User:Coltonspear/Northern Colorado Sports

University of Northern Colorado are in the fourth year of having 16 teams in NCAA Division I along with the football te's fourth year being in the FCS or Football Championship Subdivision. The School Mascot is the "Bear" or sometimes "Golden Bear". They participate in the Big Sky Conference for all sports.. The Athletic Director is currently Jay Hinrichs who previously was the AD at Kansas. The Bear's slogan is "Fear The Claw". "Klawz" is Northern Colorado's mascot that first appeared in 2003 and has been at every football, basketball, and volleyball game. The Bears also are heard every game on 1310 KFKA which is a local Radio station heard all throughout Colorado.

Football
The football team is in there fourth year in the Big Sky Conference which is a Football Championship Subdivision Conference. There current home is Nottingham Field which holds 8000 and is located on West Campus. The current head coach is Scott Downing, who previously was an assistant at Wyoming, and Nebraska. Before becoming a FCS team, the Bears were in Division II and had won two Division II National Championships in 1996 and 1997.

Scott Downing
Scott Downing is coming into his fifth season as the Bear's head coach. Before becoming the head coach at Northern Colorado, he was an Assistant Head Coach at Wyoming, Purdue, and Nebraska. This is his first head coaching job of his career. He finally now has his own class of recruits and is showing signs of promise. He is the 15th coach in Northern Colorado's history but the first coach to take Northern Colorado into the Football Championship Subdivision (formally 1-AA). So far his record at Northern Colorado is 6-49 but is gaining speed as of 2009 when he got a full 1-AA recruited team and 3 wins in a season. Bringing a team from Division II to I-AA is a hard task and Coach Downing is doing the best a coach could with the situation.

Division II National Championships
The Bears won the NCAA Division II National Football Championship in 1996, and 1997 lead by head coach Joe Glenn beating Carson-Newman 23-14 in 1996, and the next year beating New Haven 51-0. To this day, these are still Northern Colorado's only team national championships.

2009 Season
The 2009 season was the best season for the Bears in the Football Championship Subdivision going 3-9 with wins over San Diego, North Dakota, and Idaho State. They also came within seven points of winning in the Weber State game, and Sacremento State game. Senior Quarterback Bryan Waggerner, a transfer from the University of Florida and Tim Tebow's backup lead the team in passing with 2410 passing yards while backup Dylan Orms threw for 96. Junior Tailback Andre Harris led the team in rushing with 700 yards while Senior Wideout Alex Thompson had 864 recieving yards.

Northern Colorado NFL Players

 * Vincent Jackson - Wide Receiver, San Diego Chargers
 * Reed Doughty - Safety, Washington Redskins
 * Dirk Johnson - Punter, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
 * Aaron Smith - Defensive End, Pittsburgh Steelers
 * Brad Pyatt - Wide Receiver, Indianapolis Colts

Men's Basketball
The Northern Colorado Men's Basketball team plays all their games in the Newly Renovated Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion on West Campus. The Bears are in their fourth season in the Big Sky Conference under fourth year coach Tad Boyle. Northern Colorado Basketball has two in-state rivals in Colorado State University and the University of Denver which they both played even when they were a Division II school. The basketball teams have been in Division I for four years and are picking up steam as coach Tad Boyle has brought in a full recruit class. They are still looking however for their first NCAA Tournament bid.

Tad Boyle
Tad Boyle is in his fourth season with the Northern Colorado Bears. He is the 17th coach at Northern Colorado but is the first coach to coach Northern Colorado at the Division I level. A Greeley native, he played his high school ball at Greeley Central High School winning a Colorado State Championship and after played college ball at the University of Kansas under legendary basketball coach Larry Brown between 1981 and 1985 and played in the NCAA Tournament in 1984 and 1985. He started off coaching at various Colorado high schools. Staring with Greeley West High School, Loveland High School, and Longmont High School. He then was an Assistant Coach at the University of Oregon, University of Tennessee, Jacksonville State University, and Wichita State University before landing his first head coaching job the Northern Colorado.

Tournaments
Northern Colorado has never been to the NCAA Tournament. Last year they got their first Big Sky Conference bid with the #5 seed but losing to Idaho State University. They also won their first two mid-season tournaments in their history. The First was the Hawaii Rainbow Classic defeating the University of Hawaii, and the second was the Reggie Minton Air Force Classic defeating the Air Force Academy.

2008 Season
The Bears in 2008 arguably had there best season until the 2009 season in Division I basketball. They started off almost beading the University of Oregon 66-64. They lost to in-state rival Colorado State, and Air Force, but beat the University of Denver. They went 6-8 in their non-con games and went 8-8 in conference games earning their first bid to the Big Sky Tournament as a #5 seed playing Idaho State. They, however, lost that game to end their season with an overall record of 14-17.

2009 Season
The Bears getting off to their best start in school history are 12-3 on the year. With wins over Colorado State, Air Force, University of Hawaii, Texas Christian University, San Jose State, and University of Denver winning two mid-season tournaments. They also almost beat the [University of Oklahoma]] losing 79-80. They are 12-3 going into 2010 just starting their conference play. The Bears were projected to finish 6th in the Big Sky Conference and have a .500 season but are now ranked #19 in the mid-major poll and gaining steam.

Rivals
The Bears have two in-state rivals for basketball. The first is their oldest rivalry with the University of Denver and their newest is with Colorado State. The last time the Bears played the University of Denver was December 28th, 2009 and defeated them 72-57 and have an overall record of 39-72 with the Pioneers. The last time the Bears played Colorado State was December 1st, 2009 and defeated them 70-63 and are 37-65 against Colorado State

Baseball
The Bears did not have a Division I Baseball team until the 2004 season and are now the second Division I baseball team along with Air Force. The Bears play all their home games at Jackson Field in Greeley. The Bear's head coach is Kevin Smallcomb who had the task of bringing the Bears back into Division I baseball and has been known to compile one of the hardest schedules in Division I baseball.