The West Texas A&M Buffaloes, also known as the WTAMU Buffaloes or WT Buffaloes, and formerly West Texas State Buffaloes and WTSU Buffaloes, are the athletic teams that represent

West Texas A&M University West Texas A&M University (WTAMU or WT) is a public university in Canyon, Texas, United States. It is the northernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Southern Associat ...

, located in

Canyon, Texas Canyon is a city in and the county seat of Randall County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,836 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Amarillo, Texas, Amarillo metropolitan area, metropolitan statistical area ...

, in

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 ...

intercollegiate sports. The Buffaloes, colloquially known as the Buffs (men) and Lady Buffs (women), compete as members of 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 ...

for all 14 varsity sports. West Texas A&M was a member of the

Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Border Conference, officially known as the Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association, was an NCAA-affiliated college athletic conference founded in 1931 that disbanded following the 1961–62 school year. Centered in the southwestern Unite ...

from 1941 to 1961. The football team won a conference championship in 1950. The Buffs were members of the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

from 1972 to 1985.

Varsity sports

Men's sports * Baseball * Basketball * Cross Country *

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 ...

* Golf * Soccer * Track & Field Women's sports * Basketball * Cross Country * Golf * Soccer * Softball * Track & Field * Volleyball

National championships

Team

Individual teams

Football

The football team plays its home games at Bain-Schaffer Buffalo Stadium, a newly built, on-campus stadium. Previously, WT played at

Kimbrough Memorial Stadium Happy State Bank Stadium, formerly known as Kimbrough Memorial Stadium, is a stadium in Canyon, Texas. It is owned by Canyon Independent School District and is primarily used for American football. It is the home stadium for Canyon High School ...

. The Buffs play rival

Eastern New Mexico University Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU or Eastern) is a public university with a main campus in Portales, New Mexico, and two associate degree-granting branches, one at Ruidoso and one at Roswell. ENMU is New Mexico's largest regional comprehensi ...

each fall for the Wagon Wheel trophy, and rival

Midwestern State University Midwestern State University (MSU Texas) is a public liberal arts university in Wichita Falls, Texas. As of Fall 2024, MSU Texas enrolled 5,324 students. It is the state's only public institution focused on the liberal arts. History Founded in ...

for the Highway 287 Challenge Cup.

Sun Bowl The Sun Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played since 1935 in the southwestern United States at El Paso, Texas. Along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, it is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose Bowl. ...
Champions

1949, 1962

Tangerine (
Citrus Bowl The Citrus Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group that also organizes the Pop-Tarts Bowl and Florida Classic. The g ...
) Champions

1957

Pasadena Bowl The Pasadena Bowl, known as the Junior Rose Bowl or Little Rose Bowl from 1946 to 1966 and again in 1976 and 1977, was a college football bowl game. Between 1946 and 1966 and again in 1976 and 1977, the game pitted the California Junior College fo ...
Champions

1967

Kanza Bowl The Kanza Bowl was an American NCAA Division II college football bowl game between teams from the Lone Star Conference (LSC) and the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA). The game was played on the first Saturday of December ...
Champions

2009, 2011

NCAA DII Playoffs

National Semifinals: 2012

Basketball

The Buff and Lady Buff basketball teams play in the First United Bank Center, a 5,800 seat multi-purpose

arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

. It was built in 2002. It is the home of the Buffaloes

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 ...

teams. The traditional rival is

, but newer rivalries with

and

The University of Texas of the Permian Basin The University of Texas Permian Basin (UTPB) is a public university in Odessa, Texas, United States. It is part of the University of Texas System. UTPB was authorized by the Texas Legislature in 1969 and founded in 1973. UTPB is now home to ove ...

have emerged in recent years. A strong tradition of basketball exists at West Texas A&M, dating back to the days of

Maurice Cheeks Maurice Edward Cheeks (born September 8, 1956) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who serves as assistant coach for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has also served as head coach of ...

and even as far back as the 1930s and 1940s. The 1954–55 season saw the Buffs make the NCAA tournament, though they would lose to eventual national champion San Francisco University. In 2018–19, WT became the first school in NCAA history to have both the men's and women's teams host a regional tournament. From WTAMU Record Book:

Men's Basketball Postseason

Women's Basketball Postseason

Volleyball

The Lady Buff volleyball team is a four-time

National Champion, winning the title in 1990, 1991, 1997, and most recently in 2022. The Lady Buffs holding one of the best home winning records in any level of competitive volleyball, which currently sits at 523–83 (495–49 at the D2 level). The team plays its home matches at Britkare Court at the WTAMU Fieldhouse aka “The Box.”

Cross Country

The Buffaloes and the Lady Buffs are one of the few Division II institutions that has an on campus cross country course, known as "The Range." The Buffaloes have won the Missouri Valley Conference Championship in 1977, and 1979, and the Lone Star Conference Championship in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. The men have had individual champions in the MVC in 1977 (Joseph Kemei), 1978 (Johnson Bett), 1979 (Johnson Bett), and 1985 (Carlos Ybarra) and in the LSC in 2013 (Dylan Doss), 2015 (Geoffrey Kipchumba), 2016 (Geoffrey Kipchumba), and 2017 (Owen Hind). The men have qualified for the national championships every year since 2013, and had a program best 11th-place finish in 2014. The Buffaloes have had 3 NCAA DII All-Americans, Geoffrey Kipchumba(2015,2016), Owen Hind (2017), and Briggs Wittlake (2018). Ezekiel Kipchichir won the 2019 South Central Region meet. The Lady Buffs have won the Lone Star Conference Championship in 2012 and 2013. The women have had individual champions in 2012 and 2014.

Indoor/ Outdoor Track

West Texas A&M Women's Outdoor Track & Field won the 2017 and 2022 National Championships defeating Grand Valley State each time in three day events. The Women's Indoor Track & Field team won the 2018 National Championship.

Baseball

Softball

The West Texas A&M Lady Buffs softball team Won the National Championship in 2014 defeating Valdosta State. in 2021, the Lady Buffs won their second title, defeating Biola University 2 games to 1.

Notable alumni

Joe Fortenberry Joe Cephis Fortenberry (April 1, 1911 – June 3, 1993) was an American basketball player who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics. He was a captain of the American basketball team, which won the gold medal in the first Olympics to include basket ...

— winner of the first tournament of

Basketball at the 1936 Summer Olympics Basketball at the 1936 Summer Olympics was the first appearance of the sport of Basketball at the Summer Olympics, basketball as an official Olympic medal event. The tournament was played between 7 and 14 August 1936 in Berlin, Nazi Germany, G ...

- Hall of Fame

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

basketball player and coach *

Mercury Morris Eugene Edward "Mercury" Morris (January 5, 1947 – September 21, 2024) was an American professional football player who was a running back and kick returner. He played for eight years, primarily for the Miami Dolphins, in the American Footbal ...

- former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

running back for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

* David Tameilau — plays rugby for the

United States national rugby union team The United States men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Eagles, represents the United States in men's international rugby union competitions. USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States, a ...

Duane Thomas Duane Julius Thomas (June 21, 1947 – August 4, 2024) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins. He played college football for ...

- former

running back for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

In addition to the above, the football program produced several alumni who went on to notable careers in

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

: *

Tully Blanchard Tully Arthur Blanchard (born January 22, 1954) is a Canadian-American professional wrestler and manager. He is best known for his appearances with Jim Crockett Promotions and the World Wrestling Federation in the mid-to-late 1980s as a member of ...

– member of the

WWE Hall of Fame The WWE Hall of Fame is a List of halls and walks of fame, hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when An ...

as part of the Four Horsemen stable * Bobby Duncum Sr. * Manny Fernandez * Dory Funk Jr. – member of the WWE Hall of Fame *

Terry Funk Terrance Dee Funk (June 30, 1944 – August 23, 2023) was an American professional wrestler and actor. Widely considered one of the most influential and greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Funk was known for the longevity of his car ...

– brother of Dory Jr. and also a member of the WWE Hall of Fame; also a pioneer of the

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

style * Frank Goodish, better known as

Bruiser Brody Frank Donald Goodish (June 18, 1946 – July 17, 1988) was an American professional wrestler who earned his greatest fame under the ring name Bruiser Brody. He also worked as King Kong Brody, the Masked Marauder, and Red River Jack. Over the year ...

– one of the industry's most famous brawlers *

Stan Hansen John Stanley Hansen II (born August 29, 1949), best known as Stan "the Lariat" Hansen, is an American retired professional wrestler. Hansen is known for his stiff wrestling style, which he attributed to his poor eyesight, and for his gimmick a ...

– member of the WWE Hall of Fame * Virgil Runnels, better known as

Dusty Rhodes Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. (October 11, 1945 – June 11, 2015), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who worked for the National Wrestling Alliance ...

– member of the WWE Hall of Fame (also played baseball for the then-West Texas State) * Merced Solis, better known as

Tito Santana Merced Solis (born May 10, 1953), better known by the ring name Tito Santana, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, Professional wrestling school, trainer, and retired school teacher. Solis has stayed a Face (profession ...

– member of the WWE Hall of Fame

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:West Texas AandM Buffaloes