The University of Tulsa Official Athletic Site - Tulsa Golden Hurricane

Athletic Department

TU Athletics Points of Pride

  • Tulsa is an NCAA Division I member for all sports. Tulsa is a member of Conference USA, a league Tulsa joined on July 1, 2005.

  • Tulsa currently sponsors 18 intercollegiate sports. Women: Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Indoor Track, Rowing, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, Outdoor Track, Volleyball; Men: Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Golf, Indoor Track, Soccer, Tennis, Outdoor Track

  • Tulsa has won six national championships, four in women's golf (1982 and 1988 NCAA and 1980 and 1982 AIAW titles) and two in men's basketball (1981 and 2001 NIT). Tulsa basketball also won the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) Championship in 2008.

  • Since 1995, Tulsa has had 38 ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans on either the first, second or third-teams.

  • Since becoming a member of Conference USA, Tulsa teams have won 13 conference championships, including four in 2005-06 (football, women's basketball, men's tennis, softball); four in 2006-07 (volleyball, men's golf, women's tennis, men's tennis; and five in 2007-08 (volleyball, men's soccer, men's tennis, women's tennis, women's golf), while football won the West Division title.

  • In its three years as Conference USA members, Tulsa student-athletes have earned the highest scholar-athlete honor possible in the league, the Scholar Athlete of the Year award 11 times: four in 2005-06 (Sam Korbe, Garrett Mills, Kara-Pongonis Paslay, Matt Wiley); four in 2006-07 (Arnau Brugues, Santie Delport, Sam Korbe, Paul Smith); and three in 2007-08 (Arnau Brugues, Sara Dyer, Paul Smith)

  • Tulsa Golden Hurricane athletics has brought increased national exposure to the city of Tulsa through nationally televised athletic events (most recently CBS, ESPN, CBS College Sports Network and Fox Sports Network) and additional national media coverage.

  • The origination of The University of Tulsa nickname -- Golden Hurricane -- in 1922, the team started working out in the fall with a new nickname "Yellow Jackets." In the past, Tulsa had been named "Kendallites," "Presbyterians," Tigers," "Orange and Black," "Tulsans," and, of course, "Yellow Jackets." Head coach Howard Acher after a remark in practice about "roaring through opponents," had seriously considered "Golden Tornadoes." But a check showed that Georgia Tech already had chosen that tag in 1917. From the tornado, he evolved meteorologically to the hurricane. A few days before the team left for a game against Texas A&M, Acher asked the squad to vote on the name "Golden Hurricane," the gold being added because of the color of their new jerseys.

  • Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium capacity is 30,000 for football. The stadium was built in 1930. Tulsa plays its home basketball and volleyball games at the Donald W. Reynolds Center, which opened in December 1998, on the TU campus. The arena seats 8,355 for basketball. The Donna J. Hardesty Sports Complex houses a softball complex, the Hurricane Soccer and Track Stadium and a soccer practice field. The Michael D. Case Tennis Center is one of the nation's premier tennis facilities. The J. Bird Shell Nest on the Verdigris River is the home site for the Tulsa rowing team.

  • Tulsa was the first university to play in five straight New Year's Day Bowl Games, including the 1942 Sun Bowl, 1943 Sugar Bowl, 1944 Sugar Bowl, 1945 Orange Bowl and 1946 Oil Bowl.

  • Tulsa's football teams have appeared in 15 Bowl games. Tulsa has appeared in four bowl games in the last five years including three straight -- 2005 AutoZone Liberty Bowl, 2006 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl and the GMAC Bowl in January 2008.

  • Tulsa football had its last national ranking in the 1991 season when the Hurricane finished the season with a 10-2 record and was ranked 21st in the nation by the Associated Press and USA Today/Coaches polls.

  • Three Tulsa golfers have won individual national championships - Nancy Lopez (1976), Kathy Baker (1982) and Melissa McNamara (1988).

  • The University of Tulsa has three Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees. Steve Largent and the late Jim Finks were members of the 1995 class, while Bob St. Clair was a 1990 inductee. TU shares the lead for the most NFL Hall of Famers among the Division I-A football schools in the state of Oklahoma.

  • Tulsa has three former student-athletes and one coach as members of the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame. The inductees include players -- Glenn Dobbs, Howard Twilley and Jerry Rhome -- and coach Francis Schmidt.

  • Clarence Iba, brother of the legendary Henry Iba, has generally been regarded as the man who played the most vital part in building the basketball program of the Golden Hurricane in the 1950s.

  • Tulsa's basketball team has made 19 postseason tournament appearances since the 1980-81 season, including 13 times in the NCAA Tournament, five times in the NIT and in the inaugural College Basketball Invitational (CBI) in 2008. Tulsa has advanced to the NCAA Tournament "Sweet Sixteen" three times, and "Elite Eight" once. The Hurricane won NIT titles in 1981 and 2001., and captured the championship in the 2008 CBI.

  • TU men's golf coach Bill Brogden is a member of the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame.

  • The University of Tulsa can take much of the credit for developing the passing game in collegiate football in the 1960's. Tulsa led the nation in passing in 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1966. Quarterbacks Jerry Rhome (1964) and Billy Guy Anderson (1965) and receiver Howard Twilley (1964-65) set most of the NCAA passing and receiving records, some of which still stand today.

  • TU football players who had tremendous NFL careers include: David Alexander, Steve August, Don Blackmon, Dennis Byrd, Steve Largent, Ralph McGill, Jerry Ostroski, Drew Pearson, Ray Rhodes, Bob St. Clair and Howard Twilley.

  • Two of the NFL's African-American head coaches were graduates of The University of Tulsa -- Lovie Smith (currently with the Chicago Bears) and Ray Rhodes (formerly of the Green Bay Packers). Smith led his Bears team to the 2007 Super Bowl.

  • Tulsa's women's golf team has won four national championships, the latest in 1988, and has finished in second place five times. The women's team has produced more than 30 All-Americans.

  • The TU women golfers have made the national championship tournament in 27 of the 34 years of the program's existence.

  • Tulsa has had two female athletes earn Conference Athlete of the Year honors (including all sports), including golfer Stacy Prammanasudh in the Western Athletic Conference in 2001-02 and basketball player Jillian Robbins in Conference USA for 2005-06.

  • In 15 years as a conference member, the Tulsa women's golf team has won 11 conference championships, including the final seven straight league titles as a member of the Western Athletic Conference.

  • The men's golf team has won 11 conference titles in school history, including 10 under current head coach Bill Brogden. Tulsa has made nine NCAA Championship appearances, including six under Brogden.

  • TU's list of golfers that have played on the LPGA tour is a Who's Who of Women's Golf. Included on this list are Nancy Lopez, Kathy Baker-Guadagnino, Jody Rosenthal Anschutz, Carolyn Hill, Kelly Robbins, Carin Koch and Stacy Prammanasudh to name a few. Tulsa's LPGA stars have combined to win 68 LPGA tournament titles, including six majors.

  • The TU men's soccer team has made four NCAA Tournament appearances. The first was in 1991, and then back-to-back appearances in 2003 and 2004, and again in 2007. Tulsa advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals in 2004. Tulsa soccer has been nationally ranked in 1991, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007.

  • The women's soccer team finished both the 1992 and '93 seasons ranked among the nation's top 25, including 18th in 1993 and 21st in 1992.

  • The men's tennis team has won 12 conference championships, including two straight in 1995 and 1996, and the first three Conference USA title in 2006, 2007 and 2008. The TU team made six straight appearances to the NCAA Regional Championship (1995-00) and have re-appeared in the 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2008 NCAA Regional.

  • The men's tennis team earned its highest national ranking ever in the 2007-08 campaign with a No. 8 ranking during the 2007-08 season, while the women's highest national ranking of No. 23 came in 1999-00.

  • In 1988, the TU track team produced The University of Tulsa's first Rhodes Scholar since 1957 -- Peter Bednekoff.

  • In 1976, the first year of the Tulsa volleyball program, the Hurricane won the Oklahoma AIAW State Small College Tournament, the Southwest AIAW Regional Tournament and advanced to the AIAW Small College National Tournament.

  • Former TU basketball player Michael Ruffin was an NCAA Top VIII Award winner in 1999, one of the NCAA's top awards. Track star Shana Robinson was a finalist for the 2004 NCAA Women of the Year award.

  • In its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, Tulsa's women's tennis team advanced to the second round of the 2000 NCAA Championships and completed the season with a 21-6 record. Tulsa also advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2004, 2007 and 2008. In 2008, Tulsa also advanced to the NCAA second round and finished with a school-best record of 22-6.

  • Tulsa men's basketball has won over 500 games since 1980-81 for an average of over 20 wins per season.

  • The Tulsa women's basketball team won its first-ever league title with a Conference USA Championship and post-season tournament championship in 2005-06. Tulsa advanced to the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament and winning its first round game.

  • Tulsa women's basketball made back-to-back appearances in the WNIT in 2004 and 2005. The 2004 appearance was the school's first-ever postseason appearance.

  • The Tulsa softball team captured its first-ever conference title by winning the 2006 Conference USA Championship. TU also made its first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2006, and made its second NCAA Tournament appearance in 2008.

  • In 2006, the Tulsa volleyball team won the school's first-ever conference regular season title for women's volleyball, and followed that in 2007 with its first post-season crown in Conference USA. The 2007 campaign was also the school's first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

  • In the fall of 2006, Tulsa tennis student-athlete Arnau Brugues won the school's first tennis national individual title by winning the ITA Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championship. He also has become Tulsa tennis' first three-time All-American, earning honors in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

  • Tulsa has hosted three NCAA national championships in school history, including the 1999 NCAA Women's Golf Championships at Tulsa Country Club, the 2004 NCAA Men's Tennis Championships and the 2008 NCAA Men's & Women's Tennis Championships at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.

    (updated June 2008)

  • C-USA