The Denver Pioneers are the sports teams of the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

(DU). They play in the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) Division I, and have amassed 35 NCAA titles as of 2024, which is in the top 15 among all schools (24 in Skiing, 10 in men's ice hockey and 1 in men's lacrosse). Denver is a member of

The Summit League ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

for men's and women's basketball, swimming and diving, men's and women's soccer, tennis and golf for both men and women, plus women's volleyball. Other DU teams play in various conferences in the sports that are not sponsored by The Summit. The men's ice hockey team is a charter member of the

National Collegiate Hockey Conference The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) is an NCAA men's Division I hockey conference. The league was formed on July 9, 2011 and began playing for the 2013–14 season, the same season that the Big Ten Conference began competition, as a ...

(NCHC), which formed in 2011 with play beginning in 2013. The lacrosse teams for men and women are members of the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

; the men began Big East play in the 2013–14 school year (2014 season), while the women left the

Mountain Pacific Sports Federation The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) is a college athletic conference with members located mostly in the Western United States, although it has added members as far east as Massachusetts. The conference participates at the NCAA Divisio ...

(MPSF) after the 2016 lacrosse season. Men's and women's skiing compete in the

Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association The Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) skiing-only conference. As the NCAA does not have divisions in collegiate skiing, it is composed of both NCAA Division I and NCAA Divisi ...

, while the women's gymnastics team became an affiliate of the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

starting with the 2015–16 season. The university has been fielding athletic teams since 1867. DU's athletic teams are known as the Pioneers. In the early years of competition from the 1860s to the early 1920s, Denver had no official nickname, but sportswriters of the day referred to Denver teams as the "Ministers" or "Fighting Parsons" in homage to the Methodist heritage of the school. Denver officially became the "Pioneers" in 1925, after the result of a student nickname contest, and that nickname has been in place ever since. Today, DU operates a full

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

athletic program with a mix of sports in and around the $85 million Daniel Ritchie Center for Sports and Wellness, which was completed in 2000. In 2017, Denver finished #4 in the men's Division I Capital One Cup rankings, the highest finish in school history, and has also won the Learfield Cup in nine of the past 10 seasons, emblematic of the top non-football Division I athletic department in the nation.

Sports sponsored

A member of 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 Minnesota in the east, to the Dakotas, Nebraska and Colorado to the West, and Mis ...

, the University of Denver sponsors teams in seven men's, eight women's, and one coed

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

sanctioned sports: Skiing is technically a men's sport, but it has been co-ed since 1983; the ski team is a member of the

. The ice hockey team is a member of the

. The men's and women's lacrosse teams compete as associate members of the

. The gymnastics team competes as an affiliate member of the

Basketball

DU began playing basketball in 1904, playing primarily regional schedules until after WWII, when it became an NCAA independent Division I program until 1979. In 1999, the program returned to NCAA Division I, when it became a member of the Sun Belt Conference until 2012, when it joined the Western Athletic Conference for one season before joining the Summit League in 2013. The men's basketball team won the 2013 WAC regular season Co-Championship and also made it to the second round of the 2013 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) after defeating

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, but losing to

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

in Round 2. Denver also appeared in the 2005 NIT, losing to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

(after it won the Sun Belt West Division), and also appeared in the 1959 NIT, losing to

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a non-denominational all-male institutio ...

. The men's basketball team has yet to appear in the NCAA tournament, while the

women's team A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...

has made one appearance in the NCAA tournament in

2001 The year's most prominent event was 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. The United States led a Participan ...

as an at-large berth.

Football

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

was once the most popular sport at Denver; the first DU football game was played in 1885 against

Colorado College Colorado College is a private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory, the college offers over 40 majors a ...

, which is believed to be the first intercollegiate football game played west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. DU's football highlights include appearances in the

1946 Sun Bowl The 1946 Sun Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game between the New Mexico Lobos football, New Mexico Lobos and the Denver Pioneers. Background New Mexico was in their first Sun Bowl since 1939 Sun Bowl, 1939, while Mountain States Conf ...

, 1947 Alamo Bowl, and

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

Pineapple Bowl The Pineapple Bowl was a college football bowl game played during the late 1930's, 1940s and early 1950s in Honolulu, Hawaii, at Honolulu Stadium. The game featured the then- Hawaii Rainbows and an invited team from the mainland. History The Pin ...

. The football team played in a 30,000-seat stadium that stood on campus from 1926 to 1971. The highest national ranking DU ever attained was #18 in the final

coaches poll In the United States, 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 ...

( UP) in

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

. However, the program was discontinued in early 1961 for financial reasons.

Ice hockey

Ice hockey is DU's flagship spectator sport, regularly selling out the 6,026 seat

Magness Arena Magness Arena is a multi-purpose collegiate sports arena in Denver, Colorado. It was built from 1997 to 1999 as part of the Daniel L. Ritchie Center, the sports complex at the University of Denver. It is home to the Denver Pioneers ice hockey t ...

on campus, the showpiece of the Ritchie Center for Sports and Wellness (completed in 2000). DU's Hockey Program has been playing NCAA Division I hockey since 1949–50. The Pioneers are one of the most successful programs in the history of collegiate hockey. They are first in all-time in NCAA National Hockey Championships with 10 (1958, 1960, 1961, 1968, 1969, 2004, 2005, 2017, 2022, 2024). The Pioneers have appeared in 19 NCAA

Frozen Four The annual NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament is a college ice hockey tournament held in the United States by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to determine the top men's team in Division I. Like other Division I cham ...

Championships, with the most recent Frozen Four appearance coming in 2024. Since the creation of the

Western Collegiate Hockey Association The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college ice hockey conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated as a me ...

in 1959, the Pioneers have won 10 WCHA Regular Season Championships (now the recipients of the

MacNaughton Cup The MacNaughton Cup is a trophy awarded annually to the regular season conference champion of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA). The trophy is named after James MacNaughton of Calumet, Michigan, who was a supporter of amateur ice h ...

) and 13 WCHA Playoff Championships (now the recipients of the

Broadmoor Trophy The Broadmoor Trophy is a trophy that was awarded to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) playoff champion from 1985 until its discontinuation in 2018. The trophy itself dates to 1981, when it was awarded to the WCHA regular season c ...

Denver's ice hockey alumni include over 85 NHL hockey players, including

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

Glenn Anderson Glenn Chris Anderson (born October 2, 1960) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues. Anders ...

and current NHLers, such as 2007

Calder Memorial Trophy The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League (NHL)." It is named after Frank Calder, the first president of the NHL. Serving ...

nominee

Paul Stastny Paul Stastny (; ) (born December 27, 1985) is a Canadian-American former professional ice hockey center who played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets, Vegas Golden Knights, ...

Jason Zucker Jason Alan Zucker (born January 16, 1992) is an American professional ice hockey left winger for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). Zucker played in the 2010 World Juniors for the United States team, winning a gold medal. ...

, Trevor Moore,

Scott Mayfield Scott Mayfield (born October 14, 1992) is an American professional ice hockey player for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). Mayfield was selected by the Islanders in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2011 NHL Entry ...

Danton Heinen Danton Heinen (born July 5, 1995) is a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Boston Bruins in the fourth round, 116th overall, of the 2014 NHL entry ...

, Will Butcher, Henrik Borgstrom,

Troy Terry Troy Nathan Terry (born September 10, 1997) is an American professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), right winger for the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Terry was drafted by the Ducks at the 2015 NHL entry draft, in the fi ...

Dylan Gambrell Dylan Gambrell (born August 26, 1996) is an American professional ice hockey center who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for the Cleveland Monsters in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Co ...

. Previous DU players who starred in the NHL besides Anderson include

Keith Magnuson Keith Arlen Magnuson (April 27, 1947 – December 15, 2003) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman from Wadena, Saskatchewan who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1969 and 1979. Magnuson played 589 career NHL games, ...

Craig Patrick Craig Patrick (born May 20, 1946) is an American former hockey player, coach and general manager, the son of Lynn Patrick and the grandson of Lester Patrick. During the 1980 Winter Olympics, Patrick was the Assistant General Manager and Assistant ...

Cliff Koroll Clifford Eugene Koroll (born October 1, 1946) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played for the Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League between 1969 and 1980. He played in two Stanley Cup Finals with the Black ...

, Peter McNab and

Kevin Dineen Kevin William Dineen (born October 28, 1963) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. From 2021 to 2024, Dineen was the head coach of the Utica Comets in the American Hockey League (AHL). Dineen previously served as the hea ...

, who coached the Florida Panthers of the NHL until 2013. Legendary hockey coaches at Denver include four former NHL players:

Murray Armstrong Murray Alexander Armstrong (January 1, 1916 – December 8, 2010) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ice hockey Head Coach. Playing career Armstrong played junior hockey with the ...

Marshall Johnston Lawrence Marshall Johnston (born June 6, 1941) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, coach and executive. He played as a defenceman for the Minnesota North Stars and California Golden Seals of the National Hockey League (NHL). H ...

Ralph Backstrom Ralph Gerald Backstrom (September 18, 1937 – February 7, 2021) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and later a coach, entrepreneur and hockey executive. He played in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles ...

and Jim Montgomery. George Gwozdecky, who coached the team for 19 seasons until 2013, is the only person in NCAA history to win Division I Men's Hockey National Championships as a player (with Wisconsin in 1977), an assistant coach (with Michigan State in 1986) and as a head coach (with Denver in 2004 and 2005). The current (2018) coach is

David Carle David Carle (born November 9, 1989) is an American ice hockey coach who is the head coach for the men's ice hockey team at the University of Denver. Career Hailing from Anchorage, Alaska, Carle attended prep school at Shattuck-Saint Mary's in ...

. In 2013, DU hockey left the WCHA to launch the

(NCHC). The new conference was formed as a direct reaction to the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

's announcement that it would start a men's hockey league in 2013. The six charter members of the NCHC—DU,

, Miami (OH), Minnesota–Duluth, North Dakota, and

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

—have combined for 21 NCAA championships in the sport. These schools were soon joined by

St. Cloud State St. Cloud State University (SCSU) is a public university in St. Cloud, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1869, the university is one of the largest institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. In the fall of 2023, it ...

and

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...

to bring the league's membership at launch to eight.

Lacrosse

The Denver men's lacrosse team appeared in the 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 NCAA Tournaments. Denver won the NCAA men's lacrosse championship in 2015, beating

, 10–5 in Philadelphia. It was the first-ever men's lacrosse championship by a school outside the

Eastern Time Zone The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 U.S. states, states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five ...

. Denver also appeared in the Final Four four other times in the 2010s. In the Pioneers' first three Final Four appearances, they lost in the semifinals to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

in 2011 in Baltimore,

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

in 2013 in Philadelphia, and

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

in 2014 in Baltimore. The Pioneers also appeared in the 2017 Final Four, losing to

in Foxboro, Mass. Women's lacrosse began as varsity sport in 1999, and DU played in the

through the 2016 season and joined the DU men in the

starting with the 2017 season. Denver has progressed to seven NCAA Tournaments in its history, with the highest level of advancement being to the final four in 2023. In that 2023 tournament, DU (23-1) beat the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

and

Albany Great Danes The Albany Great Danes are the NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic programs of the University at Albany, SUNY, located in Albany, New York, United States. A member of the America East Conference, the University at Albany, SUNY sponsors tea ...

in Denver in the first and second rounds, respectively, and beat the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels (also Carolina Tar Heels) are the college sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to ...

in Chapel Hill, NC in the quarterfinals, before losing to the eventual NCAA champion

Northwestern Wildcats The Northwestern Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern University, located in Evanston, Illinois. Northwestern is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and one of two private universities in the conference, the other ...

in the semi-finals in Cary, N.C. Prior to that 2023 high water mark, Denver went to the Elite eight in 2022, beating USC and Michigan before losing to Maryland, and the Sweet 16 in each of its other three NCAA appearances in 2013, 2014 and 2018, beating

Jacksonville University Jacksonville University (JU) is a private university in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Located in the city's Arlington (Jacksonville), Arlington district, the school was founded in 1934 as a two-year college and was known as Jacksonvill ...

in the first round in 2013 and 2014 before losing to the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...

in those consecutive years in Gainesville, Fla. In 2018, DU beat

High Point University High Point University (HPU) is a private university in High Point, North Carolina, United States. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The university was founded as High Point College in 1924, and it became High Point University in ...

in the first round before losing to the

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's college sports in the United States, varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate ...

in the second round in College Park, Maryland.

Ski

Skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

is another strong sport. The Denver's team has won 24 NCAA titles (more skiing titles than any other school). The Pioneers have won 10 championships since 2000. DU won NCAA titles in 2014, 2016 and 2018, "three-peated" NCAA titles in 2008, 2009 and 2010, won an NCAA title in 2005 and as well as three consecutive NCAA titles from 2000 to 2002.

Soccer

The DU men's soccer team has appeared in the 1970, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2022 NCAA tournaments, reaching its first ever NCAA College Cup (final four) in 2016 in Houston, where the Pioneers lost in double overtime, 2–1 to

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

. Jamie Franks was named the program's 10th head coach in January 2015. The DU women's soccer team advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 2012 NCAA Women's College Cup Tournament, and have also appeared in the 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2018 and 2022 NCAA Tournaments.

Other sports

The women's volleyball team has made NCAA tournament appearances in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, losing in the first round to

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

California Polytechnic State University California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo or Cal Poly) is a public university in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States, - Cites the location of the university and shows that the university ...

, and the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

respectively. The women's gymnastics team has been to 17 straight NCAA Regional tournaments and finished a program-high 4th at the 2019 NCAA National Championships in their fourth appearance in the national finals. The team is a member of the

after moving from its former home of the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference in 2015. The DU men's and women's tennis teams are consistently ranked in the top 35 to top 70 of all Division I collegiate tennis teams. The men's team has produced All-Americans, including a Men's Singles player ranked 11th in the country, and the team broke into the top 25 during the 2010 season. The men's team upset regional #1 seed Florida in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament. The women's team has its lone NCAA tournament victory in 2017 over USC, and had one of its doubles team advance to the NCAA final eight for the first time in 2017. Daniel L

The women's basketball team appeared in the 2001 NCAA Tournament, where it lost to

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

in the first round. The women's

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

team won the 2009 NCAA West Regional and later finished 5th in the finals of the 2009 NCAA tournament. DU also appeared in the 2008 (6th) and 2007 (14th) NCAA finals, as well as multiple NCAA regionals.

History and notable athletic figures

Denver's first athletic event was in a baseball game in 1867 (a loss to the Arapahoe Baseball Club), a sport that was played at the varsity level until 1999 when DU returned to full NCAA D-I status. DU's best baseball achievements were appearances in the 1970 and 1973 NCAA baseball tournaments. Other notable Denver sports alumni include former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player

Dan Schatzeder Daniel Ernest Schatzeder (born December 1, 1954) is an American former professional baseball player who pitched in the major leagues from – for nine different teams. Schatzeder attended Willowbrook High School in Villa Park, Illinois, then play ...

, NBA basketball players

Vince Boryla Vincent Joseph Boryla (March 11, 1927 – March 27, 2016) was an American basketball player, coach and executive. His nickname was "Moose". He graduated from East Chicago Washington High School in 1944. He played basketball at the University of ...

and

Byron Beck Byron Beck (born January 25, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6 foot 9 inch forward/ center from the University of Denver, Beck was one of six players (along with Louie Dampier, Gerald Govan, Bob Netolicky, St ...

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division and five in the West Division. The CFL is the highest pr ...

Hall of Famer and former NFL football player

Sam Etcheverry Samuel Etcheverry (May 20, 1930 – August 29, 2009), nicknamed "the Rifle", was a professional American and Canadian football player and head coach. Etcheverry played the quarterback position, most famously with the Montreal Alouettes of the C ...

, 1952 US Olympic Long Jump Gold Medalist

Jerome Biffle Jerome Cousins Biffle (March 20, 1928 – September 4, 2002) was an American athlete who competed mainly in the long jump, where he was the Gold Medalist at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games. Biffle was born in Denver, Colorado, and attended Denv ...

, former

US Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) for the United States. It was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado ...

Executive Director Lyman Bingham, and MLS/US National soccer player

Nat Borchers Nat Borchers (born April 13, 1981) is an American former professional association football, soccer player who played as a defender (association football), defender. He won the MLS Cup in 2009 with Real Salt Lake and in 2015 with the Portland Ti ...

. San Antonio Spurs head coach

Gregg Popovich Gregg Charles Popovich (born January 28, 1949) is an American professional basketball executive and former coach who is the president for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the List of current NBA head co ...

received a master's degree from DU but did not play any varsity sports there. Five-time world champion and US Olympic figure Skating star

Michelle Kwan Michelle Wingshan Kwan (born July 7, 1980) is a retired American competitive figure skating, figure skater and diplomat who served as List of ambassadors of the United States to Belize, United States Ambassador to Belize from 2022 to 2025. In ...

graduated from DU in 2009. Former DU basketball player David Adkins went on to greater fame outside of sports as comedian and actor

Sinbad Sinbad the Sailor (; or Sindbad) is a fictional mariner and the hero of a story-cycle. He is described as hailing from Baghdad during the early Abbasid Caliphate (8th and 9th centuries A.D.). In the course of seven voyages throughout the sea ...

Phil Heath Phillip Jerrod Heath (born December 18, 1979) is an American IFBB Pro League professional bodybuilder. Known as 'the Gift', he is a seven-time Mr. Olympia winner, having won the competition every year from 2011 to 2017. Heath is tied with Ar ...

a former DU basketball player in the early 2000s, won the

Mr. Olympia Mr. Olympia is the title awarded to the winner of the professional men's bodybuilding contest in the open division at Joe Weider's Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend—an international bodybuilding competition that is held annually and is sanct ...

Bodybuilding Championship seven consecutive times between 2011 and 2017.

Championships

NCAA team championships

The University of Denver has 35 NCAA team national championships, the most of any Division I school outside of the

Power Five conferences The power conferences are the most prominent athletic conferences in college football in the United States. They are part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I, the highest level o ...

. *Men's (24) **

Ice Hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

(10): 1958, 1960, 1961, 1968, 1969, 2004, 2005, 2017, 2022, 2024 **

Lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

(1): 2015 **

(14): 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971 *Coed (10) **

(10): 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2018 *see also: ** Big East Conference NCAA team championships **

List of NCAA schools with the most NCAA Division I championships Listed below are the colleges or universities with the most NCAA Division I (NCAA), Division I-sanctioned team championships, individual championships, and combined team and individual championships, as documented by information published on offi ...

Other national team championships

Note: Skiing was a men's NCAA sport from 1954 to 1982 and became co-ed in 1983. The AIAW sponsored women's skiing and a national championship from 1977 to 1982 before being superseded by the NCAA, at which time skiing became co-ed. Denver won one AIAW championship: *Women's (1) **

Gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

(1): 1982 (Division II) Denver has won three team national championships that were not bestowed by the NCAA: *Men's (3) **

(3): 1949, 1951, 1952 *see also: **

List of NCAA schools with the most Division I national championships This is a list of U.S. universities and colleges that have won the most team sport national championships (more than 15) that have been bestowed for the highest level of collegiate athletic competition, be that at either the varsity or club level, ...

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , titlestyle = {{CollegePrimaryStyle, Denver Pioneers, color=white , list = {{Summit League navbox {{Big 12 Conference navbox {{Big East Conference navbox {{Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association navbox