Sam Houston State University is a public research university in Huntsville, Texas. Founded in 1879, it is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools west of the Mississippi River and the first in Texas. The school is named for Sam Houston, who made his home in the city and is buried there.
Bridgeforth Stadium is a football stadium located on the campus of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The stadium is home to the James Madison Dukes football team. The playing surface is named Zane Showker Field.
Homer Bryce Stadium, located in Nacogdoches, Texas, is the home of Stephen F. Austin State University's Lumberjack football and Ladyjack and Lumberjack track and field events. The stadium includes a walking and running track open to the public. After renovations to take place over the summer of 2021 the track will be closed to the public. Recent renovations to the area include a sports medicine and academic center addition to the field house that houses the new athletic training program and the installation of a new artificial turf surface provided by a donation from a former Lumberjack football letterman. A state of the art video board with replay screen was completed in September 2016, home to largest video board in the South land Conference.
The Sam Houston Bearkats are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Sam Houston State University, located in Huntsville, Texas. Sam Houston's colors are orange and white. Sam Houston sports teams participate in NCAA Division I in Conference USA (CUSA), having joined that conference on July 1, 2023 after spending 34 years in the Southland Conference and two years in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). SHSU's primary rival is Stephen F. Austin (SFA) and tensions between the two schools can run high before major sporting events that pit one against the other.
The Sam Houston State Bearkats baseball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, United States. The team is currently a member of Conference USA, an athletic conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The team plays its home games at Don Sanders Stadium.
The Sam Houston Bearkats football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Sam Houston State University located in the U.S. state of Texas. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the Conference USA. Sam Houston's first football team was fielded in 1912. The team plays its home games at the 14,000-seat Bowers Stadium in Huntsville, Texas. On December 18, 2024, Phil Longo was named the 16th head coach in Sam Houston program history.
The Sam Houston Bearkats men's basketball team, represents Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, United States. The Bearkats were one of four programs, all from Texas, that left the Southland Conference on July 1, 2021 to join the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Sam Houston had previously been a member of the Southland Conference since the 1987–88 season. The Bearkats have played home games at Johnson Coliseum, a 6,110 seat indoor arena, since 1976, when it was then called University Coliseum. On July 1, 2023 the Bearkats joined Conference USA.
The 2013 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team represented Sam Houston State University in the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bearkats were led by fourth-year head coach Willie Fritz and played their home games at Bowers Stadium. They were a member of the Southland Conference.
The Bearkat Marching Band, also known as The Famous Bearkat Band or the BMB, is the marching band at Sam Houston State University. The band was founded in 1910 under the direction of C.W. Feuge, and is currently directed by Brian Gibbs. The band appears at Sam Houston football and basketball home games, as well as at pep rallies, the annual Battle of the Piney Woods in Houston, and occasionally at in-state away games.
Husky Stadium is a stadium on the campus of Houston Christian University in Houston, Texas. It is used for American football, and is the home field for the Houston Christian Huskies football team. The stadium is located near the corner of Beechnut and Fondren. Initial capacity is 5,000 with future construction phases to increase capacity. The stadium inaugural game held on September 6, 2014, was between the then-Houston Baptist Huskies and the McMurry War Hawks.
The 2015 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team represented Sam Houston State University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bearkats were led by second-year head coach K. C. Keeler and played their home games at Bowers Stadium. They were a member of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 11–4 overall and 7–2 in Southland play to finish in a tie for second place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Southern Utah, McNeese State, and Colgate to advance to the Semifinals, where they lost to Jacksonville State. The 2015 season marked the Bearkats' 100th season of football.
The Bearkat Softball Complex is the home stadium for the Division I (NCAA) Sam Houston State Bearkats softball team. Located next to the Bowers Stadium on the campus of Sam Houston State University, the stadium features seating for 400 fans. Included in the 400 seat capacity is a combination of partially covered chair back and bleacher seats. The stadium has field lighting, bullpens, dugouts, a press box, enclosed hitting area, and an electronic scoreboard. Also included is coaches offices, locker rooms' training rooms' concessions, a conference room, and restrooms.
The 2016 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team represented Sam Houston State University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bearkats were led by third-year head coach K. C. Keeler and played their home games at Bowers Stadium. They were a member of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 12–1 overall and 9–0 in Southland play to win the Southland Conference title. They went undefeated during the regular season with a record of 11–0. They received the Southland's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Chattanooga the second round, only to lose in the quarterfinals to James Madison.
The 2018 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team represented Sam Houston State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bearkats were led by fifth-year head coach K. C. Keeler and played their home games at Bowers Stadium. They were a member of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 6–5, 5–4 in Southland play to finish in a four-way tie for fourth place.
The 2019 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team represented Sam Houston State University as a member of the Southland Conference during the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by sixth-year head coach K. C. Keeler, the Bearkats compiled an overall record of 7–5 with a mark of 6–3 in conference play, tying for third place in the Southland. Sam Houston State played home games at Bowers Stadium in Huntsville, Texas.
The 2020 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team represented Sam Houston State University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season as a member of the Southland Conference. The Bearkats were led by seventh-year head coach K. C. Keeler and played their home games at Bowers Stadium.
The 2022 Sam Houston Bearkats football team represented Sam Houston State University as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by ninth-year head coach K. C. Keeler, the Bearkats compiled an overall record of 5–4. Sam Houston played home games at Bowers Stadium in Huntsville, Texas.
The 2023 Sam Houston Bearkats football team represented Sam Houston State University in Conference USA during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bearkats were led by tenth-year head coach K. C. Keeler. They played their home games at Bowers Stadium in Huntsville, Texas. They were ineligible for a bowl game, the conference championship, or the College Football Playoff due to rules governing transitions from FCS to FBS. The Sam Houston Bearkats football team drew an average home attendance of 8,298 in 2023.
The 2023 Kennesaw State Owls football team represented the Kennesaw State University as a new independent during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by ninth-year head coach Brian Bohannon, the Owls played their home games at the Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia.
