The Saint Louis Billikens are the collegiate athletic teams that represent Saint Louis University , located in St. Louis, Missouri . The Billikens compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference (where they are the westernmost member, and both the first member located west of the Mississippi and in the Central Time Zone). The school has nationally recognized soccer programs for men and women . The school has heavily invested in its on-campus athletic facilities since the 1990s with the creation of Hermann Stadium and Chaifetz Arena . Chris May is the current director of athletics of the St. Louis Billikens.
33-424: An early SLU football coach, John R. Bender , is said to have been the inspiration for the nickname "Billikens," which is still used by the school's athletic teams. During the 1911 season, according to one version of the story, local sportswriters commented that Bender bore an uncanny resemblance to a charm doll called a Billiken , which was a national fad at the time. His squad became known as "Bender's Billikens" and
66-526: A championship series similar to the super regional tier in that it is a best-of-three series. The winner of the WCWS is crowned national champion. Total Columns Table Entries 1982 to 2004 2005 to present Starting in 2003, the NCAA seeded the top 8 teams, which are shown in double underline . Starting in 2005, the next 8 seeds are shown with single underline . These seeded teams are not always
99-402: A charm doll called a Billiken , which were a national fad at the time. His squad became known as "Bender's Billikens," which is the genesis of SLU's athletic nickname. Bender returned to coach Washington State football from 1912 to 1914. In 1915, Bender was hired as head football coach at Kansas State . In his one season at K-State, his team posted a mediocre 3–4–1 record. However, Bender left
132-461: A lasting mark by instituting two long-term traditions at Kansas State in 1915: starting the annual homecoming event and adopting the nickname Wildcats. Prior to the 1916 season, Bender moved to the University of Tennessee . At the same time, the sitting head coach at Tennessee, Zora G. Clevenger moved to Kansas State, in effect trading jobs with Bender. Bender served as head football coach at
165-528: A new hockey rink being built on or near SLU campus began to surface that would finally bring the SLU Hockey team and youth hockey back to the city of St. Louis. This new facility would act both as the St. Louis Blues (NHL) Official Practice Facility and home for SLU Hockey. Meeting between former SLU President Lawrence Biondi and Blues executive Bruce Affleck were rumored to have taken place and locations scouted for
198-587: A popular celebrity fan base including John Stamos , Ruben Studdard , and Lil' Kim . The Program officially relocated from the Bauman-Eberhardt Center , the third oldest facility in NCAA Division I sports, to Chaifetz Arena on the eastern edge of campus for spring workouts in early April 2008. Coach Rick Majerus died December 1, 2012. The men's soccer team has won 10 national titles (1959–60, 1962–63, 1965, 1967, 1969–70, 1972–73),
231-553: A possible rink. Saint Louis University once fielded an NCAA Division I hockey program that played in the CCHA from the 1970–1971 season until the program ended in 1979. The team was a strong team in the CCHA and over the nine seasons of play SLU made the championship six times. The current club hockey team began play during the 1996–1997 season as a member of ACHA Division I . Saint Louis University (SLU) Men's Lacrosse team competes in
264-756: A spot in the 1995 National Invitation Tournament. The Billikens returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2008 and finished the season ranked No. 8 in the RPI and No. 21 in the final Bison/AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll. Kordes led the Billikens back to the NCAA Tournament in 2009, receiving an at-large bid. The team plays its home games in the Chaifetz Pavilion on the eastern edge of campus. The university fielded an intercollegiate squad from 1899 to 1949, going undefeated in 1901, 1904 and 1906. The final home game for
297-473: A team can lose as many as four games and still be crowned champions. A total of 64 teams compete in the tournament. 32 teams gain automatic entry into the tournament while the other 32 are selected by the Division I Softball committee. From this field of 64, 16 teams will be given "national seeds" and placed at one of the assigned regional sites, often the home field of each national seed. The first round of
330-653: A volunteer football squad of students for the school. He suggested they be named the Cougars after one of his former teams, Washington State later adopted the mascot and nickname. In turn, the college's newspaper, The Cougar , followed suit when choosing its name. The university's athletics teams remain known as the Houston Cougars today. # denotes interim head coach # denotes interim head coach # denotes interim head coach NCAA Division I softball tournament The NCAA Division I softball tournament
363-632: Is held annually in May/June and features 64 college softball teams in the United States , culminating in the Women's College World Series (WCWS), which is played in Oklahoma City . The tournament is different from many college tournaments in that it features four tiers of competition and a loss does not necessarily eliminate a team from contention. In fact, throughout the entire tournament
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#1732780179442396-467: Is one of the few college football head coaches to have non-consecutive tenure at the same school. Bender was also the head basketball coach at Washington State (1907–1908) and Tennessee (1916–1917, 1919–1921), and the head baseball coach at Washington State (1907–1908, 1913–1915) and Tennessee (1917, 1920). A native of Sutton, Nebraska , Bender played college football at the University of Nebraska from 1900 to 1904. Due to loose eligibility standards at
429-771: The Big East Conference , and in 2013 became two of the " Catholic 7 " that formed the core of the reconfigured Big East Conference . SLU fields an American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division II Men's Ice Hockey team in the Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association (MACHA). The team plays home games at the Webster Groves Ice Arena Webster Groves, MO . Up until the 2006 season, SLU Hockey and Saint Louis University were working together to build an arena that would not only house
462-672: The College World Series . Darin Hendrickson has been the head coach since 2008 and guided the Billikens to NCAA Tournament appearances in 2010 and 2013. The team plays at the Billiken Sports Center . Simply known to some as "The Program", the Billikens were ranked first in the first AP basketball poll during the 1948–1949 season. Ed Macauley of the Basketball Hall of Fame and SLU won
495-687: The Hardee's Iceplex in Chesterfield, MO. 16 teams from around the United States competed for the right to claim the National Championship. SLU Hockey went 1-2 in pool play and failed to advance and Michigan State University would claim the National Championship. The tournament also featured a St. Louis Blues Alumni vs. ACHA Division II All-Stars game to raise money for local charities around the St. Louis area. In 2013, rumors of
528-794: The Missouri Valley Conference (1937–1974); the defunct Metro Conference (1975–1982); the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, now known as the Horizon League (1982–1991); the defunct Great Midwest Conference (1991–1995) and Conference USA (which was created by a merger between the Metro and Great Midwest Conferences). SLU joined the Atlantic 10 Conference in 2005. The Bilikens were a charter member of Conference USA in 1995, but left to join
561-734: The NIT championship in 1948 and have played in the NIT 18 times, most recently in 2004. Larry Hughes of the Chicago Bulls played one season at SLU in the 1997–1998 season, where he was selected as the consensus national Freshman of the Year. They have made the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 1952 , 1957 , 1994 , 1995 , 1998 , 2000 , 2012 , 2013 , 2014 and 2019 . The Billikens are currently coached by Travis Ford and has
594-448: The A10 in 2005. By the time Saint Louis left C-USA, it was one of four members of the conference without football programs. The other three also left C-USA in 2005. Charlotte , which joined the A10 at alongside SLU, returned to C-USA in 2013, the same year it launched a football program (becoming the only one of the four schools that now plays football). DePaul and Marquette both left for
627-598: The Billikens was on November 24, 1949, a 35–0 loss against Houston . Saint Louis finished the 1949 season with a 2–6–1 record. St. Louis competed at the club level during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Although the school no longer has a football team, they made a lasting mark on the sport as the 1906 team, coached by Eddie Cochems , threw the first legal forward pass in college football history, Bradbury Robinson to Jack Schneider on September 5, 1906, vs. Carroll College at Waukesha, Wisconsin . SLU has had six conference affiliations since 1937. SLU has been affiliated with
660-459: The Billikens won their first Atlantic 10 Conference regular season title in 2023. However, the team has yet to win the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament and subsequently has failed to appear in the NCAA Division I softball tournament . Under head coach Anne Kordes, the women's volleyball team made its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2006, the program's first post-season bid since earning
693-686: The Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) Division II and the Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference (GRLC). The program was founded in 1992. SLU has previously placed players on the All-American, 1st Team, 2nd Team, 3rd Team All-Conference, Honorable Mention Lists and the MCLA Scholar Athletes. The team is compiled mostly from students, who have played in elite Jesuit & Catholic high school programs across
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#1732780179442726-565: The SLU Hockey team, but local youth organizations and campus uses. Ultimately, plans fell through and the team continues to call Webster Groves Ice Rink their home rink. In 2011, the Billikens captured their first MACHA Gold Championship and advanced to the Central Region Qualifier before falling two games short of a National Championship birth. In 2013, SLU Hockey hosted the ACHA Men's Division II National Championships at
759-487: The University of Tennessee from 1916 to 1920. During his tenure, he compiled a record of 18–5–4 (.741). His best season came in 1916, when his team went 8–0–1, marred only by a scoreless tie against Kentucky . Tennessee did not field football teams in 1917 and 1918, and Bender posted his worst record in 1919, when his team went 3–3–3. In his final season, he went 7–2 and recorded Tennessee's 100th victory in football, with
792-498: The country. Each individual brings their own unique skills, talents, and tricks. SLU Lax is known to play games commonly on the SLU Medical Center Stadium. Every year SLU competes against big Missouri schools such as Lindenwood University, Washington University in St. Louis, and Missouri State University just to name a few. John R. Bender John Reinhold "Chief" Bender (May 14, 1882 – July 24, 1928)
825-713: The head coach. Legion 1818 is the official supporters group for the team. Saint Louis University head swimming and diving coach Jim Halliburton was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame on Nov. 5 2018, during a ceremony held at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel in St. Louis. Now in his 18th season at Saint Louis, Halliburton has guided the Billiken men’s and women’s teams to more than 500 victories. He ranks sixth in career wins among NCAA Division I swim coaches. Under head coach Christy Connoyer,
858-687: The most in NCAA Men's Soccer Championship history. SLU also holds the record for most NCAA Tournament appearances with 44. Several Billikens have gone on to play professionally, including Shane Battelle , Brad Davis , Vedad Ibišević , Brian McBride , Matt McKeon , Al Trost , Dipsy Selolwane , Mike Sorber , Joe Clarke , Bob Madison, Martin Hutton , Jack Jewsbury , Tim Ward , Brett Branan , Will John , and Tim Ream . The soccer team plays at Hermann Stadium on campus. Since 2018, Kevin Kalish has been
891-413: The name stuck. A member of the Atlantic 10 Conference , St. Louis University sponsors teams in eight men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports. In 2006, the Billiken baseball team earned the program's first NCAA tournament berth since 1966 by winning the Atlantic 10 Tournament. SLU's most successful baseball team of all time was the 1965 squad, which qualified for the NCAA Tournament and advanced to
924-658: The time, he played five seasons for Nebraska. Bender starred at halfback for undefeated teams in 1902 and 1903 , served as captain of the 1903 team, and graduated as the leading scorer in Nebraska history. However, tarnishing his image to some, one story recounts that he refused to play against the national powerhouse Minnesota until Nebraska paid him an acceptable amount of money. After graduating from Nebraska, Bender served as head football coach at South Dakota State Normal School (now Black Hills State University ) for one season before moving on to Washington State , where he
957-445: The tournament, called "regionals", consists of 16 locations that include four teams competing in a double elimination bracket . The winner of each regional moves on to the second round, the "super regionals." For the super regionals, the regional containing overall #1 seed will be matched up with the regional containing the overall #16 seed, the #2 seed regional will be matched up with the #15 seed regional, and so on. The higher seed of
990-418: The two losses coming against Vanderbilt and Mississippi State . He is also credited with installing the short punt formation at Tennessee. While at Tennessee, Bender also served as basketball coach for the 1917, 1920, and 1921 seasons, recording a 29–15 mark. After his career at Tennessee, Bender served as a physical education instructor at the University of Houston . During this time, Bender also coached
1023-511: The two teams usually hosts the best-of-three series, with the winner moving on to the Women's College World Series. The final eight teams meet at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City in the Women's College World Series. The WCWS is further divided into two sections. The first part resembles the regional round, as teams are broken in two groups of four to play in a double-elimination bracket. The winners of each bracket then meet in
Saint Louis Billikens - Misplaced Pages Continue
1056-425: Was an American football player and coach of football, basketball and baseball . He served as the head football coach at Black Hills State University (1905), Washington State University (1906–1907, 1912–1914), Haskell Indian Nations University (1908–1909), St. Louis University (1910–1911), Kansas State University (1915), and the University of Tennessee (1916–1920), compiling a career record of 67–32–7. He
1089-497: Was the head football and basketball coach between 1906 and 1908 and he posted a 13–1 record in football. His 1907–08 basketball squad also recorded a 12–3 mark, by far the best in school history to that point. Between 1908 and 1909, Bender coached football at Haskell Indian Nations University and from 1910 to 1911 he coached football at Saint Louis University . During the 1911 season, reporters in St. Louis commented that Bender looked like
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