Princeton University
Athletics
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Princeton supports organized athletics at three levels: varsity intercollegiate, club intercollegiate, and intramural. It also provides "a variety of physical education and recreational programs" for members of the Princeton community. According to the athletics program's mission statement, Princeton aims for its students who participate in athletics to be "'student athletes' in the fullest sense of the phrase."[133] Most undergraduates participate in athletics at some level.[134]
Princeton's colors are orange and black. The school's athletes are known as Tigers, and the mascot is a tiger. The Princeton administration considered naming the mascot in 2007, but the effort was dropped in the face of alumni opposition.[135]
[edit]Varsity
Main article: Princeton Tigers
Princeton is an NCAA Division I school. Its athletic conference is the Ivy League. Princeton hosts 38 men's and women's varsity sports.[134] The largest varsity sport is rowing, with almost 150 athletes.[39]
Princeton's football team has a long and storied history. Princeton played against Rutgers University in the first intercollegiate football game in the U.S. on Nov 6, 1869. By a score of 6–4, Rutgers won the game, which was played by rules similar to modern rugby.[136] Today Princeton is a member of the Football Championship Subdivision of NCAA Division I.[137] As of the end of the 2010 season, Princeton had won 26 national football championships, more than any other school.[138]
The men's basketball program is noted for its success under Pete Carril, the head coach from 1967 to 1996. During this time, Princeton won 13 Ivy League titles and made 11 NCAA tournament appearances.[139] Carril introduced the Princeton offense, an offensive strategy that has since been adopted by a number of college and professional basketball teams.[140] Carril's final victory at Princeton came when the Tigers beat UCLA, the defending national champion, in the opening round of the 1996 NCAA tournament,[140] in what is considered one of the greatest upsets in the history of the tournament.[141] Recently Princeton tied the record for the fewest points in a Division I game since the institution of the three-point line in 1986–87, when the Tigers scored 21 points in a loss against Monmouth University on Dec 14, 2005.[142]
The men's water polo team is currently a dominant force in the Collegiate Water Polo Association, having reached the Final Four in two of the last three years. Similarly, the men's lacrosse program enjoyed a period of dominance 1992–2001, during which time it won six national championships.[143]
[edit]Club and intramural
In addition to varsity sports, Princeton hosts about 35 club sports teams.[134] Princeton's rugby team is organized as a club sport.[144]Each year, nearly 300 teams participate in intramural sports at Princeton.[145] Intramurals are open to members of Princeton's faculty, staff, and students, though a team representing a residential college or eating club must consist only of members of that college or club. Several leagues with differing levels of competitiveness are available.[146]
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