198 Fun Facts About College Sports

Which president's White House conferences led to the founding of the NCAA?

Theodore Roosevelt summoned college football leaders to the White House in 1905 after a season of deaths and injuries; the body founded in 1906 was renamed the NCAA in 1910.

Which NCAA tier may not offer athletic scholarships at all?

Divisions I and II can. Division III schools compete without them entirely.

Roughly how many student athletes compete under NCAA rules each year?

The NCAA counts over 500,000 student-athletes competing across its three divisions and roughly 1,100 member schools, one of which, Simon Fraser University, is in Canada.

Where is the NCAA headquartered?

Indianapolis has housed the NCAA since 1999, and the men's Final Four is often played nearby.

What did the Supreme Court's 2021 ruling in NCAA v. Alston allow?

The ruling was unanimous. It opened the door to the name, image and likeness era.

Which team won the first NCAA men's basketball tournament in 1939?

Oregon's 'Tall Firs' beat Ohio State 46-33 in the 1939 final at Evanston, Illinois, to win the first NCAA men's basketball tournament, then an eight-team event.

In which year did the men's tournament expand to 64 teams?

The field grew to 64 teams in 1985, up from 53 the year before; a 65th team was added in 2001 and the First Four made it 68 in 2011.

Which university has won the most men's basketball championships?

UCLA has won 11 NCAA men's basketball titles, the first in 1964 and the most recent in 1995; Kentucky is second with eight.

Which round of the men's tournament comes immediately before the Elite Eight?

The Sweet Sixteen is the regional semifinal round; its eight winners form the Elite Eight, whose winners reach the Final Four national semifinals.

How many NCAA championships did John Wooden win at UCLA?

John Wooden won ten NCAA titles at UCLA between 1964 and 1975, including seven straight from 1967 to 1973; he retired immediately after the 1975 championship game.

How long was UCLA's record winning streak under John Wooden?

UCLA won 88 consecutive games from January 1971 until a 71-70 loss at Notre Dame in January 1974, the longest streak in NCAA men's Division I history.

What did John Wooden call his framework of motivational principles?

Wooden's Pyramid of Success stacks 15 building blocks, from industriousness and enthusiasm at the base to competitive greatness at the apex; he began sketching it as a high-school teacher in the 1930s.

What is John Wooden's well-known nickname?

Sportswriters dubbed Wooden the Wizard of Westwood after UCLA's Los Angeles neighborhood; he disliked the nickname and preferred simply to be called Coach.

After whom is college football's most famous individual award named?

John Heisman, a longtime coach at Georgia Tech and elsewhere, was athletic director of New York's Downtown Athletic Club; the club's trophy was renamed in his honor after his death in 1936.

Who won the first Heisman Trophy, in 1935?

Jay Berwanger, a University of Chicago halfback, won the 1935 award, then called the Downtown Athletic Club Trophy; in 1936 he was also the first pick in the first NFL draft.

Who is the only player to win the Heisman Trophy twice?

Archie Griffin, an Ohio State running back, won the Heisman in 1974 and 1975, the only player to take the award twice.

Who is the youngest Heisman winner?

Lamar Jackson was 19 years and 338 days old when he won the 2016 Heisman for Louisville, younger than any previous winner; he later won two NFL MVP awards.

Who was the model for the figure on the Heisman Trophy?

His name was Ed Smith. Frank Eliscu designed the statue.

In which season was the first College Football Playoff held?

The four-team College Football Playoff debuted in the 2014 season; Ohio State beat Oregon 42-20 in the first final, played in Arlington, Texas, in January 2015.

How many teams did the College Football Playoff expand to for the 2024 season?

The playoff grew from four teams to twelve for the 2024 season, with first-round byes for the top four seeds; Ohio State won the first twelve-team title in January 2025.

Which system did the College Football Playoff replace?

The Bowl Championship Series ran from 1998 to 2013, using polls and computer rankings to pair the top two teams in one title game; the four-team playoff replaced it.

Which postseason game is nicknamed 'The Granddaddy of Them All'?

Broadcaster Keith Jackson dubbed the Rose Bowl 'The Granddaddy of Them All' because, first played in 1902, it is the oldest college bowl game.

What was the score of the first Pasadena bowl game?

Michigan beat Stanford 49-0 in the January 1902 game; Stanford conceded with eight minutes left, and Pasadena did not stage football again until 1916.

On which date is the Pasadena bowl game traditionally played?

The Rose Bowl is played on 1 January, New Year's Day, except when that date falls on a Sunday, when the game and parade move to Monday 2 January.

Which two conferences traditionally supplied the Pasadena bowl game teams from 1947 to 2024?

The Big Ten and the Pac-12, earlier the Pacific Coast Conference and Pac-8/Pac-10, held the Rose Bowl tie-in from the 1947 game until the playoff era and the Pac-12's 2024 breakup ended it.

In which year was the first Army-Navy football game played?

The first Army-Navy game was played at West Point in 1890, with Navy winning 24-0; the academies have met nearly every year since.

What happens at the end of every Army-Navy game?

The winning team stands alongside the losers and faces the losing academy's students. It is one of the most respected traditions in American sport.

The annual Army-Navy football game, one of college football's oldest rivalries, is officially branded as what?

America's Game is the official brand of the Army-Navy Game, traditionally the last regular-season fixture on the college calendar, played in the second week of December.

Which side leads the all-time series between the two service academies?

Navy leads the all-time series, helped by a record 14 straight wins over Army from 2002 to 2015; Army ended that run in 2016.

In which city has the College World Series been held since 1950?

The College World Series has been played in Omaha, Nebraska, every June since 1950; eight teams contest it, and a new downtown ballpark replaced the city's old stadium in 2011.

How is the College World Series decided?

Eight teams are split into two double-elimination brackets of four, and the two bracket winners then meet in a best-of-three championship series, a format used since 2003.

In which year was the first NCAA women's basketball tournament held?

The first NCAA women's basketball tournament was held in 1982 with a 32-team field; Louisiana Tech beat Cheyney State 76-62 in the final.

Which programme has won the most NCAA women's basketball championships?

UConn has won more NCAA women's basketball titles than any other program, all under Geno Auriemma, the first in 1995 and the twelfth in 2025.

What was notable about the 2024 women's basketball championship game?

It outdrew the men's final, the first time the women's championship had higher viewership than the men's in the same year.

Which programme has appeared in every women's tournament since 1982?

Tennessee has played in every NCAA women's tournament since the first in 1982, a run of more than forty appearances, winning eight titles under Pat Summitt along the way.

Which two universities played the first intercollegiate football game in 1869?

Princeton was then known as the College of New Jersey. The game bore little resemblance to modern football.

Who is considered the most important figure in the development of American football?

Walter Camp, the 'Father of American Football', pushed through the line of scrimmage, the snap from center and eleven-man sides on the Yale-led rules committee in the early 1880s.

Which university plays its home football games at Beaver Stadium?

Beaver Stadium is Penn State's home, named for James Beaver, a Civil War general and Pennsylvania governor who chaired the university's trustees, not for a mascot; it opened on its current site in 1960.

What is the record attendance for a single college football game?

A crowd of 156,990 watched Tennessee beat Virginia Tech 45-24 at Bristol Motor Speedway in September 2016; the racetrack's grandstands made the record possible.

How many members sit on the committee that selects the College Football Playoff field?

They both select and seed the teams. The system replaced a formula-driven ranking.

What sport did the first intercollegiate contest in the US involve, between Harvard and Yale in 1852?

Rowing came first: Harvard beat Yale in a regatta on Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire, in 1852, the earliest intercollegiate contest in the United States.

What was the NCAA originally called when it was established in 1906?

The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States was founded in 1906 with 62 charter members and took the NCAA name in 1910.

Which NYU chancellor organised the 1905 meeting of 13 colleges that led to the NCAA?

NYU chancellor Henry MacCracken convened 13 colleges in December 1905; a follow-up meeting at New York's Murray Hill Hotel that month drew 62 institutions and produced the new association.

What was the first NCAA national championship, held in 1921?

The first NCAA championship was the 1921 outdoor track and field meet at Stagg Field in Chicago, won by Illinois; basketball did not get a championship until 1939.

Who became the NCAA's first executive director in 1951?

Walter Byers ran the NCAA from 1951 to 1988 and built it into a powerful body; critics called him 'power-mad' and 'a petty tyrant', and his 1995 memoir attacked the system he created.

Where was the NCAA's first national headquarters established in 1952?

The NCAA opened its first national office in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1952, then moved to the Kansas suburbs in 1973 and on to Indianapolis in 1999.

In what year did the NCAA adopt its three-division structure?

A special convention in August 1973 split the NCAA into Divisions I, II and III; Division I football was further divided into I-A and I-AA in 1978.

What were Divisions I-A and I-AA renamed in 2006?

In 2006 Division I-A became the Football Bowl Subdivision and I-AA the Football Championship Subdivision, reflecting that only the lower tier decides its champion through a playoff.

Roughly what share of the NCAA's 2022-23 revenue came from men's basketball tournament TV rights?

Television and marketing rights for the men's tournament brought in about $945 million of the NCAA's $1.28 billion revenue in 2022-23, roughly 74%.

Which body governed women's college sports before the NCAA took over in the early 1980s?

The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women had nearly 1,000 members.

What did the NCAA's failed post-war 'Sanity Code' attempt to regulate?

The 1948 Sanity Code tried to limit recruiting inducements and restrict athletes' financial aid to need-based grants; seven schools defied it, enforcement collapsed by 1951, and the NCAA hired full-time leadership.

How many teams did the NCAA approve for the men's tournament starting in 2027?

The format had been largely unchanged since the 1985 expansion to 64.

In which state was the entire 2021 men's tournament played as a pandemic precaution?

The entire 2021 men's tournament was played in Indiana, mostly in Indianapolis, with Baylor beating Gonzaga in the final; the 2020 event had been cancelled outright.

Whose idea was the first NCAA basketball tournament in 1939?

Ohio State coach Harold Olsen, an officer of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, proposed the tournament; the NABC ran the 1939 event, which lost money before the NCAA took it over.

Which song traditionally closes CBS's broadcast of the men's championship game?

'One Shining Moment', written by David Barrett, has closed CBS's championship broadcast since 1987, set to a montage of the tournament's highlights.

Which team won both the NIT and NCAA tournament in 1950, before that was banned?

City College of New York beat Bradley in both the 1950 NIT and NCAA finals; a point-shaving scandal engulfed the program the next year, and the NCAA later barred teams from entering both events.

In which year were at-large bids first extended in the men's tournament?

Starting in 1975 the tournament admitted at-large teams, letting a conference send more than one school; full seeding of the field followed in 1979.

How many brackets did Sports Illustrated estimate are filled out each March Madness?

Sports Illustrated has put the number of brackets at 60 to 100 million a year; the American Gaming Association estimated 70 million were filled out for the 2017 tournament alone.

Which school has won the most Heisman Trophies, with eight?

USC has eight Heisman winners, from Mike Garrett in 1965 to Caleb Williams in 2022, including Reggie Bush's 2005 award, which was reinstated in 2024.

Which university had six different players win the Heisman?

Archie Griffin's double win keeps Ohio State's total at seven trophies.

Which two players fought out the closest Heisman vote ever, in 2009?

Ingram became Alabama's first Heisman winner.

Which Heisman winner became an Army brigadier general instead of playing pro sports?

Pete Dawkins, Army's 1958 winner, was a Rhodes Scholar and rose to brigadier general; Doc Blanchard, Army's 1945 winner, became an Air Force fighter pilot instead of turning pro.

Who sculpted the Heisman Trophy?

Frank Eliscu, a young New York sculptor, made the trophy in 1935; its stiff-arm pose was refined after Fordham coach Jim Crowley had his players act out the move.

How much does the Heisman Trophy weigh?

The cast-bronze Heisman weighs 45 pounds and is about 13 inches tall and 14 inches long; the winner's school receives a duplicate.

Which quarterback, a redshirt freshman, became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy, in 2012?

Johnny Manziel broke the freshman barrier in 2012, and Jameis Winston followed a year later; both were redshirt freshmen.

Which two primarily defensive players have won the Heisman?

Charles Woodson of Michigan in 1997 and Colorado's two-way star Travis Hunter in 2024 are the only primarily defensive players to win; both played cornerback.

Which accounting firm tabulates the Heisman vote?

Accounting firm Deloitte tabulates and certifies the Heisman ballots, and the result is kept sealed until the televised December ceremony.

How many media voters take part in the Heisman ballot?

The 870 media voters are split into 145 for each of six regions; living former winners and a single fan ballot round out the electorate.

Who won the 2025 Heisman Trophy and then went first overall in the 2026 NFL Draft?

The Indiana quarterback capped the Hoosiers' mid-2020s rise.

Which two tight ends have won the Heisman?

Larry Kelley of Yale in 1936 and Notre Dame's Leon Hart in 1949 won as ends, the tight ends of their day; no interior lineman has ever won the award.

Which carmaker's fan survey counted as one Heisman vote as of the 2025 ballot?

Nissan, the award's longtime 'Heisman House' sponsor, ran the fan poll whose result counted as a single vote on the 2025 ballot alongside the media and former-winner ballots.

Which six bowls make up college football's 'New Year's Six'?

Rose, Sugar, Orange, Cotton, Fiesta and Peach rotated as College Football Playoff semifinal hosts from 2014 to 2023.

Which conference did Army's football program join in 2024 after years as an independent?

Army joined the American Athletic Conference for football in 2024, ending nearly two decades as an independent, and beat Tulane 35-14 to win the league title in its first season.

Which team won the final BCS National Championship Game, in January 2014?

Florida State beat Auburn 34-31 in Pasadena in January 2014, the last BCS title game, on Jameis Winston's touchdown pass to Kelvin Benjamin with 13 seconds left.

Which entity holds the trademarks of the College Football Playoff?

BCS Properties, LLC, the legal entity behind the old Bowl Championship Series, holds the playoff's trademarks, while day-to-day operations run through CFP Administration, LLC.

In the 12-team CFP used in 2024 and 2025, which seeds met in the first round?

Seeds 5 through 12 played the first round as 5-12, 6-11, 7-10 and 8-9 at the higher seeds' home stadiums, while the top four seeds had byes to the quarterfinals.

Which sport do the most US schools sponsor, with 2,197 men's and women's teams?

Basketball, or hoops, is the most widely sponsored NCAA sport because nearly every member school fields both a men's and a women's team, 2,197 teams in all.

Under what name was the Big Ten founded in 1896?

Founded in 1896 as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives, and long known as the Western Conference, the Big Ten predates the NCAA and is the oldest Division I conference.

How many members did the Big Ten grow to in August 2024?

Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA joined in August 2024, taking the Big Ten from 14 to 18 members and giving it a West Coast presence.

Which is the only full member ever to permanently leave the Big Ten?

Chicago left in the 1940s after dropping big-time football under Robert Hutchins.

Which two Big Ten universities are private?

Northwestern, a founding member, and USC, which arrived from the Pac-12 in 2024, are the Big Ten's only private universities; every other member is a public research university.

Where is the Big Ten headquartered?

The Big Ten's offices are in Rosemont, Illinois, near O'Hare Airport, where the conference moved in 2013 from nearby Park Ridge.

The SEC was established in 1932 by 13 members of which older league?

Thirteen schools, including Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and LSU, broke away from the Southern Conference in December 1932 to form the SEC.

Which was the first Division I conference to stage a football championship game, in 1992?

The SEC staged the first Division I conference title game in December 1992, when Alabama beat Florida 28-21 in Birmingham on its way to the national championship.

Where is the SEC headquartered?

The SEC has been headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, since 1948, when commissioner Bernie Moore set up the conference office there.

Which two schools joined the SEC in 2024, taking it to 16 members?

Oklahoma and Texas left the Big 12 for the SEC in July 2024, making it a 16-team league; Missouri and Texas A&M had arrived in 2012.

Where is the ACC headquartered?

The ACC moved its headquarters from Greensboro to Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2023; its members stretch from Boston College to Stanford and California, which joined in 2024.

Which original ACC member left the conference in 1971?

South Carolina, a charter member, quit the ACC in 1971 after disputes over admissions standards, played as an independent, and joined the SEC for the 1992 season; Georgia Tech arrived in 1979.

On what date was the ACC founded by seven universities?

Seven schools left the Southern Conference to form the ACC on May 8, 1953, meeting at the Sedgefield Inn in Greensboro; Virginia joined that December as the eighth member.

The Big 12 was formed in 1994 from the Big Eight and half of which dissolved league?

Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech left the dissolving Southwest Conference to join the Big Eight's members; the Big 12 began play in 1996.

Where is the Big 12 headquartered?

The Big 12 is based in Irving, Texas, in the Dallas suburbs; Brett Yormark became its commissioner in August 2022.

Which four schools joined the Big 12 for the 2023-24 season?

Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado followed a year later as Texas and Oklahoma left.

Which coach coined the Pac-12's nickname 'Conference of Champions'?

George Raveling, who coached basketball at Washington State and USC, coined 'Conference of Champions'; the Pac-12 won more than 500 NCAA team titles, far more than any other league.

Which two schools were the Pac-12's only full members in 2024-25 and 2025-26?

Oregon State and Washington State were the only full Pac-12 members for two seasons after ten schools departed in 2024; seven schools, including Boise State and Gonzaga, joined for 2026-27.

Which school's 2017 women's crew title was the Pac-12's 500th NCAA championship?

Washington's women's crew won the 2017 NCAA rowing title, the Pac-12's 500th national championship; the conference's lead over its nearest rival exceeded 200 titles.

What was the Pac-12 called immediately before Colorado and Utah joined in 2011?

The Pacific-10 became the Pac-12 when Colorado and Utah joined in 2011; earlier names included the Pacific Coast Conference, the AAWU, the Big Five, the Big Six and the Pacific-8.

In which football subdivision do Ivy League teams compete?

Ivy League football plays in the Football Championship Subdivision, FCS; the league only allowed its champion into the FCS playoffs beginning with the 2025 season.

In which year did the Ivy League officially form as an athletic conference?

The eight schools signed the Ivy Group Agreement in 1954, making the league a formal conference from the 1956 season; the term had been used informally since 1933.

Which Ivy League school was not founded during the colonial period?

Cornell was founded in 1865, after the Civil War; the other seven Ivies are among the nine colonial colleges, the remaining two being Rutgers and William & Mary.

Where is the Ivy League headquartered?

The Ivy League's office is in Princeton, New Jersey; the eight schools are sometimes called the 'Ancient Eight'.

Which senator wrote the 37 opening words of Title IX?

Senator Birch Bayh of Indiana drafted Title IX's 37-word opening sentence, which bans sex discrimination in federally funded education programs; it became law in June 1972.

After whom was Title IX renamed following her death in 2002?

Title IX was renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act in 2002 after the Hawaii congresswoman, its co-author, died; she had spent decades defending it from being weakened.

What percentage of US college students were female when Title IX passed in 1972?

Women were about 42% of US college students in 1972; they became the majority before the decade ended, and the law bans sex discrimination in any federally funded education program.

Which 2019 California law let college athletes profit from their name, image and likeness?

California's Fair Pay to Play Act, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in September 2019, barred schools from punishing athletes for NIL earnings, prompting similar laws nationwide and the NCAA's interim NIL policy in 2021.

Which settlement allowed schools to share revenue directly with athletes?

The House v. NCAA settlement, approved in June 2025, let schools share up to about $20.5 million a year directly with athletes and paid $2.8 billion in back damages to former players.

Where was the first College World Series held, in 1947?

The first two College World Series, in 1947 and 1948, were played at Hyames Field in Kalamazoo, Michigan; the event moved to Wichita in 1949 and to Omaha from 1950.

At which venue was the College World Series played from 1950 to 2010?

Rosenblatt Stadium in south Omaha, opened as Omaha Municipal Stadium, hosted the series from 1950 through 2010; Charles Schwab Field Omaha, originally TD Ameritrade Park, took over in 2011.

How many teams enter the first round of the Division I baseball tournament that leads to Omaha?

The 64-team field opens with sixteen four-team double-elimination regionals, followed by eight best-of-three super regionals whose winners go to Omaha.

Who holds the trademark on the name 'College World Series'?

Major League Baseball holds the 'College World Series' trademark, an extension of its 'World Series' mark, and licenses it to the NCAA for the Omaha event.

Which school won the Division I Directors' Cup 25 straight years until 2020-21?

Stanford won the Division I Directors' Cup 25 years running, from 1994-95 through 2018-19; no cup was awarded in the pandemic year, and Texas ended the run by winning in 2020-21.

What was the Directors' Cup called under its original sponsor before 2003?

Retailer Sears sponsored the award as the Sears Directors' Cup from its 1993-94 debut until 2003; Learfield later became title sponsor, and the prize itself is a Waterford crystal trophy.

How many points does a first-place finish earn in Directors' Cup standings?

A national championship is worth 100 points in Directors' Cup standings, with second place earning 90, third 85 and fourth 80.

Which Division II school has dominated the Directors' Cup since UC Davis moved to Division I?

Grand Valley State, in Allendale, Michigan, has won the Division II Directors' Cup in most years since 2003-04; UC Davis had won six of the first eight before joining Division I.

Who won the first NIT, in 1938?

Temple's Owls beat Colorado 60-36 in the 1938 final to win the first NIT, then regarded as the more prestigious of the two national tournaments.

Which organisation founded the NIT in 1938?

The Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association created the NIT in 1938, a year before the NCAA tournament began; the NCAA bought the event in 2005.

Until 2022, which arena traditionally hosted the NIT semifinals and finals?

Madison Square Garden hosted the NIT's final rounds from 1938 through 2022, except in the 2021 pandemic year, when the event moved to Texas; from 2023 the final site was chosen annually.

Which 'Catholic Seven' schools split from the old Big East to form the current conference in 2013?

DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John's and Villanova kept the Big East name in 2013; Butler, Creighton and Xavier joined at launch and UConn returned in 2020.

Who founded the original Big East Conference in 1979?

Dave Gavitt, then Providence's athletic director and former coach, organised the Big East in 1979 around Eastern basketball powers and became its first commissioner.

Who became commissioner of the Big East Conference in 2013?

Val Ackerman, the WNBA's founding president, became commissioner of the reconstituted Big East in 2013; the conference is headquartered in New York City.

Which coach won seven claimed national titles, the most in college football history?

Nick Saban won seven national championships, one at LSU in 2003 and six at Alabama between 2009 and 2020, one more than Bear Bryant.

Which NFL team did Alabama's future coach lead before returning to college in 2007?

Nick Saban coached the Miami Dolphins for two seasons, 2005 and 2006, going 15-17, before taking the Alabama job in January 2007.

How did Paul Bryant earn his famous nickname?

His mother wanted him to be a minister; he said coaching was a lot like preaching.

What headwear was Bear Bryant's trademark, even though he usually wore plaid?

Bryant's trademark was a houndstooth hat, a gift from Jets owner Sonny Werblin in the 1960s; the pattern became a symbol of Alabama fandom.

How many wins did Bear Bryant retire with in 1982, then a college record?

Bryant retired after the 1982 season with 323 wins, then the major-college record, compiled at Maryland, Kentucky, Texas A&M and Alabama; he died four weeks after his final game.

How many national titles did Mike Krzyzewski win at Duke?

Only John Wooden has more men's championships.

Under which coach did Krzyzewski play point guard at Army?

He later coached his alma mater from 1975 to 1980.

Which team did Duke beat in November 2011 for Coach K's record-setting Division I win?

Duke beat Michigan State 74-69 at Madison Square Garden on 15 November 2011 for Krzyzewski's 903rd win, passing Bob Knight's Division I record.

How many career wins did Pat Summitt record, then a college record?

Pat Summitt finished with 1,098 wins in 38 seasons at Tennessee, then the most by any college basketball coach, and never had a losing season.

What honour did Pat Summitt receive from President Obama in 2012?

President Obama awarded Summitt the Presidential Medal of Freedom in May 2012, shortly after early-onset Alzheimer's disease forced her to step down at Tennessee.

At what age did Pat Summitt retire from coaching?

Summitt stepped down in April 2012 at age 59, a year after revealing early-onset dementia; she had coached the 1984 US Olympic team to gold after winning silver as a player in 1976.

Which UConn star won four straight Final Four Most Outstanding Player awards from 2013 to 2016?

Breanna Stewart won four NCAA titles with UConn from 2013 to 2016 and was named Final Four Most Outstanding Player each year, a record for the women's tournament.

From which Italian town did Geno Auriemma emigrate as a boy?

Geno Auriemma was born in Montella, a hill town in Campania, and his family settled in Norristown, Pennsylvania, when he was seven.

In which two years did Bobby Bowden's Florida State win consensus national titles?

Florida State won consensus national titles in 1993, beating Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, and 1999, beating Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl, during 14 straight AP top-five finishes.

Whom did Bobby Bowden beat in his final game, the 2010 Gator Bowl?

Bowden's Seminoles beat West Virginia 33-21 in the January 2010 Gator Bowl; he had coached the Mountaineers from 1970 to 1975 before moving to Florida State.

How many wins does Joe Paterno hold, the most in FBS history?

Joe Paterno's 409 wins, all at Penn State from 1966 to 2011, were restored by the NCAA in 2015 after being vacated; his career ended with his dismissal in November 2011.

At which Ivy League school did Joe Paterno play quarterback and cornerback?

Paterno played quarterback and cornerback at Brown, graduating in 1950, and planned on law school before his coach Rip Engle took him to Penn State as an assistant.

Which HBCU did Eddie Robinson coach for 56 years?

Eddie Robinson coached Grambling State in Louisiana from 1941 to 1997, retiring with a 408-165-15 record and sending more than 200 players to the NFL.

Which NFL championship game was dedicated to Eddie Robinson?

Super Bowl XXXII, in which Denver beat Green Bay 31-24 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego in January 1998, was dedicated to Robinson months after his retirement.

At which university did Bo Jackson play football and baseball, winning the 1985 Heisman?

Bo Jackson won the 1985 Heisman at Auburn, where he also starred in baseball; he later became the only athlete selected as an All-Star in both MLB and the NFL.

Which musician co-starred with Bo Jackson in Nike's 'Bo Knows' campaign?

Blues pioneer Bo Diddley appeared in the 1989 'Bo Knows' spots, telling Jackson 'Bo, you don't know Diddley' after his guitar attempt; the ads sold Nike's cross-trainer.

For which university did Caitlin Clark become Division I's all-time leading scorer?

She led Iowa to two straight national title games.

Which team drafted Caitlin Clark first overall in 2024?

The Indiana Fever took Clark first overall in April 2024; she won WNBA Rookie of the Year and made the All-WNBA First Team in her debut season.

What did Caitlin Clark achieve as a sophomore at Iowa that nobody had before her?

She repeated the feat as a senior.

What Heisman milestone did Tim Tebow achieve in 2007?

He led Florida to BCS titles in 2006 and 2008.

What did Tim Tebow pursue in the New York Mets organisation from 2016 to 2021?

Tebow played minor league baseball in the Mets system from 2016 to 2021, reaching Triple-A Syracuse in 2019, before a one-preseason-game NFL return as a Jaguars tight end.

Which university's basketball program did James Naismith found in 1898?

Naismith started the Kansas program in 1898 and coached the Jayhawks until 1907 with a 55-60 record, the only losing mark in program history; his player Phog Allen later coached Adolph Rupp and Dean Smith.

Where did Naismith design basketball in 1891?

International YMCA Training School, Springfield, Massachusetts, is where Naismith invented the game in 1891; he earned a medical degree in Denver seven years later.

What was Stagg's distinction in the College Football Hall of Fame's 1951 charter class?

Stagg was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame's 1951 charter class as both a player, for Yale, and a coach; he also entered the Basketball Hall of Fame's first class in 1959.

In which country was Knute Rockne born?

Knute Rockne was born in Voss, Norway, in 1888 and immigrated to Chicago at five; as a Notre Dame player and coach he helped popularise the forward pass.

How did Knute Rockne die in 1931?

He was 43 and had won three national titles at Notre Dame.

What is Michigan Stadium's official capacity?

Michigan Stadium lists an official capacity of 107,601, the largest in the Western Hemisphere; its record crowd of 115,109 came against Notre Dame in 2013.

Which president outlined his Great Society program at Michigan Stadium in 1964?

Lyndon B. Johnson used the University of Michigan's commencement at Michigan Stadium on 22 May 1964 to outline the Great Society; the stadium is the site of the university's main spring graduation.

Which NHL game at Michigan Stadium set the ice hockey attendance record of 105,491?

The 2014 Winter Classic on New Year's Day drew 105,491 to see Toronto beat Detroit in a shootout, the NHL's attendance record; a 2014 Manchester United-Real Madrid friendly drew 109,318.

In which year was the Rose Bowl moved from Pasadena to Durham, North Carolina?

The January 1942 Rose Bowl was moved to Durham, North Carolina, after Pearl Harbor raised fears of a West Coast attack; Oregon State beat host Duke 20-16.

What prize do Rose Bowl winners receive?

Rose Bowl winners receive the Leishman Trophy, named for William and Lathrop Leishman, a father and son who each served as Tournament of Roses president.

Which is the only year since 1918 that Michigan and its Columbus rival did not play?

The 2020 game was cancelled when a COVID-19 outbreak on Michigan's team left it unable to play, the only gap in the Michigan-Ohio State series since 1918.

Which coach coined the name 'Iron Bowl' in 1964?

Auburn coach Ralph 'Shug' Jordan is credited with the name, saying after the 1964 game that Auburn had its bowl every year in Birmingham, the iron and steel city.

At which Birmingham stadium was the Iron Bowl played for many years?

Legion Field in Birmingham hosted the Iron Bowl from 1948 until 1988, when Auburn moved its home games to campus; Alabama followed in 2000, moving to Tuscaloosa.

What trophy goes to the winner of the Red River Rivalry?

The Golden Hat, a gold-plated ten-gallon hat mounted on a wooden base, has gone to the Texas-Oklahoma winner since 1941; the original version was bronze.

Where has the Red River Rivalry been played since 1932?

The game has been played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas's Fair Park every year since 1932, during the State Fair of Texas, with the stadium split evenly between the two fan bases.

Why was 'Red River Shootout' renamed 'Red River Rivalry' in 2005?

SBC Communications sponsored the 100th game.

Along which highway, also called Tobacco Road, are Duke and North Carolina about ten miles apart?

US 15-501, nicknamed Tobacco Road, links Durham and Chapel Hill; the Duke and North Carolina campuses are about ten miles apart by road and eight in a straight line.

After the 2025 edition of The Game, who led the Harvard-Yale series and by what record?

The Game is the third most-played Division I rivalry.

What is the seating capacity of Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium?

Cameron Indoor Stadium seats 9,314; it opened in 1940 as Duke Indoor Stadium and was renamed in 1972 for coach and athletic director Eddie Cameron.

Which architect designed Cameron Indoor Stadium?

Julian Abele, chief designer at Horace Trumbauer's Philadelphia firm and the first Black graduate of Penn's architecture program, designed Cameron Indoor Stadium and much of Duke's Gothic West Campus.

What is the official capacity of Rupp Arena?

Rupp Arena in Lexington seats about 20,500 after its 2019 renovation; it opened in 1976, a year before Adolph Rupp's death, and hosted the 1985 Final Four.

Which network has televised the Fighting Irish's home football games since 1991?

NBC has televised every Notre Dame home football game since 1991, the first deal of its kind between a network and a single school.

How many national championships do the Fighting Irish officially claim?

Notre Dame officially claims 11 consensus national titles, from Rockne's 1924 team to Lou Holtz's 1988 squad, though various selectors have credited it with as many as 22.

Which coach's 'Point-a-Minute' Michigan teams began a 56-game unbeaten streak in 1901?

Michigan claims twelve national titles including 1948, 1997 and 2023.

Who set the SEC single-season rushing record with 2,219 yards for Alabama in 2015?

Derrick Henry ran for 2,219 yards and 28 touchdowns in 2015, an SEC single-season record, and won the Heisman before Alabama's national title that January.

Since what year has Nebraska sold out every home game at Memorial Stadium?

Nebraska's sellout streak at Memorial Stadium began on 3 November 1962, in Bob Devaney's first season as coach; Devaney went on to win national titles in 1970 and 1971.

Which three Nebraska players have won the Heisman?

Johnny Rodgers in 1972, Mike Rozier in 1983 and Eric Crouch in 2001 are Nebraska's Heisman winners; the program claims five national titles, the last in 1997.

Which organisation presents the Wooden Award?

The Los Angeles Athletic Club has presented the Wooden Award since 1977, when UCLA's Marques Johnson won the first; the women's award was added in 2004.

At which university was John Wooden the 1932 national player of the year?

Wooden was a three-time All-American guard at Purdue and the 1932 Helms national player of the year, leading the Boilermakers to that season's Helms national title; he entered the Hall as both player and coach.

In which city did the College Football Hall of Fame open in August 2014?

The College Football Hall of Fame opened in Atlanta in August 2014 after 17 years in South Bend, Indiana; Rutgers had been picked as the original site in 1949 but never built it.

Which organisation founded the sport's Hall of Fame in 1951?

The National Football Foundation, established in 1947, created the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951; eligible players must have been first-team All-Americans.

Where was the Sugar Bowl temporarily moved after Hurricane Katrina?

The January 2006 Sugar Bowl was moved to Atlanta's Georgia Dome after Hurricane Katrina damaged the Superdome, the game's home since 1975; West Virginia beat Georgia 38-35.

Which conference did the Orange Bowl have a strong relationship with from the 1950s to mid-1990s?

The 1979 game even had two Big Eight teams.

Since 1996 the Orange Bowl has been played at which venue?

The Orange Bowl moved from the Miami Orange Bowl stadium to what is now Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens in 1996; the game had begun at Miami Field in 1935.

Where did the Cotton Bowl Classic move in 2010?

The Cotton Bowl Classic left Fair Park for the Dallas Cowboys' AT&T Stadium in Arlington in January 2010; Goodyear became its title sponsor in 2014.

Which team won the first Cotton Bowl Classic, on New Year's Day 1937?

TCU, quarterbacked by Sammy Baugh, beat Marquette 16-6 in the first Cotton Bowl Classic on 1 January 1937; Dallas oilman J. Curtis Sanford financed the game himself.

Where was the Fiesta Bowl played from 1971 to 2006?

The Fiesta Bowl was played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe from its 1971 debut through the January 2006 game before moving to Glendale; its first nine editions featured the WAC champion.

Which snack brand sponsored the Fiesta Bowl from 1996 to 2014?

Frito-Lay's Tostitos brand was the Fiesta Bowl's title sponsor from 1996 to 2014; BattleFrog, PlayStation and Vrbo followed.

Since which year has Gonzaga appeared in every NCAA tournament?

Gonzaga's run of appearances began in 1999, when Dan Monson's team reached the Elite Eight as a 10 seed; Mark Few took over as coach that autumn.

Which Gonzaga player was co-national player of the year in 2006, averaging 28.1 points?

Adam Morrison averaged 28.1 points in 2005-06 and shared national player of the year honours with Duke's J.J. Redick; Frank Burgess had led the nation with 32.4 in 1961.

Which Kentucky coach won the NCAA title in 1998, his first season at the school?

Tubby Smith, hired from Georgia when Rick Pitino left for the Celtics, led Kentucky to the 1998 title in his first season, beating Utah 78-69 in the final.

How many NCAA titles did Adolph Rupp win at Kentucky?

Adolph Rupp won four NCAA titles at Kentucky, in 1948, 1949, 1951 and 1958, during a 41-season tenure; the program's total stands at eight.

How many consecutive Big 12 regular-season titles did Kansas win from 2005 to 2018?

Kansas won or shared 14 straight Big 12 regular-season titles from 2005 to 2018, a Division I record, passing UCLA's 13 in a row from 1967 to 1979.

Who became Kentucky's men's basketball coach in 2024?

Mark Pope, a captain of Kentucky's 1996 champions, was hired from BYU in April 2024 after John Calipari left for Arkansas.

Which Stanford quarterback's go-ahead drive was undone by 'The Play' in the 1982 Big Game?

John Elway drove Stanford to a field goal and a 20-19 lead with four seconds left in his final college game, only for California's five-lateral kickoff return through the Stanford band to win 25-20.

In which year did Michigan leave behind the water jug that became the Little Brown Jug?

Michigan's team bought the five-gallon jug for its 1903 game at Minnesota, a 6-6 tie, and left it behind; Minnesota kept it, and the schools have played for it since 1909.

Floyd of Rosedale, the bronze pig trophy of the Iowa-Minnesota game, began as what in 1935?

Minnesota's Floyd Olson wagered a prize hog with Iowa's Clyde Herring amid tensions over the rough treatment of Iowa star Ozzie Simmons.

Texas A&M's '12th Man' tradition dates to E. King Gill leaving the stands at which 1922 game?

At the January 1922 Dixie Classic in Dallas, with injuries leaving coach Dana X. Bible short of players against Centre College, E. King Gill came down from the press box, suited up and stood ready; A&M won 22-14.

In 2018, which 16th seed became the first to beat a No. 1 seed in the men's NCAA tournament, routing Virginia?

UMBC's Retrievers, coached by Ryan Odom, beat Virginia 74-54 after taking the America East automatic bid; FDU repeated the feat against Purdue in 2023.

Which team did Bob Knight's 32-0 Indiana Hoosiers beat in the 1976 NCAA final?

Indiana beat Big Ten rival Michigan 86-68 in the 1976 final in Philadelphia to finish 32-0, with Scott May and Kent Benson as All-Americans; Rutgers had also arrived at the Final Four unbeaten.

Before Paul Bunyan's Axe, Minnesota and Wisconsin played for which trophy that vanished after the 1943 game?

The Slab of Bacon, a walnut plaque, vanished after the 1943 game and turned up in a Camp Randall storage room in 1994; Paul Bunyan's Axe replaced it in 1948.

The Florida-Georgia game earned which boozy nickname from a 1958 Florida Times-Union editor?

Times-Union sports editor Bill Kastelz dubbed it 'The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party' after watching a tipsy fan cheerfully offer a drink to an on-duty police officer.

Which two schools play for the Old Oaken Bucket each football season?

Indiana and Purdue have played for the Old Oaken Bucket since 1925; the winner adds a bronze 'I' or 'P' link to its chain, and the first game's 0-0 tie produced an 'IP' link.