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73-491: The Golden Grizzlies have won 10 NCAA national championships and were runners-up 16 times. A member of the Horizon League , Oakland University sponsors teams in eight men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Early in the history of Oakland University (OU), academic excellence was stressed at the expense of competitive intercollegiate athletics. While the focus on academic excellence has continued and expanded,

146-519: A 19–12 record in the NCAA tournament from 2003 to 2011, ranking tops among all 32 NCAA Division I conferences for winning percentage (.613) in March Madness during that span. This historic stretch of conference dominance was thanks to NCAA Tournament wins from Butler (15), Milwaukee (3), and Cleveland State (1) . Butler appeared in the men's national championship game in both 2010 and 2011 . Since

219-563: A 5–2 record and #8 in the league. In their second year of existence, the 2014 team went undefeated at 9-0 winning their first NCFA National Championship. In 2016, the team achieved the perfect season in the NCFA going 12-0 and went on to win their second NCFA National Championship. The Oakland men's club ice hockey team won the American Collegiate Hockey Association 's Division 2 national championship in 2004,

292-407: A 9 seed, lost in the first round to LSU while 13 seed Cleveland State upset No. 8 (AP)/No. 9 (ESPN) (4 seed) Wake Forest 84–69 (and achieved the third biggest upset in NCAA history winning by 15 points) and shocked the nation in the first round of play before falling to 12 seed Arizona in the second round of tournament play. Butler finished the season ranked No. 22 in the final AP poll and No. 25 in

365-490: A Sweet 16 berth by beating Old Dominion and Maryland before losing to eventual national champion Florida . Wright State also qualified for the NCAA tournament as the winner of the Horizon League tournament championship and tying Butler for the regular season championship. As a 14 seed, the Raiders fell to No. 13 (AP)/No. 11 (ESPN) (3 seed) Pittsburgh in the first round. During the 2007–08 basketball season, Butler won

438-538: A blueblood, and declared it his best. The Golden Grizzlies lost in an overtime “boxing match” against DJ Burns Jr and the 11 seed NC State in the Second Round, with Townsend leading all players with 30 points and 13 rebounds. Golhke added 22 off the bench. With a 4–1 record, 2024 marks the best postseason in OU history as of yet. Nearly two dozen OU players have gone on to play professional basketball. After being among

511-574: A coaching career. He was an assistant under Tom Izzo when Michigan State University won the 2000 NCAA title , and is now the head coach for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball team. The OU women's basketball team is coached by Jeff Tungate. Both basketball teams host games at the Athletics Center O'rena . On March 7, 2006, the women's basketball team defeated Western Illinois University to capture

584-480: A meeting with representatives from Bradley , Dayton , Detroit , Illinois State , Loyola–Chicago , Air Force , and Xavier who all agreed in principle that a new athletic conference was needed. Further progress was made through a series of early 1979 meetings in San Francisco , Chicago , and St. Louis that included participation by Butler , Creighton , Marquette , and Oral Roberts . On June 16, 1979,

657-496: A men's tennis associate, and Chicago State , which became a D-I independent after leaving the Western Athletic Conference days earlier, would become an associate in both men's and women's tennis. The Horizon later lost men's associate Lindenwood after they dropped nine NCAA sports, including men's tennis, after the 2023–24 season. Men's and women's associate Chicago State also announced they would join

730-550: Is a 26 team league that uses the majority of NCAA rules. The Golden Grizzlies compete in the Great Lakes Conference of the NCFA. OU plays teams such as Ohio State, Miami (OH), UW-Milwaukee, and Wright State club football teams, as well as a varsity teams in Concordia (Ann Arbor), Olivet, and Defiance. The first season received attention from NFL Film's "Together We Make Football". Their first season concluded with

803-616: Is coached by Devin Zvosec. In addition to making the NCAA Division I tournament in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2006, the team qualified again in 2007. They lost to Purdue University , 4–0, in the first round of the tournament on November 16, 2007. In 2024, long-time head coach Juan Pablo Favero announced his retirement. The OU women's softball team is currently coached by Chris Stelma. He succeeds interim head coach Samantha Henderson, who in turn replaced legendary head coach Lauren Karn. Both

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876-435: Is in his 17th year as league commissioner, just finished a five-year term on the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee. As stated on their official website, the recent success of Horizon League athletic teams on the national stage heightened the visibility of the league and its member schools and quickly moved it closer toward its stated goal of becoming one of the nation's top 10 Division I NCAA athletic conferences. In

949-432: The 1963 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament , Loyola defeated two-time defending champ Cincinnati . Before post-season tournaments determined champions, former Horizon member Butler claimed national titles in 1924 and 1929. The League hosted the men's Final Four in 1991, 1997, 2000, 2006, 2009 and 2010. It also hosted the women's Final Four in 2005 and 2007. Horizon League commissioner Jonathan B. LeCrone, who

1022-474: The 2003 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament , the Horizon League entered two teams for the first time since 1998. Milwaukee , who earned a 12 seed in its first bid to the tournament since joining the conference, lost by one point to Notre Dame in the first round. Butler , who earned both an at-large bid and a 12 seed, made its fifth tournament appearance in seven years. The Bulldogs made it to

1095-751: The California Angels , the Chicago White Sox , and the Toronto Blue Jays during his 5-year MLB career (1974–1978), and Mike Brosseau , who debuted in 2019 as a utility man for the Tampa Bay Rays . The OU men's basketball team is coached by Greg Kampe , who is now among the top ten longest-serving coaches in the NCAA Division I ranks, and the longest-serving active coach in Division I Men's Basketball. OU qualified for

1168-796: The Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League conference. Horizon League The Horizon League is a collegiate athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I . Headquartered in Indianapolis , the league's eleven member schools are located in and near the Great Lakes region and in part of the Southern United States . The Horizon League founded in 1979 as

1241-934: The Horizon League . Tracy Huth served as athletic director from 2006 to 2014. He stepped down on January 24, 2014. Robby Stewart is serving as interim athletic director until a replacement is found. The Golden Grizzlies first joined a Division I conference in 1998 when they joined the Mid-Continent Conference (now known as The Summit League). Oakland joined the Horizon League July 1, 2013. Oakland University won ten national NCAA Division II titles and 16 teams were national runner-up in NCAA Division II. Men's swimming and diving won five championships and finished as runner-up 10 times. Five women's swimming and diving teams also finished first and three came in second. The men's soccer team

1314-650: The Midwestern City Conference (nicknamed the MCC or Midwestern City 6) was formed by charter members Butler, Evansville , Loyola, Oklahoma City , Oral Roberts, and Xavier, with Detroit joining the following year. As of the 2023–24 academic year , Detroit, now known as Detroit Mercy, is the only remaining member from the league's original members. In 1980, the league established its headquarters in Champaign, Illinois . The MCC gained an automatic bid to

1387-449: The Midwestern City Conference . The conference changed its name to Midwestern Collegiate Conference in 1985 and then the Horizon League in 2001. The conference started with a membership of six teams and has fluctuated in size with 24 different schools as members at different times. The league currently has 11 members. The Horizon League currently sponsors 19 sports and is a non-football conference. In May 1978, DePaul University hosted

1460-711: The Missouri Valley Football Conference ; Robert Morris originally planned to play the 2020–21 season as an independent and join Big South Conference football in July 2021, but COVID-19 issues led the Big South to bring Robert Morris into its football league for its rescheduled spring 2021 season. 2010%E2%80%9311 Texas Longhorns men%27s basketball team The 2010–11 Texas Longhorns men's basketball team represented

1533-517: The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 1981, followed by the announcement that Saint Louis University would be joining the following season. The University of Notre Dame joined the conference for all sports except basketball and football in 1982. The conference attained automatic qualification for the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship in 1984 and the conference moved its headquarters to Indianapolis . Three changes occurred in

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1606-666: The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship tournament for the first time in 2005. The Golden Grizzlies defeated Alabama A&M University in the opening-round game at Dayton, Ohio , on March 15, 2005, before being eliminated three days later by the North Carolina Tar Heels , who went on to win the National Championship. In 2010, Oakland made their second ever trip to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship tournament after winning

1679-574: The Northeast Conference , which sponsors the sport for both sexes— however, they announced that they would keep their tennis programs in the Horizon for one extra year before moving them to the NEC for the 2025–26 season. Prior to the 2023–24 academic year, the conference announced a brand refresh with the introduction of a new secondary logo. The logo is a gold stylized H that incorporates

1752-724: The University of Texas in the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season . Their head coach was Rick Barnes , who was in his 13th year. The team played its home games at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin , Texas and are members of the Big 12 Conference . They finished the season 28–8, 13–3 in Big 12 play and lost in the championship game of the 2011 Big 12 men's basketball tournament to Kansas . They received an at-large bid in

1825-593: The 2006 Philippine Basketball Association draft and was named the league's Rookie of the Year in 2007. Rawle Marshall , who led OU to its first NCAA tournament berth in 2005, became the first player from the university to make a National Basketball Association (NBA) roster, playing in 23 games for the Dallas Mavericks in the 2005–06 season and 40 games for the Indiana Pacers in the 2006–07 season. In

1898-554: The 2006 Mid-Continent title. On March 19, in the first round of the NCAA tournament , the No. 16 Grizzlies lost to No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes 68–45. In June 2013, former coach Beckie Francis was fired for intimidation and emotional abuse, because of her fixation on players weight and pushing her religious views upon the team. Both the men's and women's cross country teams at Oakland are coached by Paul Rice . OU's golf program benefits from

1971-673: The 2011 NBA draft the Atlanta Hawks selected All-American and Lou Henson Award winner Keith Benson in the second round (48th pick) making Benson the first basketball player from Oakland to be drafted by an NBA team. Kay Felder left Oakland a season early as a junior and was drafted in the second round of the 2016 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks , who traded him to the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers for cash considerations. Brian Gregory , Oakland's career assist leader, played under Kampe from 1987 to 1990 before beginning

2044-588: The 2020s set further membership changes into motion, with the arrivals of Purdue Fort Wayne and Robert Morris from the Summit League and the Northeast Conference (NEC), respectively, announced on August 5, 2019 and June 15, 2020. This brought the Horizon League up to 12 full-time members for the first time since the 1994–95 season. It was short-lived, however, as the UIC Flames were reported to be following many of their former conference colleagues to

2117-649: The Bulldogs claimed victory over Purdue in the Wooden Tradition. On February 5, 2007, Butler became the first school in Horizon League history to rank in the Top 10 of the national college basketball polls, as the Bulldogs reached No. 9 and No. 10 in the ESPN/USA Today and AP polls, respectively. The Bulldogs ended their season with a No. 21 ranking in the final AP poll, a 5 seed in the NCAA tournament and

2190-624: The GLIAC, 4 in the National Independent Conference (NIC), 14 in The Summit League and 5 in the Horizon League. The team won every Summit League (14) and Horizon League (5) conference meet, 4 of the 8 NIC conference meets, and 8 of the 9 GLIAC conference meets it participated in. They have currently won 24 consecutive conference tournaments. The women's tennis team at OU is coached by David Brown. The coach of

2263-502: The Great Alaska Shootout with wins over Michigan , Virginia Tech and Texas Tech , and also claimed wins over Ohio State and Florida State , who extended their record against BCS schools to 10–1 since the start of the 2006–07 season. As a 7 seed in the 2008 NCAA basketball tournament , the Bulldogs beat 10 seed South Alabama before falling in overtime to No. 5 (AP)/No. 4 (ESPN) (2 seed) Tennessee . Butler finished

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2336-673: The Horizon League Board of Directors unanimously approved the membership of Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) to replace Valparaiso, also effective July 1. IUPUI was dissolved in 2024 and replaced by separate institutions affiliated with the Indiana University and Purdue University systems. At that time, the athletic program transferred to the new Indiana University Indianapolis with an athletic brand name of IU Indy, maintaining IUPUI's Division I and Horizon League memberships. The start of

2409-485: The Horizon League which are played by Horizon schools: In addition to the above sports, Northern Kentucky will add men's triathlon, which has no NCAA recognition of any kind, as a varsity sport in 2024–25. Departing member in pink. Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Horizon League which are played by Horizon schools: In 2006, the conference launched the Horizon League Network (HLN) as

2482-555: The MCC and the Mid-Continent Conference, who also used the initials. That year, Youngstown State University joined from the Mid-Con, and on May 17, 2006, Valparaiso University announced it would do the same in 2007. In April 2013, the split of the original Big East Conference caused a ripple effect that fell to the Horizon League; Loyola announced that it would leave the Horizon League effective July 1 to join

2555-645: The MVC effective July 1, 2022. On July 6, 2022, the Horizon League and Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) jointly announced that they would merge their men's tennis leagues under the Horizon banner, effective immediately. The five OVC members that sponsored the sport became Horizon associates. At the same time, the Horizon announced that Belmont , which had just left the OVC for the Missouri Valley Conference (which sponsors tennis only for women), would become

2628-510: The March 7 ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Poll. In the 2006 NCAA basketball tournament , 11 seed Milwaukee once again advanced in the Tournament by upsetting the No. 20 (6 seed) Oklahoma 82–74. The Panthers, led by first year head coach Rob Jeter , fell to eventual national champion No. 11 (AP)/No. 10 (ESPN) (3 seed) Florida in the second round of the tournament. The league had a team advance past

2701-507: The Midwestern Collegiate Conference beginning with the 1994–95 academic year. With Evansville's departure to the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) , there were 12 league members. Xavier, Notre Dame, and La Salle withdrew the following summer of 1995, followed by Northern Illinois in 1997. The conference changed its name to the Horizon League on June 4, 2001, in part due to the initials causing confusion between

2774-592: The Missouri Valley Conference, who itself lost Creighton to the reconfigured Big East. Butler also left the Horizon League. They spent a season in the Atlantic 10 before joining the Big East. The Horizon announced that Oakland University , formerly of the Summit League, would immediately replace Loyola within a month. The next change in the Horizon League's membership came in 2015 with

2847-418: The NCAA began seeding teams in 1979, Loyola's 4 seed in the 1985 tournament is the best for a Horizon League team. The Horizon League currently holds the best winning percentage among non- BCS conferences in the men's NCAA basketball Tournament (.488, 7th overall amongst the 32 Division I conferences). One former Horizon League member claims a national championship from the era before the league's creation. In

2920-587: The South Regional Champions, No. 3 (1 seed) Duke for the NCAA Division I National Championship. Butler lost what many call the most thrilling college basketball game in a generation, losing 61–59 in a game that came down to the final play. This is the farthest any team has reached in the tournament while a member of the Horizon League. Butler was the first Division I men's team to play in the Final Four in its hometown since UCLA in 1972, and

2993-484: The Summit League Tournament. They came in as a 14 seed against No. 3 Pittsburgh , where they were eliminated. In the 2010–11 season, Oakland narrowly lost 77–76 to then-No. 7 Michigan State before beating then-No. 7 University of Tennessee 89–82. In the 2011–12 season, Oakland beat Tennessee for the second year in a row 89–81. In 2011, Oakland won the Summit League regular season and tournament for

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3066-718: The Sweet 16 with victories over No. 20 (5 seed) Mississippi State and No. 14 (4 seed) Louisville before falling to No. 3 (1 seed) Oklahoma in the East Regional. The Bulldogs finished the year ranked No. 21 in the final ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Poll. In the men's 2005 NCAA basketball tournament , the Horizon League enjoyed one of its best showings ever as 12 seed Milwaukee marched to the Sweet 16 with victories over No. 19 (5 seed) Alabama and No. 14 (4 seed) Boston College before they fell to then-No. 1 and eventual tournament runner-up Illinois . Milwaukee ranked as high as No. 23 in

3139-756: The Year Trey Townsend), Kampe's 14 seed Grizzlies were matched up against John Calipari's 3 seeded Kentucky Wildcats. Utilizing a flexible zone defense and clutch shot-making from Jack Gohlke (10–20 on 3-pointers, 2nd-most in NCAAM history), the Golden Grizzlies upset UK despite a powerful performance from Antonio Reeves, 80–76, at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA . Kampe, in his 40th season, earned an NCAA Tournament victory over

3212-545: The Year awards with career totals of 240 goals and 140 assists (380 total points). McMahon was signed by the Fort Wayne Komets of the IHL following his final season (2007) making him the first Grizzly to sign in a professional hockey league. The team is currently coached by former Ferris State men's ice hockey player Nick Field, who led Oakland to a 12–15–3 record in his first season. The Grizzlies currently compete in

3285-924: The arch of the conference's primary logo and a number one to symbolize unity. As of the 2023–24 academic year , eight of the 11 full Horizon League members are former members of the Mid-Con (now known as the Summit League), with the exceptions being Detroit Mercy, Northern Kentucky, and Robert Morris. Nicknames and school names reflect those used in the last school year of conference membership. Full members  Affiliate members  Other Conference  Other Conference  The Horizon League sponsors championship competition in nine men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports: For 2020–21, Detroit Mercy, Wright State and Green Bay announced eliminating men's and women's tennis, while Youngstown State reinstated men's swimming & diving. Departing members in pink. Men's varsity sports not sponsored by

3358-585: The arrival of Northern Kentucky University from the Atlantic Sun Conference . Two more membership changes were announced near the end of the 2016–17 school year. First, Valparaiso announced on May 25, 2017, that it would leave for the MVC effective July 1. The Crusaders replaced Wichita State , who announced that it would leave the MVC for the American Athletic Conference . Three days before Valparaiso's departure,

3431-789: The arrival of the Northern Kentucky Norse to the league, who departed from the Atlantic Sun Conference . Valparaiso won the regular season championship again but was defeated by Green Bay in the tournament championship 78–69. The Milwaukee baseball team made national headlines during the 1999 College World Series by upsetting No. 1 ranked Rice in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In the 2004–05 academic year, Milwaukee's men's soccer team defeated 16th-ranked San Francisco , while Detroit upset Michigan in women's soccer in their respective NCAA tournaments. Also that year, Butler's men's cross country team finished fourth in

3504-591: The centerpiece of a revamped web portal. The digital network aired over 200 live events free on the league's official website at the time. The Horizon League and WebStream Productions launched a completely redesigned HLN website in September 2009. The site serves as a portal to hundreds of live and on-demand videos while giving its users the ability to interact on an array of social media platforms. The Horizon League Network migrated to ESPN3 in 2014, and over 700 events streamed live in 2015–16. Horizon League coverage

3577-415: The conference while Dayton joined and Notre Dame rejoined. The conference earned its first at-large bid to the men's basketball tournament and automatic qualification to the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship in 1989. In 1991, the conference received an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament and lost members Marquette and Saint Louis. Duquesne and La Salle joined the MCC in 1992,

3650-559: The final ESPN/USA Today poll. After defeating No. 25 (12 seed) UTEP , 13 seed Murray State and No. 4 (1 seed) Syracuse , the No. 8 (ESPN)/No. 11 (AP) (5 seed) Butler men's team defeated No. 7 Kansas State , the 2 seed in the West, by a score of 63–56 to advance to their first Final Four. After beating the No. 12 (ESPN)/No. 13 (AP) (5 seed) Michigan State Spartans 52–50 in the national semifinals, Butler played in Indianapolis against

3723-514: The first of either sex since Texas played in the 1987 Women's Final Four on its home court . Also of note, former Milwaukee head coach Bruce Pearl coached the Tennessee Volunteers to the Elite Eight and narrowly lost the opportunity to play Butler by losing to Michigan State, who Butler beat in the Final Four. Butler once again represented the Horizon League in the tournament with another very strong showing. As an 8 seed, Butler defeated (9 seed) Old Dominion , narrowly upset Pittsburgh (who

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3796-400: The first round for the second straight year and third time in the last four years. In the 2006–07 basketball season, Butler won the Preseason NIT tournament in Madison Square Garden with wins over in-state rivals Notre Dame and Indiana in the NIT's Midwest regional bracket, followed by wins over No. 21 Tennessee and No. 23 Gonzaga in the NIT Final Four in Madison Square Garden. Later,

3869-447: The men's and women's swimming and diving teams at Oakland are coached by Mitch Alters. Alters took over for long-time head coach Pete Hovland following his 2023 retirement. Hovland began coaching the men's team in 1981–82. He took over the women's program in 2001. Oakland's men's team has won five NCAA Division II national championships (1980, 1994–1997) and were runners-up 10 times (1979, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1987–1991, 1993). Through 2024,

3942-421: The men's and women's track teams at OU is Paul Rice . Track is the newest of OU's 16 NCAA Division I sports. Micah Jones made history in 2011 as the first individual to lead the track team to the nationals. The women's volleyball team at OU is coached by Krista Rice, who became head coach on March 16, 2022. In fall of 2012, Oakland University approved a club football team. The National Club Football Association

4015-407: The men's team has won 46 consecutive conference meets, including every GLIAC (21), Summit League (14) and Horizon League (11) conference meet the team has participated in. The Golden Grizzlies women's team won five consecutive NCAA Division II national championships from 1990 to 1994. They were runners-up the following three seasons (1995–1997). Through 2018, the team has won 31 conference meets, 8 in

4088-574: The most prolific mid-major (non-power 6) conferences in all of college basketball. Even more impressively, those 24 clubs produced 22 wins in that span, including five "Sweet 16" appearances, making the Horizon League the only non-BCS conference to have Sweet 16 participants in five NCAA tournaments during that span (2003, 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2011). Four schools from the conference have produced "modern-day" Sweet 16 appearances – Loyola ( 1985 ), Xavier ( 1990 ), Butler ( 2003 , 2007 , 2010 and 2011 ), and Milwaukee ( 2005 ). The Horizon League also compiled

4161-512: The nation at the NCAA Cross-Country Championships, and their own Victoria Mitchell became the first Horizon League athlete to win an individual national title when she captured the 3,000 Meter Steeplechase at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Green Bay also upset 6th-ranked Oregon State in the opening round of the NCAA softball tournament. Although the league does not sponsor football , current members Robert Morris and Youngstown State play in Division I FCS . Youngstown State plays in

4234-404: The same year the conference gained an automatic berth to the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship . Duquesne and Dayton left the conference in 1993. The largest non-merger conference expansion in NCAA history occurred on December 9, 1993, when Cleveland State , UIC , Northern Illinois , Wisconsin–Green Bay , Wisconsin–Milwaukee , and Wright State left the Mid-Continent Conference to join

4307-439: The season ranked No. 11 in the AP poll and No. 14 in the ESPN/USA Today poll. Cleveland State also earned a 6 seed in the NIT, losing in the first round to Dayton . Starting in 2009, regional convenience store and gas station chain Speedway served as the title sponsor of the conference tournament that Cleveland State won and earned the Horizon League's automatic bid to the NCAA Tourney while Butler earned an at-large bid. Butler,

4380-438: The second consecutive season and again received a 14 seed. This time, they played No. 3 Texas , where they lost 85–81. In the 2016–17 season, Oakland placed first in their league, earning a trip to the National Invitation Tournament as a 7 seed, where they lost to Richmond in the second round after upsetting 2nd seeded Clemson in the opening round. In 2024, after winning the Horizon League Tournament (behind Conference Player of

4453-506: The second consecutive season. This time they faced Connecticut at Reliant Stadium in Houston. The Huskies were too much for the Butler Bulldogs to handle, as Butler lost the game 53–41 in an unusually low-scoring national championship game. This made Butler national runner-up for the second straight season. In the 2012 postseason, the Detroit Titans won their first Horizon League Championship since 1999 under head coach Ray McCallum . They defeated top seeded Valparaiso 70–50. The tournament MVP

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4526-431: The summer of 1985: Oklahoma City dropped out of the NCAA altogether; the conference name was altered slightly to Midwestern Collegiate Conference ; and the conference began sponsoring women's athletics. The latter triggered Notre Dame's temporary withdrawal from the league as its women's teams were contracted to the North Star Conference . ESPN began televising the MCC Championship game in 1986. In 1987, Oral Roberts left

4599-415: The teams’ home markets. In recent years, WMYD Detroit , Marquee Sports Network , Bally Sports Ohio , Bally Sports Great Lakes , Bally Sports Wisconsin , and SportsNet Pittsburgh have broadcast multiple men's and women's basketball contests. From 1995 to 2011, the Horizon League sent an impressive 24 qualifiers (7 At-Large berths) to the Men's NCAA basketball tournament, making the Horizon League one of

4672-425: The top ten scorers in all of NCAA Division I basketball in 2003 and 2004, Mike Helms was drafted into the Continental Basketball Association and played briefly for the Michigan Mayhem , in addition to playing in the National Basketball League of Australia , where he finished second in the league in scoring in 2006. His OU teammate, Kelly Williams , who is Filipino American , was the No. 1 overall draft pick in

4745-425: The transition to NCAA Division I status in 1998–99, OU's sports teams became the Golden Grizzlies. In 2007 the OU Athletics Administration announced a marketing and sponsorship partnership with Palace Sports and Entertainment , which owns and operates the nearby The Palace of Auburn Hills , as well as the Detroit Pistons . At the conclusion of the 2012–13 season, Oakland left The Summit League to become members of

4818-408: The two world-class golf courses located on the university's campus. The men's soccer team at OU is coached by Paul Doroh, starting in the 2024 season. Doroh was an assistant under longtime head coach Eric Pogue for eight years. In 2024, Pogue and Oakland parted ways., and Doroh assumed the interim head coaching position. He was announced as head coach on April 22, 2024. The women's soccer team at OU

4891-419: The university has also come to recognize the importance of intercollegiate athletics. Throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, OU competed in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) as the Pioneers , becoming a perennial powerhouse in numerous sports and winning multiple National Championships in men's and women's swimming. During

4964-606: Was NCAA Division II runner-up in 1986, 1994, and 1996. National championships (10): National runners-up (16): OU's baseball team is led by interim coach Brian Nelson, replacing outgoing head coach Jordon Banfield. During Banfield's tenure, the Golden Grizzlies advanced to the Horizon League Championships in both 2022 and 2023, and clinched a number-two seed in the 2023 Championships, the first time since 2012. The baseball program has produced nearly two dozen players who have gone on to play professional baseball, with two advancing to Major League Baseball , Don Kirkwood , who pitched for

5037-413: Was No. 1 ranked and seeded), Wisconsin (4 seed) and Florida (2 seed) to return to the Final Four. Butler faced VCU , an 11 seed Cinderella team who unexpectedly reached the Final Four as the first team to play five tournament games to reach the Final Four, due to VCU's participation in the inaugural First Four Round. After Butler defeated VCU 70–62, the Bulldogs were in the national championship game for

5110-485: Was absorbed into ESPN+ , along with other mid-major conferences, in 2018. The conference extended its deal with ESPN in 2021. Over 500 events are aired on ESPN+ annually, along with select men's basketball games airing on ESPN2 and ESPNU and the men's and women's basketball championships airing on ESPN and ESPNU. Basketball games not selected for broadcast on national linear television are often televised by regional sports networks and over-the-air channels within

5183-469: Was national runner-up in 2005, and in 2006 again won the Division 2 championship. The team moved up to ACHA Division 1 for the 2006–07 season and won the national championship over Penn State University by a score of 5–1. In addition, the Grizzlies career scoring leader, Will McMahon, was named tournament and regular season MVP after tallying 47 goals and 29 assists in 36 games (including playoffs). McMahon finished his career with four ACHA National Player of

5256-456: Was son Ray McCallum, Jr. Valparaiso was the regular season champion of the Horizon for the second straight year. It defeated Wright State 62–54 in the championship game under coach Bryce Drew for its first Horizon League Championship. This was the first season that the league was absent of Butler, who departed for the Atlantic 10 . Green Bay won the regular season championship in 2014. It

5329-509: Was upset by Milwaukee in the tournament semi-final. Milwaukee would go on to win the tournament, knocking off Wright State. Following a good outcome, finishing as the 2014 champions, the Milwaukee Panthers were banned from the 2015 NCAA Tournament and postseason play. Valparaiso won the regular and postseason championships. It entered the NCAA tournament as a 13th seed, although losing in the first round. The 2015 season ushered in

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