coach. He is the defensive coordinator for Reinhardt University, a position he has held since 2015. He played college football for the Un ...

, QB

Buck Belue Benjamin Franklin "Buck" Belue played American football and baseball at the University of Georgia from 1978 to 1981. He was the quarterback for the Georgia Bulldogs in 1980, when the team went 12–0, and, after beating Notre Dame in the Sugar ...

, RB Knowshon Moreno, QB Matthew Stafford, and WR

Mohamed Massaquoi Mohamed Jah Massaquoi ( ; born November 24, 1986) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at Georgia and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft. Massaquoi has also been a ...

, QB Evan Boose, PR

Prince Miller Prince Miller (born January 14, 1988) is a former American football cornerback. He played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. He played college football at Georgia. Early years Miller attended James F. Byrnes Hi ...

, R

Rennie Curran Rennie Curran (born November 10, 1988) is a keynote speaker, leadership coach, author and former American football linebacker. He played college football at the University of Georgia. Curran was considered one of the top weakside linebackers of hi ...

, LT

Jon Stinchcomb Jonathan Stinchcomb (born August 27, 1979) is a former American football offensive tackle who played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Georgia. He was drafted in the second rou ...

, WR

A. J. Green Adriel Jeremiah Green (born July 31, 1988) is an American football wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia Bulldogs football, Georgia and was drafted by the Cincinnati ...

, RB

Todd Gurley Todd Jerome Gurley II (born August 3, 1994) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons, primarily with the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football at Georgia, where he recei ...

, RB Nick Chubb and LB

Richard Tardits Richard Tardits (born July 30, 1965), is a former American football linebacker for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL), and a former rugby union footballer for the United States national rugby union team. He held the rec ...

, the first Frenchman to play in the NFL. The Lady Dogs basketball team has produced two U.S. Olympians who have combined to earn six Gold Medals (

Teresa Edwards Teresa Edwards (born July 19, 1964) is an American former women's basketball player and four time Olympic gold medalist. In 2000, ''Sports Illustrated'' magazine placed her as 22nd of the "100 Greatest Female Athletes of the 20th Century". She ...

and Katrina McClain Johnson), 16 former players who have continued to the WNBA (second-most nationally), and six WNBA first-round draft picks in the past five years (second-most nationally). There were eight Lady Bulldogs on WNBA rosters in 2006: Kara Braxton,

Detroit Shock The Detroit Shock were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were the 2003, 2006, and 2008 WNBA champions. Debuting in 1998, the Shock were one of the league's first expansion franchises. ...

;

Kedra Holland-Corn Kedra Holland-Corn (born November 5, 1974) is an American professional women's basketball player with the Detroit Shock of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). After attending the University of Georgia, she played for the Sacramento ...

, Detroit Shock;

Deanna Nolan Deanna Nicole "Tweety" Nolan (russian: Деанна Нолан; born August 25, 1979) is an American-Russian professional basketball player for UMMC Ekaterinburg of the Russian Premier League as well as the Russia women's national basketball team ...

, Detroit Shock;

Kelly Miller Kelly Miller may refer to: *Kelly Miller (basketball) (born 1978), American WNBA player *Kelly Miller (ice hockey, born 1963), American former NHL player *Kelly Miller (scientist) (1863–1939), American mathematician, sociologist and journalist *K ...

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league ...

; Coco Miller, Washington Mystics;

Christi Thomas Christi Michelle Thomas (born August 14, 1982) played professional basketball in the WNBA. She attended the University of Georgia where she played under coach Andy Landers. She has been a professional since 2004. Christi also played basketball a ...

, Los Angeles Sparks;

Sherill Baker Sherill Shavette Baker (born December 3, 1982) is a current American collegiate women's basketball assistant head coach with the Georgia State Panthers and former professional women's basketball player in the WNBA, most recently with the Detroit ...

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was f ...

; and

Kiesha Brown Kiesha Brown (born January 13, 1979) is an American professional basketball player. High school Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Brown attended Woodward Academy in Atlanta, where she was named a High School All-American by the WBCA. She participated ...

, New York Liberty. The Bulldogs baseball team has seen several of its former players move on to successful professional careers, most notably former New York Yankees pitcher Spud Chandler. Also, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Cris Carpenter (not to be confused with current Cardinals pitcher

Chris Carpenter Christopher John Carpenter (born April 27, 1975) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays and St. Louis Cardinals from 1997 to 2012. A Cy Young Award win ...

), pitcher

Derek Lilliquist Derek Jansen Lilliquist (born February 20, 1966) is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher and pitching coach. He played for the Atlanta Braves (1989–1990), San Diego Padres (1990–1991), Cleveland Indians (1992–1994), Boston Red Sox ( ...

, Chicago White Sox batter Gordon Beckham, Seattle Mariners pitcher Dave Fleming, and Georgia high school football coaching legend Billy Henderson played for the Bulldogs.

References

External links

* {{College sports in Georgia Sports in Athens, Georgia