Athletics
The school's athletics programs are affiliated with the NCAA Division I-A and compete in the Mid-American Conference. The school colors are maroon and gold, and the school, its students and alumni are referred to as Chippewas or Chips. The nickname is used with the consent of the nearby Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, who have a positive relationship with the university. The university was placed on the NCAA's list of schools with "hostile and abusive" nicknames in August 2005, but appealed the decision, with the support of the tribe. On September 2, 2005 the university announced that their appeal of the decision had been upheld.
The school's athletics logo has changed over time; once featuring an Indian spear, it is now a stylized block letter "C". Within the university, the logo is often referred to as the "flying C" or the "running C", although it is officially called the "action C". The current version of the athletic trademark was first used in 1997. The logo was designed by IET Department undergraduate student Jason Prout in 1995.
CMU's football team won the second NCAA Division II national championship in 1974 by defeating the University of Delaware 54 to 14. The team was voted national champion in the Associated Press College Division poll. The Chips have also been national runner-up twice. In 1958 the men's swimming and diving team was runner-up to North Central College at the second annual NAIA national meet, which was held in Muncie, Ind. Central's baseball team was NCAA Division II runner-up in 1971, having lost to Florida Southern College 4 to 0 in the championship game. In 1994, 2006 and 2007 they won the MAC Championship in football. In 2006 against Ohio and then defeated Middle Tennessee State in the Motor City Bowl. The Chippewas won a second consecutive MAC Championship in 2007, with a 35–10 victory over Miami (OH). In 2009, the Chippewas won their third MAC football title in four years, and went on to defeat Troy in the GMAC Bowl. Their final record of 12–2 tied a school record for victories. They finished the season ranked #23 in the final AP Poll and #24 in the final Coaches Poll marking the first time that a CMU football team had ever ended the season ranked in the Top 25 at the NCAA Division I-FBS level. Frequently defeating both the University of Michigan and Michigan State University in dual meets, CMU's wrestling team won its 10th straight MAC championship and seventh straight conference tournament title in 2008. The Chippewas tied for seventh at the NCAA Championships, scoring a school-record 69 points. Four individuals earned All-America honors.
CMU was a member of the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1950–1970.
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