Nicholls State University - Athletics

Athletics

Nicholls sports teams participate in NCAA Division I (Football Championship Subdivision or FCS for football) in the Southland Conference.

Nicholls' colors are cardinal and gray (two-tone) and the athletics teams are nicknamed the Colonels.

On November 19, 2005, the No. 24-ranked Nicholls Colonels football team clinched its first Southland Conference Championship by defeating the McNeese State Cowboys 39–26 at John L. Guidry Stadium. With that win, Nicholls finished the regular season tied atop the conference standing with Texas State. The Colonels advanced to the Division I-AA playoffs as the conference champion, based on their 32–29 overtime victory over then fifth-ranked Texas State, but eventually lost to the then No. 3 ranked Furman Paladins, 14–12, in Paladin Stadium in Greenville, S.C.

Nicholls official athletics mascot is the colonel. President Stephen Hulbert stated that "The Colonel is and will remain the mascot designation for Nicholls State University and its intercollegiate athletics program" on March 31, 2004 while calling the current Colonel depiction antiquated and reminiscent of the Civil War in the South. The decision to retire the mascot was made to avoid portraying racist sentiments associated with the Civil War confederacy. Although met with criticism from the school and surrounding community who were in favor of preserving the colonel mascot, the retirement of the mascot was considered vital to the public relations outlook of the university and its policy of solidarity with The University of Louisiana System's policy on discrimination. Hulbert banned the old Colonel from the university and tasked student leaders to work on a suitable replacement. That process lasted six years. The new Col. Tillou was introduced to the campus community in August 2009, sporting a bright red uniform topped off with a contemporary-style military officer's cap.

The Nicholls State University Department of Athletics currently sponsors men's intercollegiate baseball, basketball, football, golf and tennis along with women's intercollegiate basketball, softball, soccer, tennis, track and field, volleyball and cheerleading.

Nicholls' primary athletic rivals are Southeastern Louisiana University and Northwestern State University. Nicholls' now defunct rivalry with Texas State, dubbed "The Battle For the Paddle" ended with Texas State's decision to join the FBS.