The UT Dallas Comets are the athletic teams that represent the

University of Texas at Dallas The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD or UT Dallas) is a public research university in Richardson, Texas, United States. It is the northernmost institution of the University of Texas System. It was initially founded in 1961 as a private res ...

, located in the

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

suburb of

Richardson, Texas Richardson is a city in Dallas and Collin counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 119,469. Richardson is an inner suburb of the city of Dallas. It is home to the Universit ...

, in

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

intercollegiate sports. On July 20, 2023, the university announced it would move to

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 ...

and join the

Lone Star Conference The Lone Star Conference (LSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the South Central states, with schools in Texas ...

. The Comets are full members of the

American Southwest Conference The American Southwest Conference (ASC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference, founded in 1996, whose member schools compete in the NCAA's Division III. All member schools are located in the state of Texas. The conference competes in baseb ...

, which is home to all sixteen athletic programs. Varsity sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, esports, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, and volleyball. In total, there are 300 student athletes and 14 intercollegiate teams officially supported by the university.

History

The University of Texas at Dallas' Varsity athletics program started when UTD provisionally joined the

and the

(ASC) in 1998 and was granted full membership in the ASC in 2002.

Varsity teams

Individual teams

Baseball and softball

* In 2003–04, the men's baseball and women's softball teams advanced to the post-season. * The men's baseball team won the 2012 season ASC East Division Champions after closing out the regular season with a 27–13 overall record (14–4 in the ASC) and qualifying for the ASC Tournament for the ninth time in the program's 11-year history. * In 2016–17, the women's softball team claimed their fifth ASC title after winning their first ASC championship game. * The men's baseball team won their first ASC championship conference title in 2018.

Basketball

* In 2003–04, men's basketball advanced to the post-season. * In 2005, the UTD Athletic Program claimed their first ASC Championship for men's basketball and advanced to the NCAA Division III national playoffs. * On December 20, 2006, the Comets men's basketball team upset

the University of Texas at Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas, United States. It is the second oldest university in the University of Texas System and was founded in 1895. It was in the Texas A& ...

Mavericks 78–76 at UT Arlington's

Texas Hall Texas Hall is a proscenium theater on the campus of The University of Texas at Arlington in Arlington, Texas. It opened in 1965 and has a seating capacity of 2,625. Texas Hall hosts numerous events per year, including concerts, lectures, meeti ...

and became the first Division III team to defeat a Division I basketball team during the 2006–2007 season. * The woman's 2009 basketball team won the ASC East Division title, whereas the UTD men's basketball team won the ASC East Division both in 2010 and 2011. * The UT Dallas women basketball team won the 2013 American Southwest Conference title. * The UT Dallas men's basketball team won the 2014 ASC Tournament. * Women's basketball won the ASC conference crown in 2016–17. * For the first time in school history, both the Men's and Women's basketball teams won the 2018 NCAA Division III conference championships in the ASC Tournament.

Cross country

Women's cross country team won their first ASC conference crown in 2016 and their second in 2017. The men's cross country team won their first ASC conference crown in 2018.

E-sports

On September 24, 2018, the university added a co-ed Varsity Esports team managed under the athletic department. The team officially competes in collegiate competitions for

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL'', commonly referred to as ''League'', is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for ''Warcraf ...

Overwatch ''Overwatch'' (abbreviated as OW) is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment. ''Overwatch (video game), Overwatch'' was released in 2016 with a success ...

, and

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' is a 2018 crossover fighting game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the fifth installment in the '' Super Smash Bros.'' series, succeeding ' ...

. * In their inaugural year, UTD Esports ranked No. 8 overall in collegiate ''League of Legends'' competitions according to an official

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

poll. * In 2019 UTD Esports won the first US collegiate ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' competition at the Collegiate Starleague Smash Ultimate National Championships, taking home the program's first national title.

Golf

Women's golf won its first ASC conference championship title in 2008, and placed 3rd in 2015.

Soccer

* During the 2002 inaugural season, the men and women's soccer teams competed for conference championships. The women won the 2002 ASC title and UTD ended up hosting the conference tournament as well as the first round of NCAA playoffs in UTD's first year as active members. * The success continued in 2003–04 when men's and women's soccer advanced to the post-season. * In 2005, the UTD Athletic Program claimed ASC Championships for men's and women's soccer, with the men's soccer team advancing to the NCAA Division III national playoffs. * In 2007, the men's soccer team won the ASC championship, advancing to the NCAA tournament. Having 8 new team players as starters and only 3 veterans, the Comets led by top goal scorers Kevin White from Houston and Mihai Cotet from Braila, Romania led the team to its second ASC Tournament title in history. * Men's soccer won an ASC conference crown in 2016–17.

Tennis

* The 2007 men's tennis program had a very successful season, beating Division II teams and advancing as far as the ASC Conference final before falling to Hardin-Simmons. * The UT Dallas varsity tennis program won both the 2013 American Southwest Conference men's and women's tennis championships. * Women's tennis won the 2018 ASC championship title. *Both the Men's and Women's tennis teams won the 2019 ASC championship title.

Volleyball

* The women's volleyball team claimed the 2009 American Southwest Conference championship at the UT Dallas Activity Center. The 25–0, 2009 women's volleyball team was the only undefeated NCAA Division III team in the nation at the time. * The women's volleyball team won the 2011 ASC East title with an undefeated home record of 6–0, and a conference record of 14–2. * In 2016–17, the women's volleyball team won an ASC conference crown.

References

External links

* {{Lone Star Conference navbox University of Texas at Dallas College sports teams in Texas NCAA Division III teams