Boston University - Athletics

Athletics

Boston University's NCAA Division I Terriers compete in basketball, cross country, golf, ice hockey, rowing, soccer, swimming, tennis, track, and wrestling, while the Lady Terriers compete in basketball, dance, cross country, field hockey, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, and track. Boston University athletics teams compete in the America East, Hockey East, and Colonial Athletic Association conferences, and their mascot is Rhett the Boston Terrier. As of July 1, 2013, a majority of Boston University's teams will compete in the Patriot League.

The Boston University men's hockey team is the most successful on campus, and is a storied college hockey franchise, with five NCAA championships – including the 2009 NCAA title, which was a classic last-minute comeback victory. The team is coached by hall-of-famer Jack Parker, and is a major supplier of talent to the NHL, as well as to the 1980 U.S.A. Gold Medal-winning men's hockey team. Boston University's hockey team has won 29 Beanpot titles, more than any other team in the tournament, which includes Harvard University, Boston College, and Northeastern University. Boston University also won the Sun Life Frozen Fenway contest in 2010 against Boston College by a score of 3–2. It was an outdoor Hockey East college game played at Fenway Park a week after the NHL Winter Classic.

BU has also won two national championships in women's rowing, in 1991 and 1992.

Boston University recently constructed the new Agganis Arena, which opened on January 3, 2005 with a men's hockey game between the Terriers and the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Agganis Arena is also used occasionally to host other non-sporting related events.

Boston University disbanded its football team in 1997. The university used the nearly $3 million from its football program to build the multimillion-dollar John Hancock Student Village and athletic complex. Among the biggest benefactors of the decision was BU women, who saw the funding for their teams increased. "By implementing the total plan, we can achieve a much more balanced set of sports programs for both men and women, which is consistent with the philosophy underlying Title IX," said former BU athletic director Gary Strickler.