North Carolina Tar Heels
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| North Carolina Tar Heels | |
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| University | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
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| Conference | ACC (Coastal Division) |
| NCAA | Division I FBS |
| Athletics director | Dick Baddour |
| Location | Chapel Hill, NC |
| Varsity teams | 28 |
| Football stadium | Kenan Memorial Stadium |
| Basketball arena | Dean E. Smith Center |
| Baseball stadium | USA Baseball National Training Complex |
| Other arenas | Carmichael Auditorium |
| Mascot | Rameses |
| Nickname | Tar Heels |
| Fight song | I'm a Tar Heel Born |
| Colors | Carolina Blue and White
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| Homepage | tarheelblue.com |
The North Carolina Tar Heels are the athletic teams for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is also often used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the Tar Heel State. Being the flagship institution of the University of North Carolina system, the campus at Chapel Hill is referred to as the University of North Carolina for the purposes of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The Tar Heels are commonly referred to as Carolina, North Carolina, or simply The Heels.
The mascot of the Tar Heels is Rameses, a Bighorn Ram. It is represented as either a live Dorset sheep with its horns painted Carolina Blue, or as a costumed character performed by a male member of the Tar Heels cheerleading team.
North Carolina has won 33 team national championships in six different sports, ninth all-time, and 51 individual national championships.
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[edit] Baseball
- See also: Boshamer Stadium and USA Baseball National Training Complex
The baseball team has had recent success, reaching the championship series of the College World Series in both 2006 and 2007, losing both times to Oregon State. They also appeared in the College World Series in 1960, 1966, 1978, and 1989.
[edit] Football
- See also: Kenan Stadium
While not having as long of a sustained successful period as the basketball program, the North Carolina football program has had periods of excellence and several great players pass through the program, including George Barclay, Dre Bly, Alge Crumpler, Greg Ellis, William Fuller, Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice, Willie Parker, Julius Peppers, Jeff Saturday, Bill Sutherland, Lawrence Taylor, and Art Weiner. The program took a step toward possible prominence by hiring former Miami Hurricanes football head coach Butch Davis for the 2007 season, making the pledge that they would fund the football program to the same extent as the dominant men's and women's basketball teams.
[edit] Men's Basketball
- See also: Dean Smith Center and Carmichael Auditorium
North Carolina has enjoyed long success as one of the top basketball programs in the country. Overall, the Tar Heels have won four NCAA championships.
The school also claims a national championship in 1924. That year, the team went 26-0 in an era with no official national championship. In the mid-1930s, the school was retroactively awarded a national championship by the Helms Athletic Foundation, an independent organization founded around that time in Los Angeles.
Under coach Frank McGuire, the team won its first NCAA championship in 1957. After McGuire left, legendary coach Dean Smith established the team as a powerhouse in college basketball. While coaching for North Carolina for over thirty years, Smith set the record for the most wins of any men's college basketball head coach, a record broken in 2007 by Bob Knight. Under Smith, the Tar Heels won two national championships and had numerous talented players come through the program. More recently, the Tar Heels won the national championship in 2005 under coach Roy Williams.
North Carolina started the 2007-08 basketball season as the consensus #1 team in the nation for the sixth time since the poll started in 1961. The team won its first 18 games before falling short in an 82-80 upset from ACC rival Maryland. Junior forward Tyler Hansbrough was voted on the preseason All-America team; only one vote shy of being unanimous. At the end of the 2007-2008 regular season, Hansbrough was voted the Sporting News National Player of the Year and the university announced that they would retire his jersey once he leaves school. The team finished the 2007-2008 regular season with a record of 32(wins)-2(Losses), which qualified them as the number one seed in the Eastern Regional 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.
[edit] Women's Soccer
[edit] Other Sports
- See also: North Carolina Tar Heels field hockey, North Carolina Tar Heels softball, and North Carolina Tar Heels women's basketball
Other national championship victories include the women's basketball team in 1994, men's lacrosse team in 1982, 1986, and 1991; the women's field hockey team in 1989, 1995, 1996, 1997, and 2007; the women's handball team in 2004; and the men's handball team in 2004, 2005, and 2006. The men's crew won the 2004 ECAC National Invitational Collegiate Regatta in the varsity eight category. In 1994, North Carolina's athletic programs won the Sears Directors Cup which is awarded for cumulative performance in NCAA competition.
[edit] National championships
North Carolina has won 35 national championships, 33 of which are from the NCAA.[1] The 33 NCAA Championships ranks ninth all time, behind only UCLA, Stanford, Southern California, Oklahoma State, Arkansas, LSU, Texas, and Penn State.
- Men's
- Women's
(*) Pre-NCAA tournament championship
(**) There was only one AIAW soccer tournament, thus making North Carolina the only women's soccer team to win an AIAW championship
[edit] Rivalries
- See also: Tobacco Road
North Carolina's most heated rivalries are with its Tobacco Road counterparts Duke, North Carolina State, and Wake Forest. In recent years, the North Carolina-Duke basketball series has attracted the most attention. The Tar Heels also have a rivalry with Virginia in college football, known as the South's Oldest Rivalry.
[edit] Notable Alumni
Notable graduates from the athletic programs include Mia Hamm, Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, Charlie Justice, Phil Ford, Kristine Lilly, Davis Love III, Andrew Miller, Cindy Parlow, Eddie Pope, Jeff Reed, B.J. Surhoff, Lawrence Taylor, Roy Williams, and James Worthy
[edit] References
- ^ How many NCAA Division I championships has your school won?. NCAA. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
- ^ Division I Men's Basketball History. NCAA. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
- ^ Division I Men's Lacrosse History. NCAA. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
- ^ Division I Men's Soccer History. NCAA. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
- ^ Division I Women's Basketball History. NCAA. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
- ^ Division I Field Hockey History. NCAA. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
- ^ Division I Women's Soccer History. NCAA. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
[edit] External links
- University of North Carolina Tar Heels Official Athletic Site
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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