The Fort Hays State Tigers are the athletic teams that represent

Fort Hays State University Fort Hays State University (FHSU) is a public university in Hays, Kansas, United States. It is the largest university in western Kansas, and the fourth largest of the six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents, with a total ...

, located in Hays,

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the 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 environment ...

ranks, primarily competing in the

Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Its fourteen me ...

(MIAA) for most of its sports since the 2006–07 academic year; while its men's soccer team competes in the

Great American Conference The Great American Conference (GAC) is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division II, Division II level, with headquarters located in Russellvil ...

(GAC). The Tigers previously competed in the

Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) from approximately 1910 through the late 1960s, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (N ...

(RMAC) from 1989–90 to 2005–06 (which they were a member on a previous stint from 1968–69 to 1971–72); in the

Central States Intercollegiate Conference The Central States Intercollegiate Conference (CSIC) was an American intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1976 to 1989. It was known to be one of the toughest NAIA c ...

(CSIC) of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

(NAIA) from 1976–77 to 1988–89; in the

Great Plains Athletic Conference The Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota. The conference was f ...

(GPAC) from 1972–73 to 1975–76; in the

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Central Intercollegiate Conference (CIC) was an American intercollegiate athletic conference that operated from 1928 to 1968. It was less often referred to as the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIAC), particularly towards the begi ...

(CIC) from 1923–24 to 1967–68; and in the

Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The KCAC is the oldest conference in the NAIA and the second-oldest in the United St ...

(KCAC) from 1902–03 to 1922–23.

Athletics department overview

Fort Hays State offers eighteen sports at a varsity level. Entering the 2010–2011 school year, Fort Hays State has captured 58 Conference titles. They also have captured nine total national championships.

Conference membership history

* 1902–1927: Kansas Intercollegiate Athletic Association * 1928–1968: Central Intercollegiate Conference * 1969–1975:

* 1976–1990:

* 1991–2006:

* 2006–present:

Varsity teams

Fort Hays State competes in 18 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball.

Basketball

Men's

The Fort Hays State

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

program holds several national basketball titles; the men's team claimed national championships in 1984 and 1985 ( NAIA), back to back, and in 1996 (

) with a 34–0 record. In 2020, the team upset Division I

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

with an 81–68 victory.

Women's

The women's basketball team also brought home the national title in 1991 (NAIA). The team is currently coached by Talia Kahrs.

Football

The

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 ...

program at Fort Hays began in 1902. The first year a coach was assigned to the team was 1913 when Ira Van Cleave led the team to a record of 4 wins and 2 losses.College Football Data Warehouse
Fort Hays State 1913 results Other coaches in the school's history include Wayne J. McConnell,

Jim Gilstrap James Gilstrap is an American singer and session musician. He is best known for his 1975 solo hit single " Swing Your Daddy", as well as singing co-lead to the theme from the TV series ''Good Times''. Career Gilstrap was born November 10, 1946 ...

, James J. Yeager, and former

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Andrew Frank Schoeppel Andrew Frank Schoeppel (November 23, 1894 – January 21, 1962) was an American politician and a member of the Republican Party. He was the 29th governor of Kansas from 1943 to 1947 and a U.S. Senator from 1949 until his death. He was born in ...

. The coach beginning in 2011 is

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...

. Fort Hays State captured their first ever MIAA conference championship with a 13–12 win over Northwest Missouri State University on November 4, 2017, as they won their 10th game of the season against no losses with one regular season game against the University of Nebraska at Kearney remaining.

Athletics department overview

Conference membership history

Varsity teams

Basketball

Men's

Women's

Football

National championships

Team

References

External links