Athletics
SNU is a member of the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC), in Region VI of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). SNU offers 17 sports for men and women: baseball, National_Association_of_Intercollegiate_Athletics#Championships_Sports basketball, cross-country, football, golf, indoor track, soccer, tennis, track and field, softball, and volleyball. SNU also competes in cheerleading, and drumline. There are five facilities and sites for athletic competition and training, including the Sawyer Center (1998) for basketball, volleyball, indoor track, commencement, and other ceremonies, McFarland Park Stadium (2001) for football, the Claud & Betty Cypert Athletic Complex (2000) for baseball and softball, the Wanda Rhodes Soccer Complex (1978), and the tennis courts (1985).
Southern Nazarene University also has an equestrian center where students can learn the basics of horsemanship or move into more specialized fields of study. The SNU Equestrian Center is "committed to furthering the education of men and women looking for a career in the Equine Industry," which they do by offering classes like Equine Anatomy, Introduction to Equine Studies, and Introduction to Equine Reproduction. Additionally, the SNU Equestrian Center offers students the opportunity to try out for the Equestrian Team. Both English and Western riders can try out, and those who make the team participate in events sponsored by the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association
The mascot has been the "Thunder Cat" since 2003, the colors are crimson and white, and the athletic nickname is the Crimson Storm. Until 1999, the nickname was the Redskins, but SNU officials adopted the Crimson Storm in an effort to be more politically correct. The athletics program at SNU began in 1964, when it was still known as BNC, with the creation of a men's basketball team.
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