For the defunct professional baseball team, see Troy Trojans (MLB team). The Troy Trojans are the sports teams of Troy University. They began playing in the NCAA's Division I-A in 2001, became a football only member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2004, and joined that conference for all other sports in 2005. Troy University's athletics nickname was the Red Wave until the early 1970s when the student body voted to change the name to Trojans. Prior to becoming a member of NCAA Division One athletics in 1993, Troy University was a member of the Gulf South Conference of the NCAA Division II ranks. At the time, Troy's primary rivals were Jacksonville State University, Livingston University (now the University of West Alabama), and the University of North Alabama. The rivalry between Troy and Jacksonville State was arguably the fiercest of those. However, since Troy University moved to Division I-A participation in football and because Troy and JSU no longer share the same conference affiliation, this once heated rivalry has cooled significantly. Currently, the Trojans' most prominent rivals include Middle Tennessee State in football (the teams play every year in the "Battle for the Palladium"), and the University of South Alabama in basketball. Troy University's director of athletics is Steve Dennis, an alumnus of the University of Georgia, who was a standout defensive back for head coach Vince Dooley.

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Football

Troy University has fielded a football team continuously since 1946. Troy has won national championships at the NAIA level in 1968 and at the NCAA Division II level in 1984 and 1987. Troy University football began playing in the NCAA's Division I-A in 2001, became a football only member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2004, and joined that conference for all other sports in 2005. In 2001, Troy defeated Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi to notch the Trojans' first victory over a BCS level program. The Trojans garnered the program's first win over a ranked opponent when they defeated then #17 ranked Missouri on September 9, 2004. The Trojan football team made its first bowl game appearance in the Silicon Valley Football Classic against Northern Illinois University on December 30, 2004, but lost. The Trojans won their first bowl game on December 20, 2006 at the New Orleans Bowl against Rice University. Troy's football team is coached by Larry Blakeney, who is entering his 19th season as head coach in 2009.

Basketball

The Troy University men's basketball team is currently under the direction of head coach Don Maestri. Head coach Don Maestri is the winningest coach in Troy University history and has won numerous conference coach-of-the-year awards during his tenure. The Trojans appreared in the 2003 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament as a 14 seed after winning the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament and faced 3-seeded Xavier in the first round but lost 71–59. The Trojans were the champions of the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2003 and defeated the University of Central Florida for the conference tournament championship in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2004, the Trojans participated in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) in Buffalo, New York, against Niagara University. On June 7, 2008, Maestri was inducted into the Wiregrass Sports Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Dothan, Alabama.

The Trojan basketball team is recognized in recent Division I Basketball history for leading the nation in 3-pointers from 2004–2006, making 1068 3-pointers over the course of 89 games (11.66 per game) during those three seasons. Troy's most famous claim to fame, however, is their game against DeVry Institute of Atlanta on January 12, 1992 when the Trojans came out victorious by the NCAA-record score of 258-141. This game is the current highest scoring game in NCAA basketball history .

In 1997, the Troy University women's basketball team, under the direction of head coach Jerry Hester, won the Mid Continent Conference (now the Summit League) tournament championship in Buffalo, New York, and received an automatic berth to the NCAA Division One tournament where the Trojans traveled to Charlottesville, Virginia, and fell in the first round to the University of Virginia by a score of 96–74.

Baseball

The Troy University baseball team won two Division II national championships in 1986 and 1987 under the leadership of baseball coach, Chase Riddle. One of Troy's most significant victories in baseball came in April 1998 when the Trojans knocked off the #3 nationally ranked University of Alabama Crimson Tide by a score of 8-4 at Riddle-Pace Field on the Troy campus. In 2006 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year Bobby Pierce led the Trojans to an overall record of 47–16. The Men of Troy wrapped up the 2006 Sun Belt Conference regular season championship and the following week the Trojans went on to dominate the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, winning a spot in the Tuscaloosa Regional in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The Trojans defeated the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles twice, but were eliminated by the Alabama Crimson Tide in the championship game. Following the season, Jared Keel, Mike Felix, and Tom King were selected in the Major League draft. In 2007 the Trojans went 34–27, finishing in a tie for second in the Sun Belt Conference, and were selected as a number three seed in the Oxford, MS regional hosted by Ole Miss. The Trojans were defeated by Southern Miss and Sam Houston State in consecutive games and eliminated from the regional.

The Trojan baseball team plays their home games at Riddle-Pace Field.

Rodeo

Troy University has one of the top collegiate rodeo programs east of the Mississippi River. The program's governing body is the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association. In 2007, Troy calf roper Ben Mayworth won the calf roping national championship at the National Finals College Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming. The rodeo program's home facility is the Pike County Cattlemen's Arena in Troy where it hosts a three-day rodeo each October that features college rodeo programs from throughout the southern region of the United States.