Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glasgow, Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, and Owensboro. The main campus, which has been undergoing expansion and renovation since the 1990s, sits atop a hill overlooking the Barren River valley.
Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium at Jimmy Feix Field is a 22,000-seat multi-purpose stadium in Bowling Green, in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is home to the Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers football team.
WKYU-TV is a secondary PBS member television station in Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States. Owned by Western Kentucky University as an arm of its Information Technology department, it is a sister station to NPR member network WKU Public Radio and its flagship station WKYU-FM. The two outlets share studios on College Heights Boulevard on the WKU campus; WKYU-TV's transmitter is located six miles (10 km) north of Bowling Green along KY 185, on a tower shared with ABC/Fox/CW+ affiliate WBKO and Telemundo affiliate WBGS-LD.
The Cornell Big Red Marching Band is the only corps style marching band in the Ivy League. It performs at all home, and most away, Cornell Big Red football games. In addition, the band has performed at halftime for numerous National Football League and Canadian Football League games, and began a tradition of an annual Spring Concert in 2006.
The University of Minnesota Marching Band is the marching band of the University of Minnesota and the flagship university band for the state of Minnesota. The Pride of Minnesota serves as an ambassador for the university, representing the school at major events both on and off campus. The band performs before, during, and after all home Golden Gopher football games and bowl games, occasional away games, local parades, numerous pepfests, exhibition performances, as well as a series of indoor concerts toward the end of the regular football season. Members of the band, along with non-member students, also participate in smaller athletic pep bands that perform at other major sporting events, including men's hockey, men's basketball, women's hockey, women's basketball, and women's volleyball.
Big Red is the mascot of Western Kentucky University's sports teams, the "Hilltoppers" and "Lady Toppers". It is a red, furry being created by Ralph Carey in 1979. Big Red is meant to symbolize the spirit of WKU students and alumni as well as the sports teams' nickname, the "Hilltoppers," a name chosen because the school's campus sits atop a hill 232 feet above the Barren River flowing through WKU's home city of Bowling Green.
WKU Public Radio is the public radio service of Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It is a division of the Department of Information Technology at WKU. The network consists of four FM radio stations and one FM translator. Combined, the stations cover most of Western Kentucky and parts of Indiana and Tennessee, reaching into the northern suburbs of Nashville.
The University of Cincinnati Bearcat Bands make up the university's athletic band program and are distinct and separate from the College Conservatory of Music. The Bearcat Bands serve as both an academic class and a student group as an independent department within the Division of Student Affairs.
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football program is a college football team that represents Western Kentucky University. The team competes at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level and represents the university as a member of Conference USA in the Eastern division. The 2002 team was the FCS national champion. The program has 13 conference championships and 6 FBS-level bowl game victories. The Hilltoppers play their home games at Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Kentucky and the team's head football coach is Tyson Helton.
The Band of Pride (BOP) is the official marching band which represents Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana. The Band of Pride performs pregame and during halftime at all Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football games, and travels to select road football games. Auditions are held throughout the academic year as scheduled for the upcoming Fall Quarter.
The Ohio State University Athletic Band is a non-audition band for any student, faculty, or staff of Ohio State University with prior instrumental experience. Many students who perform in the Athletic Band also perform in the Ohio State University Marching Band. Each Athletic Band features full contemporary concert band instrumentation, including woodwinds. It performs throughout the year at various athletic and goodwill functions across campus. Members of the Athletic Band receive course credit for their band participation.
The University of Louisville Cardinal Marching Band is the official marching band of the University of Louisville (UofL) in Louisville, Kentucky. It is considered a Music Ambassador for UofL. The CMB performs at all home football games at Cardinal Stadium, all postseason bowl games, and select away football games. It also plays at the annual Spring Scrimmage Game which pits the Cardinal Offense against the Cardinal Defense.
BYU has a broad array of bands and ensembles. Most of which are a part of the programs of the School of Music in the BYU College of Fine Arts and Communications, primarily either in the Department of Bands or the Jazz Studies Department.
The Battle for the Red Belt is an American college football rivalry between the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team of Western Kentucky University and the Murray State Racers football team of Murray State University. The rivalry began as an in-conference rivalry within the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC), but both schools have since departed for other conferences. The Hilltoppers were the first to move, transitioning to the Football Bowl Subdivision and playing as an independent in the 2008 season before moving football to the Sun Belt Conference in 2009, followed by a move to Conference USA in 2014. The Racers, which remain in the Football Championship Subdivision to this day, played their final OVC season in 2022 and will join the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2023. The rivalry has continued as a trophy game, although it is no longer played on an annual basis.
The 2012 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, the 16th edition of the game, was a post-season American college football bowl game that was held on December 26, 2012 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan as part of the 2012–13 NCAA football bowl season.
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.
The 2015 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team represented Western Kentucky University (WKU) in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season as members of the East Division of Conference USA. Led by second year head coach Jeff Brohm, they played their home games at Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Kentucky. They finished the season 12–2, 8–0 in C-USA play to be champions of the East Division. They represented the East Division in the Conference USA Football Championship Game where they defeated Southern Miss to win their first ever C-USA championship. They were invited to the Miami Beach Bowl where they defeated South Florida. They led the NCAA in Passing Efficiency, tied the school record for victories and were also ranked in the FBS AP Top 25 for the first time in program history.
The 2016 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team represented Western Kentucky University (WKU) in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Hilltoppers played their home games at the Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and competed in the East Division of Conference USA (C–USA). They were led by third year head coach Jeff Brohm. They finished the season 11–3, 7–1 in C-USA play to win a share of the East Division title with Old Dominion. Due to their head-to-head victory over Old Dominion, Western Kentucky represented the East Division in the Conference USA Championship Game where they defeated Louisiana Tech to be crowned C-USA champions. They were invited to the Boca Raton Bowl where they defeated Memphis. This team led the NCAA in Scoring Offense.
The 2017 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team (WKU) represented Western Kentucky University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Hilltoppers played their home games at the Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Kentucky as members of the East Division of Conference USA (C–USA). They were led by first-year head coach Mike Sanford Jr. The Hilltoppers finished the season 6–7, 4–4 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for third place in the East Division. They received an invite to the Cure Bowl where they lost to Georgia State.
The 2020 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team (WKU) represented Western Kentucky University in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Hilltoppers played their home games at the Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Kentucky, as members of the East Division of Conference USA (C–USA). They were led by second-year head coach Tyson Helton.
