Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virginia General Assembly merged MCV with the Richmond Professional Institute, founded in 1917, to create Virginia Commonwealth University. In 2022, more than 28,000 students pursued 217 degree and certificate programs through VCU's 11 schools and three colleges. The VCU Health System supports health care education, research, and patient care.
The Virginia–Virginia Tech football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Virginia Cavaliers football team of the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech Hokies football team of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The two schools first met in 1895 and have played annually since 1970. The game counts for 1 point in the Commonwealth Clash each year, and is part of the greater Virginia–Virginia Tech rivalry.
The South's Oldest Rivalry is the name given to the North Carolina–Virginia football rivalry. It is an American college football rivalry game played annually by the Virginia Cavaliers football team of the University of Virginia and the North Carolina Tar Heels football team of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Both have been members of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1953, but the Cavaliers and Tar Heels have squared off at least fifteen more times than any other two ACC football programs. Virginia and North Carolina also have extensive rivalries in several other sports.
The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as Wahoos or Hoos, are the athletic teams representing the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers compete at the NCAA Division I level, in the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1953. Known simply as Virginia or UVA in sports media, the athletics program has twice won the Capital One Cup for men's sports after leading the nation in overall athletic excellence in those years. The Cavaliers have regularly placed among the nation's Top 5 athletics programs.
The Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing the University of Virginia. The school competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Virginia has won the NCAA Championship, two National Invitation Tournaments, and three ACC tournament titles. The team is coached by Tony Bennett and plays home games at the on-campus John Paul Jones Arena (14,623) which opened in 2006. They have been called the Cavaliers since 1923, predating the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA by half a century.
Brian Patrick O'Connor is the head baseball coach of the Virginia Cavaliers. Previously serving as an Associate Head Coach at Notre Dame, he was hired on July 8, 2003, to replace the retiring Dennis Womack. O'Connor has taken the Virginia baseball team to fourteen NCAA baseball tournaments during his 15 seasons in Charlottesville, including the 2009 College World Series, the first in school history; the 2011 College World Series, as the No. 1 national seed; the 2014 College World Series, as the No. 3 national seed; and the 2015 College World Series, which they won and became National Champions for the first time in school history.
The VCU Rams are the athletic teams of Virginia Commonwealth University of Richmond, Virginia, United States. The Rams compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The most successful teams have been the men's tennis and basketball teams, which have had success in their conference and on the regional and national stages. The school's colors are black and gold. The athletic director is Ed McLaughlin. The official student supporter group is known as the Rowdy Rams.
The Virginia Cavaliers baseball team represents the University of Virginia in NCAA Division I college baseball. Established in 1889, the team participates in the Coastal division of the Atlantic Coast Conference and plays its home games at Davenport Field at Disharoon Park. The team's head coach is Brian O'Connor. The team has reached the College World Series six times, most recently in 2023, and won the national championship in 2015.
The Virginia–Virginia Tech rivalry is an American college rivalry that exists between the Virginia Cavaliers sports teams of the University of Virginia and the Virginia Tech Hokies sports teams of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The Cavaliers and Hokies had a program-wide rivalry first called the Commonwealth Challenge (2005–2007) which UVA swept 2–0 before ending the series in a show of sportsmanship following the Virginia Tech massacre. A second series called the Commonwealth Clash (2014–2019), under revised rules and sponsored by the state's Virginia 529 College Savings Plan, was again won by UVA, 3–2. A third series, also called the Clash (2021–present) and sponsored by Smithfield Foods, emerged two years after the previous series was concluded and is currently tied, 1–1. The Cavaliers lead the rivalry series in the majority of sports.
The VCU Rams men's soccer team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of Virginia Commonwealth University, an NCAA Division I member school located in the state's capital of Richmond. The team is a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Charles Warren Noe was an American college basketball coach and broadcaster. Noe was credited by former University of North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith with creating the 4-corner "stall" offense for which Smith became famous for utilizing at UNC, during Noe's time as hoops coach at the University of South Carolina.
The Old Dominion Monarchs baseball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. The team is a member of the Sun Belt Conference, which is part of NCAA Division I. Old Dominion's first baseball team was fielded in 1931 as the William and Mary College – Norfolk Division Braves. ODU joined Division I in 1977. The team plays its home games at Bud Metheny Baseball Complex in Norfolk, Virginia where it has played since 1982. ODU has won 6 conference tournament titles and have been to the NCAA tournament nine times. The Monarchs are coached by Chris Finwood, a native of Hampton, Virginia who is in his eleventh year at the helm. The Monarchs have had eleven players reach the Major Leagues and two, Justin Verlander and Daniel Hudson, have played in the World Series.
The Mountain East Conference (MEC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level and officially began competition on September 1, 2013. It consists of 11 schools, mostly in West Virginia with other members in Maryland and Ohio.
The 2015 Virginia Cavaliers baseball team represented the University of Virginia during the 2015 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Cavaliers played their home games at Davenport Field as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They were led by head coach Brian O'Connor, in his 12th season at Virginia.
The 1996 NCAA Division I baseball season, play of college baseball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) began in the spring of 1996. The season progressed through the regular season and concluded with the 1996 College World Series. The College World Series, held for the fiftieth time in 1996, consisted of one team from each of eight regional competitions and was held in Omaha, Nebraska, at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium as a double-elimination tournament. LSU claimed the championship for the third time.
The 2021 VCU Rams baseball team represented Virginia Commonwealth University during the 2021 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Rams played their home games at The Diamond as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference. They were led by head coach Shawn Stiffler, in his 9th season at VCU.
The Maryland–Virginia lacrosse rivalry is an intercollegiate lacrosse rivalry between the Virginia Cavaliers and Maryland Terrapins. The teams first met in 1926 and have met 95 times, the second-most for UVA and third-most for UMD against any opponent. The two are some of the most historically successful intercollegiate programs, combining for twenty-one national titles, ten of which have come in the NCAA era. The Cavaliers and Terrapins were league foes in the Atlantic Coast Conference from 1954 to 2014, before Maryland joined the Big Ten the following year. The teams ceased their annual matchup until a meeting five years later in the 2019 NCAA Lacrosse Championship, won by Virginia on the way to their sixth NCAA championship. The 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but games have resumed since.
The Johns Hopkins–Virginia lacrosse rivalry is an intercollegiate lacrosse rivalry between the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays and Virginia Cavaliers. The teams compete for the Doyle Smith Cup, which was first awarded in 2006. Edward Doyle Smith Jr., the only inductee to the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame to have never competed in the sport, was a team manager and statistician at Johns Hopkins for five years before becoming UVA's first assistant sports information director, which he held for 31 seasons. Smith is also credited with the standardization of game statistics for lacrosse at the national level, twice receiving the USILA Man of the Year Award.
Anthony Guzzo is an American baseball coach. He is an assistant baseball coach Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, a position he has held since 2017. Guzzo served as the head baseball coach at North Carolina Wesleyan University in Rocky Mount, North Carolina from 1979 to 1982, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, Virginia from 1983 to 1994, and Old Dominion from 1995 to 2004.
The 2023 VCU Rams baseball team represented Virginia Commonwealth University during the 2023 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Rams played their home games at The Diamond as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference. They were led by head coach Bradley LeCroy, in his first season with the program.
