Athletics

The University has engaged in intercollegiate athletics since 1877 and currently fields 22 NCAA Division I teams. The 12 women’s varsity sports are basketball, softball, field hockey, soccer, cross country, swimming and diving, skiing, tennis, lacrosse, indoor and outdoor track and field, and crew. The 10 men’s varsity sports are basketball, football (I-AA), ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, cross country, swimming and diving, skiing, baseball, and outdoor track and field.

Teams compete in four different conferences, with 18 programs in the Atlantic 10. The men’s ice hockey competes in Hockey East, the men’s lacrosse squad is an Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference member, and the men’s and women’s ski teams are members of the U.S. College Ski Conference.

During the 2001-02 academic year, U.S. News & World Report recognized the University as one of the nation’s 20 best intercollegiate athletic programs based on gender equity, graduation rates, number of sports offered, and competitiveness. The athletics program also captured the annual Atlantic 10 Conference Commissioner’s Cup, honoring all-around athletic excellence within the league for the sixth time in eight years, and led the conference in academic all-conference selections for the seventh time in that period. At the same time that many of its studentathletes have excelled academically, varsity teams have captured three national titles, made more than a hundred postseason appearances, and won 163 conference titles.

Mullins Center

The William D. Mullins Memorial Center, located on the western edge of the campus, is a multipurpose indoor arena with a maximum seating capacity of 10,500. Opened in 1993, the Mullins Center boasts state-of-the-art sound, lighting, acoustic, and theatrical systems and serves as home of the UMass men’s and women’s basketball teams and the ice hockey team. The building can be reconfigured to host graduate commencement, concerts, theatrical performances, circuses, ice skating events, trade shows, and conferences. A separate international- size ice rink and seven racquetball courts available for public use are situated adjacent to the main arena. The facility also includes weight and training rooms and a banquet room seating 200.

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