Eastern Illinois Panthers | |
---|---|
University | Eastern Illinois University |
Conference | Ohio Valley Conference (primary) Summit League (Swimming & diving) Horizon League (Men's tennis) |
NCAA | Division I (FCS) |
Athletic director | Tom Michael |
Location | Charleston, Illinois |
Varsity teams | 21 (10 men's and 11 women's) |
Football stadium | O’Brien Field |
Basketball arena | Lantz Arena |
Baseball stadium | Coaches Stadium at Monier Field |
Softball stadium | Williams Field |
Soccer stadium | Lakeside Soccer Field |
Mascot | Billy the Panther |
Nickname | Panthers |
Fight song | Eastern State March |
Colors | Blue and gray [1] |
Website | eiupanthers |
The Eastern Illinois Panthers are the intercollegiate athletic programs of Eastern Illinois University (EIU) located in Charleston, Illinois, United States. The Panthers athletic program is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) [2] and competes at the NCAA Division I [3] level in the Football Championship Subdivision. EIU's colors are blue and gray. Selected as the team mascot in 1930, EIU's panther was informally known as "Billy" for many years and was officially named "Billy the Panther" in 2008. [4] Panther teams have won five NCAA national championships in three sports. [5] The Panthers also won the 1969 NAIA men's soccer title. [6]
Eastern Illinois athletics began in the school's very first year, with the inaugural football team taking the field only three weeks after the first students arrived on campus in 1899. [7]
Eastern Illinois was a member of the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1912 to 1970. From 1978 to 1982 they were members of the Mid-Continent Athletic Association which was absorbed by the Association of Mid-Continent Universities later known as the Mid-Continent Conference now the Summit League till 1996. In 1996 they joined the Ohio Valley Conference which is their current conference.
A member of the Ohio Valley Conference since 1996, Eastern Illinois University sponsors teams in ten men's and eleven women's NCAA sanctioned sports. [8] The Panthers' men's and women's swimming teams compete as associate members of the Summit League since those sports are not sponsored by the OVC. The men's soccer team also competed in the Summit League before the OVC launched a men's soccer league for the 2023 season (2023–24 school year). The OVC merged its men's tennis league into that of the Horizon League after the 2021–22 school year, with all OVC teams in that sport, including Eastern Illinois, becoming Horizon associates. [9]
Men's sports | Women's sports |
---|---|
Baseball | Basketball |
Basketball | Beach volleyball |
Cross country | Cross Country |
Football | Golf |
Golf | Soccer |
Soccer | Softball |
Swimming and diving | Swimming and diving |
Tennis | Tennis |
Track and field † | Track and field † |
Volleyball | |
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor |
The Panther baseball team has appeared in three NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, in 1999, 2008, and 2023.
Year | Seed | First Round Winner | First Round Loser | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1992 | 15 | Indiana | 94 | Eastern Illinois | 55 |
2001 | 15 | Arizona | 101 | Eastern Illinois | 76 |
Year | Seed | First Round Winner | First Round Loser | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1988 | 10 | Colorado | 78 | Eastern Illinois | 72 |
Team Championships:
National Finishes:
Year | First Round Home Team | First Round Away Team | Second Round Home | Second Round Away | Quarterfinal Home | Quarterfinal Away | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1982 OT | Eastern Illinois | 16 | Jackson Tigers | 13 | Tennessee State | 20 | Eastern Illinois | 19 | ||||
1983 2OT | Indiana State | 16 | Eastern Illinois | 13 | ||||||||
1986 | Eastern Illinois | 28 | Murray State | 21 | Eastern Illinois | 22 | Eastern Kentucky | 24 | ||||
1989 | Idaho | 21 | Eastern Illinois | 38 | Montana | 25 | Eastern Illinois | 19 | ||||
1995 | Stephen F. Austin | 34 | Eastern Illinois | 29 | ||||||||
1996 | Northern Iowa | 21 | Eastern Illinois | 14 | ||||||||
2000 | Montana | 45 | Eastern Illinois | 13 | ||||||||
2001 | Eastern Illinois | 43 | Northern Iowa | 49 | ||||||||
2002 | Western Illinois | 48 | Eastern Illinois | 9 | ||||||||
2005 | Eastern Illinois | 6 | Southern Illinois | 21 | ||||||||
2006 | Eastern Illinois | 13 | Illinois State | 24 | ||||||||
2007 | Southern Illinois | 30 | Eastern Illinois | 11 | ||||||||
2009 | Southern Illinois | 48 | Eastern Illinois | 7 | ||||||||
2012 | South Dakota State | 58 | Eastern Illinois | 10 | ||||||||
2013 | Bye | Bye | Eastern Illinois | 51 | Tennessee State | 10 | Eastern Illinois | 39 | Towson | 49 | ||
2015 | Northern Iowa | 53 | Eastern Illinois | 17 |
National Finishes: [13]
Individual National Champions: [14]
The Panther women’s soccer team has appeared in four NCAA Division I Women's Soccer tournaments in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004. [15]
The Panther softball team appeared in two AIAW Women's College World Series, in 1971 and 1974. [16] They reached their first NCAA Division I softball tournament in 2023.
National Finishes:
Individual National Champions: [17]
Team Championships (men's):
Individual Champions:
The Eastern Illinois volleyball team has been the Ohio Valley Conference champions in 1998, co champions in 2004, and 2023. The volleyball team has made two NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament appearances in 2001 and 2023. [18]
Facilities are housed on the west side of the EIU campus between 4th Street and Grant Avenue. [19]
Men's and women's golf practice at four local courses including Charleston Country Club, Mattoon Country Club, Meadowview Golf Course and Bent Tree Golf Course. [20]
The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with the Big South Conference in the Football Championship Subdivision, the lower of two levels of Division I football competition. The OVC has 11 members, seven of which compete in football in the conference.
The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States, from Minnesota in the east, to the Dakotas, Nebraska and Colorado to the West, and Missouri and Oklahoma to the South. Founded as the Association of Mid-Continent Universities in 1982, it rebranded as the Mid-Continent Conference in 1989, then again as the Summit League on June 1, 2007. The league headquarters are in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The Murray State Racers are the athletic teams that represent Murray State University (MSU), located in Murray, Kentucky, United States, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) since the 2022–23 academic year. The Racers previously competed in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) from 1948–49 to 2021–22; and in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1933–34 to 1947–48.
The Eastern Illinois Panthers football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Eastern Illinois University located in the U.S. state of Illinois. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference. The school's first football team was fielded in 1899. The team plays its home games at the 10,000 seat O'Brien Field, which is named after former head coach Maynard O'Brien.
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The Indiana University of Pennsylvania Crimson Hawks, commonly known as the IUP Crimson Hawks and formerly called the IUP Indians, are the varsity athletic teams that represent Indiana University of Pennsylvania, which is located in Indiana, Pennsylvania. The university and all of its intercollegiate sports teams compete in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) within the NCAA Division II. The university sponsors 19 different teams, including eight teams for men and eleven teams for women: baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, women's field hockey, football, men's golf, women's lacrosse, women's soccer, softball, men's and women's swimming, women's tennis, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field, and women's volleyball.
The High Point Panthers are the 17 varsity athletic teams that represent High Point University (HPU) in High Point, North Carolina, United States. All of HPU's varsity teams compete at the NCAA Division I level. All sports except men's lacrosse and women's rowing compete in the Big South Conference. The men's lacrosse team joined the Atlantic 10 Conference after the 2022 season. Women's rowing was added in 2024–25, initially competing as an independent until joining the new rowing league of the Mid-American Conference in 2025–26. The Panthers joined Division I in 1999, after having been NCAA Division II and being members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) prior to 1992. HPU was a founding member of the North State Conference, which is now the NCAA Division II Conference Carolinas.
The Eastern Illinois Panthers men's basketball team is the basketball team that represents Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois, United States. The first basketball team started in 1908–09 season. The school's team currently competes in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Panthers competed in the NCAA Division I tournament in 1992 and 2001.
The Davenport Panthers are the athletic teams that represent Davenport University, located in Caledonia Township, Michigan, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) for most of its sports as a provisional member since the 2017–18 academic year. The Panthers previously competed in the Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 2005–06 to 2016–17.
The FIU Panthers are the athletic teams representing Florida International University, an American public university located in Miami, Florida. The Panthers currently compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athletics as members of Conference USA. The men's soccer and swimming & diving teams compete in the American Athletic Conference. Until 2011, they were known as the FIU Golden Panthers.
The Milwaukee Panthers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level, competing in the Horizon League for all sports since the 1994–95 season. A total of 13 Panthers athletic teams compete in NCAA Division I. The Panthers have won the James J. McCafferty Trophy as the Horizon League's all-sports champions seven times since 2000.
The Eastern Illinois Panthers baseball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois, United States. The team is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference, which is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. Eastern Illinois’ first baseball team was fielded in 1904. The team plays its home games at Coaches Stadium at Monier Field in Charleston, Illinois. The Panthers are coached by Jason Anderson.
The Drury Panthers are the athletic teams that represent Drury University, located in Springfield, Missouri, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Panthers compete as members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference for all 21 varsity sports. Drury has been a member of the GLVC since 2005.
The Fresno Pacific Sunbirds are the athletic teams that represent Fresno Pacific University, located in Fresno, California, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Pacific West Conference (PacWest) for most of its sports since the 2012–13 academic year. while its men's and women's water polo teams compete in the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA). The Sunbirds previously competed in the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1986–87 to 2011–12.
The Eastern Illinois Panthers men's soccer team represents Eastern Illinois University (EIU) as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference in NCAA Division I soccer. The Panthers play their home matches at Lakeside Soccer Field located directly south of the Lantz Arena complex on the EIU campus in Charleston, Illinois.
The North Georgia Nighthawks are the athletic teams that represent the University of North Georgia, located in Dahlonega, Georgia, in intercollegiate sports at the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Peach Belt Conference since the 2005–06 academic year. North Georgia's rifle team competes at the Division I level as affiliate members of the Southern Conference (SoCon).
Jim Schmitz is an American college baseball coach, formerly the head coach at Wilmington (OH) (1984–1986), Cincinnati (1987–1990), and Eastern Illinois (1995–2015).
The Eastern Illinois Panthers track and field program represents Eastern Illinois University in the sport of track and field. The program includes separate men's and women's teams, both of which compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). The Panthers host their home indoor meets in the Lantz Field House and their home outdoor meets at O'Brien Field, both located on the university's campus. The Panthers track teams are currently led by head coach Keith Roberts.
The Eastern Illinois Panthers women's basketball team is the basketball team that represents Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Ohio Valley Conference.
The 2018–19 Eastern Illinois Panthers men's basketball team represented Eastern Illinois University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers, led by seventh-year head coach Jay Spoonhour, played their home games at Lantz Arena as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 14–18, 7–11 in OVC play to finish in sixth place. They lost to UT Martin in the first round of the OVC tournament.