Rhode Island Rams | |
---|---|
University | University of Rhode Island |
Conference | Atlantic 10 (primary) CAA Football (football) |
NCAA | Division I (FCS) |
Athletic director | Thorr Bjorn |
Location | Kingston, Rhode Island |
Varsity teams | 18 (8 men's, 10 women's) |
Football stadium | Meade Stadium |
Basketball arena | Ryan Center |
Baseball stadium | Bill Beck Field |
Soccer stadium | URI Soccer Complex |
Other venues | Keaney Gymnasium |
Mascot | Rhody the Ram |
Nickname | Rams |
Fight song | "Rhode Island Born" |
Colors | Keaney blue, navy blue, and white [1] |
Website | gorhody |
The Rhode Island Rams are the intercollegiate athletic programs that represent the University of Rhode Island, based in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. The Rams compete in the NCAA's Division I as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The football team, however, competes in the Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference of the NCAA's Football Championship Subdivision, as the A-10 does not sponsor football. [2]
The program's athletic director is Thorr Bjorn. [3]
The school's colors are light blue (officially referred to as "Keaney blue"), white, and navy blue. [2] The school's mascot is Rhody the Ram. It was chosen in 1923 as tribute to the school's agricultural history, making its first appearance in 1929. The school has not used a live ram since the introduction of "Rhody," a student in an anthropomorphic ram costume, in 1974. [4]
Men's sports | Women's sports |
---|---|
Baseball | Basketball |
Basketball | Cross country |
Cross country | Rowing |
Football | Soccer |
Golf | Softball |
Soccer | Swimming & diving |
Track & field† | Tennis |
Track & field† | |
Volleyball | |
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor. |
As a primary member of the Atlantic 10 Conference, the University of Rhode Island sponsors teams in eight men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports, with football competing in the Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference.
The Rams baseball program played its first season in 1898. It plays at Bill Beck Field on campus. In 2005, under head coach Frank Leoni, the program reached its first NCAA tournament. [5] [6]
URI Basketball went to the NCAA tournament in 2017 after an 18 year drought, nearly upsetting Final Four participant #3 Oregon in the second round. In the 1990s, the Rams made the Big Dance in 1997, [7] 1998, [8] and 1999. [9] In 1998, the Rams went on a surprise run to the Elite 8. [10]
The women's team has made one NCAA appearance in 1996 after going 21–8 and 13–3 in A10 play, losing 90–82 to Oklahoma State. They have two other postseason appearances in the 2022 and 2023 WNITs. [11]
The Rams have won eight conference championships, seven in the Yankee Conference and one in the Coastal Athletic Association. Likewise the Rams have won one division title, in 1995: the Yankee Conference's New England Division.
Rhode Island's softball team has appeared in one Women's College World Series in 1982. [12]
The University of Rhode Island Club Sports program consists of 13 teams. Each team is organized and managed by students with guidance from the Coordinator of Club Sports. They include Soccer, Tennis, Hockey, Field Hockey, Rowing, Sailing, Rugby, Swimming, Volleyball, Gymnastics, and Equestrian.
The women's ice hockey team competes in Division I of the American Collegiate Hockey Association in ESCHL league.
Organizer | Division | Sport | Tournament | Year | Runner-up | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NCAA | University Division | Cross country | Division I tournament | 1941 | Penn State | 83–110 |
Source: [13]
Venue | Sport hosted |
---|---|
Bill Beck Field | Baseball |
Ryan Center | Basketball |
Meade Stadium | Football |
URI Campanella Rowing Center | Rowing |
URI Soccer Complex | Soccer |
URI Softball Complex | Softball |
Tootell Aquatics Center | Swimming & diving |
URI Tennis Courts | Tennis |
Mackal Fieldhouse | Indoor track and field |
Keaney Gymnasium | Volleyball |
Rhody the Ram is the official mascot of the University of Rhode Island. His mascot status was given on March 8, 1923, and he made his first appearance on November 21, 1929. At one time a real ram was housed at a dairy barn across from the campus, but that stopped in the 1960s, and was picked up for one year in 1974. Unlike other popular universities, the Rhody the Ram mascot program is run by the URI Student Alumni Association, a student run organization that serves the university by organizing many popular events on campus. [14] [15]
University of Rhode Island sports are televised regionally on the Ocean State Network, a joint venture of Cox Communications and WJAR. [16] OSN provides television and streaming coverage of all regular season men's basketball games not broadcast on a national carrier, and select football, baseball, soccer and women's basketball games. Select men's basketball games are also covered by ESPN, and A-10 tournament games are televised by contract with ESPN, CBS and NBC. [17] The University's ACHA men's ice hockey and women's basketball home games have live streaming video available on their respective websites.
Commercial coverage of men's basketball and football is provided by iHeartMedia stations WHJJ and WWBB in the Providence area, with rights managed by Learfield IMG College. [18] The longtime announcer for both sports is Steve McDonald, who in 2011 was awarded the inaugural Ben Mondor Award for "extraordinary contributions in...sports in Rhode Island". [19]
Non-commercial coverage of home games for football, baseball, men's (and select women's) basketball, as well as the school's ACHA men's ice hockey team can be heard on the University's student radio station WRIU. Other sports, including men's and women's soccer, softball, women's ice hockey and select women's basketball games are carried on WRIU's online station RIU2. [20]
February 3, 1998 – Rhody the Ram tried to prevent the St. Joe's Hawk from his eternal flapping by putting an inner tube over its head, temporarily immobilizing his arms. While trying to remove the tube, the Hawk's head (costume) fell off. The incident was televised and repeated on ESPN. [21]
The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located mostly on the East Coast and Midwest of the United States: Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education instructor of the university and former head football coach, John R. Bender after one of his former teams, Washington State later adopted the mascot and nickname. The teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and the Football Bowl Subdivision as members of the Big 12 Conference.
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The Maine Black Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of Maine. A member of the America East Conference, the University of Maine sponsors teams in eight men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports. The men's and women's ice hockey teams are members of Hockey East, and the football team is an associate member of the Coastal Athletic Association.
The Providence Friars are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Providence College, located in Providence, Rhode Island. They compete in the Big East Conference for every sport except for ice hockey, where they compete in Hockey East. The Big East Conference was founded in 1979 by former athletic director and men's basketball coach Dave Gavitt. On December 15, 2012, Providence and the other seven Catholic, non-FBS schools announced that they were departing the Big East for a new conference; on March 7, 2013, it was officially confirmed that Providence's new conference would operate under the Big East name. The women's volleyball team, which had been an associate member of the America East Conference before the Big East split, remained in that conference for one more season before joining the Big East for the 2014 season.
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The Rhode Island Rams baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball team of the University of Rhode Island, located in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. The program has been a member of the NCAA Division I Atlantic 10 Conference since the start of the 1981 season. Since the 1966 season, the program has played at Bill Beck Field, located on the university's campus. The program has appeared in two NCAA tournaments. It has won two conference tournaments, three regular season conference titles, and three regular season division titles. Three former Rams have appeared in Major League Baseball.
Bill Beck Field is a baseball venue located on the campus of the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is home to the Rhode Island Rams baseball team, a member of the NCAA Division I Atlantic 10 Conference. The field was built in 1966 and is named after former Rams baseball and football coach Bill Beck. It has a capacity of 1,000 spectators.
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Frank Leoni is an American baseball coach, currently the head baseball coach of the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers. He played college baseball at Rhode Island from 1988 to 1991. He then served as head coach at William & Mary Tribe (2006–2012), the Rhode Island Rams (1993–2005) and the Marymount Saints (2014–2021).
The Rhode Island Rams women's ice hockey team represents the University of Rhode Island (URI) in Women's Division 1 of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA). Since the team's 1999 inauguration, the Rams have been one of the most successful programs in intercollegiate women's ice hockey, winning nine regular season and nine playoff titles in the 15-year existence of the Eastern Collegiate Women's Hockey League, both ECWHL records. The Rams have also qualified for 12 of the 18 ACHA National Tournaments held for women's teams, a number that trails only Massachusetts, Michigan and Michigan State. Highlighting Rhode Island's 12 ACHA tournament bids are eight semifinal appearances, including five in a row from 2004 through 2008. The team's present coach, Ashley Pagliarini, was a standout defenseman at URI from 2004 through 2009 and is just the second head coach in team history, taking over for program founder Beth McCann for the 2014–15 season.