The Howard Bison are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing Howard University in Washington, DC. The Bison compete in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference for most sports. On July 16, 2015, the Athletics Department unveiled new logos.
Video Howard Bison and Lady Bison
Varsity teams
A member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), Howard University sponsors teams in eight men's and eleven women's NCAA sanctioned sports:
- Notes
Maps Howard Bison and Lady Bison
Basketball
The Howard Bison have won 4 regular season conference championships, 3 conference tournament championships, and have appeared in 2 NCAA tournaments (1981 & 1992).
Soccer
As the only team in the MEAC playing men's soccer, the Bison's men's soccer team competed as an independent for many years, but the Bison became an affiliate member of the Sun Belt Conference when the conference resumed men's soccer after a 20-year absence in 2014. Over they years, Howard has had an up and down history, with NCAA championship seasons and other years seeing little success; the 2013 team had only one win in eighteen games.
Bison teams qualified for the NCAA tournament in 1962, 1963, 1970+, 1971+, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1988, 1989, and 1997. In six College Cup appearances, they were NCAA Champions in 1974, runners-up in 1988, third in 1972, and fourth in 1975; additional first (1971) and third (1971) place finishes were vacated by the NCAA.
The women's soccer team joined the Southwestern Athletic Conference in 2014 and won the regular season & tournament titles in its first year. As a first-year member of the conference, Howard was not allowed to accept the SWAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament (runner up Prairie View A&M went instead).
Facilities
William H. Greene Stadium is a 7,086-seat multi-purpose stadium in Washington, D.C., in the United States, which opened in 1926. It is home to the Howard University Bison football, soccer, track & field, and Women's lacrosse teams. Originally called Howard Stadium, it was renamed William H. Greene Stadium in 1986 in honor of William H. Greene, M.D., a Washington, D.C., physician.
Marching band
Howard's marching band is known as the "Showtime" Marching Band and its featured auxiliary is the "Ooh La La!" dance team. The band has performed at several NFL games, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Honda Battle of the Bands, and the 56th Inaugural Parade for President Barack Obama. The marching band's mission is to serve as a university ambassador and Bison athletics supporter.
Honors
Division I National Championships
Men's Soccer - 1971 (Vacated) See Note
Men's Soccer - 1974
- Note: Howard initially won the 1971 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship. The Championship was later vacated by the NCAA on the grounds that two Howard players had played amateur soccer in Trinidad, exhausting their eligibility, and that two others had not taken entrance exams, required by the NCAA, to predict a grade point average of at least 1.6. Howard University argued that the eligibility rules were vague and discriminated against foreigners, and that the players had all maintained grade-point averages of 3.0 or higher in college, but the NCAA did not reverse the ruling. Although the NCAA stripped Howard of their first title, the University still respects and honors the accomplishments of their 1971 National Championship title team.
Rivals
Howard's top rival is Hampton University. The two schools call their intense rivalry Battle of "The Real HU".
Howard also has a strong rivalry with Morgan State University.
Another of Howard's historic rivals is Morehouse College, more popularly known as the Howard/ "Spel-House" rivalry due to Morehouse's close association with the all-women's HBCU Spelman College. This rivalry is not often played because Morehouse is a NCAA Division II athletic program, while Howard is NCAA Division I.
References
External links
- Official website
Source of article : Wikipedia
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