Troy Trojans
The Troy Trojans are the sports teams of Troy University. Troy State Normal School began its sports program in 1909, when it fielded its first football team. Through the early years, Troy's athletics nicknames were not official and varied by the sport and the coach. Eventually, teams all began to use the name "Troy State Teachers", but when the athletic teams moved into NAIA competition, the nickname was then changed to the "Red Wave".
In the early 1970s, the student body voted to change the name to Trojans after many felt that Red Wave was too similar to the University of Alabama's nickname, the Crimson Tide. Prior to becoming a member of NCAA Division I athletics in 1993, Troy University was a member of the Gulf South Conference of the NCAA Division II ranks. Troy's primary rivals were Jacksonville State University, Livingston University, and the University of North Alabama. In 2004, Troy joined the Sun Belt Conference of the Football Bowl Subdivision.
They began playing in the NCAA's Division I-A in 2001, became a football only member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2004, and joined that conference for all other sports in 2005. Troy University's athletics nickname was the Red Wave until the early 1970s when the student body voted to change the name to Trojans.
Prior to becoming a member of NCAA Division One athletics in 1993, Troy University was a member of the Gulf South Conference of the NCAA Division II ranks. At the time, Troy's primary rivals were Jacksonville State University, Livingston University, and the University of North Alabama. The rivalry between Troy and Jacksonville State was arguably the fiercest of those. However, since Troy University moved to Division I-A participation in football and because Troy and JSU no longer share the same conference affiliation, this once heated rivalry has cooled significantly. Troy has Sun Belt rivalries with all East Division schools. Currently, the Trojans' most prominent rival in all sports is their main Sun Belt rival, South Alabama.
Sports sponsored
A member of the Sun Belt Conference, Troy sponsors teams in eight men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports.Men
Baseball
The Troy University baseball team won two Division II national championships in 1986 and 1987 under the leadership of baseball coach, Chase Riddle. One of Troy's most significant victories in baseball came in April 1998 when the Trojans knocked off the #3 nationally ranked Alabama Crimson Tide by a score of 8-4 at Riddle-Pace Field on the Troy campus.In 2006, Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year Bobby Pierce led the Trojans to a regular season conference title, conference tournament title, and an NCAA Regional appearance with an overall record of 47-16. The Men of Troy were the 2-seed in the Tuscaloosa Regional in 2006, defeating the Southern Miss Golden Eagles twice, but were eliminated by the Alabama Crimson Tide in the championship game. Following the season, Jared Keel, Mike Felix, and Tom King were selected in the MLB draft. Troy's highest rank of the season was #29 by the NCBWA.
In 2007 the Trojans went 34-27, finishing in a tie for second in the Sun Belt Conference, and were selected as a number three seed in the Oxford Regional hosted by Ole Miss. The Trojans were defeated by Southern Miss and Sam Houston State in consecutive games and eliminated from the regional.
In 2011, the Trojans struck again by winning the Sun Belt regular season title and earning a bid to the Nashville Regional as a 3-seed. The Trojans defeated 2-seed Oklahoma State in the first round, but fell to 1-seed Vanderbilt and Belmont consecutively. The Trojans ended the 2011 season with a 42-17 record. Troy's highest rank of the season was #18 in the Baseball America poll. Troy had also reached a ranking of #25 in the USA Today coaches poll and #22 in the College Baseball News poll.
Troy once again won a regular season title in 2013, this time in a thrilling fashion. The Trojans played #18 South Alabama during the last series of the regular season. After losing the first game of the series, the Trojans went on to win the next two games and clinch a share of the Sun Belt title. They finished the regular season with a 39-16 record. Troy finished the 2013 regular season ranked #21 in the College Baseball News poll.
Basketball
The Troy University men's basketball team was under the direction of head coach Don Maestri for 31 years until his retirement in 2013. Coach Maestri is the winningest coach in school history, with exactly 500 career wins, and he has won numerous conference coach-of-the-year awards during his tenure at Troy University. The program has won 11 conference championships in basketball, with six of them coming in the Division I era. On January 12, 1992, Troy defeated DeVry University of Atlanta by the score of 258–141. This is the highest-scoring game in NCAA basketball history and Troy State's score of 258 is the highest score in NCAA basketball history. The Trojans competed in the 2003 NCAA Tournament in Nashville against Xavier University after winning the Atlantic Sun Conference title.The Troy University men's basketball team is currently under the direction of head coach Scott Cross. Don Maestri is currently the winningest coach in Troy University history.
The Trojans' last NCAA Tournament appearance was in the 2003 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament as a 14 seed after winning the 2003 Atlantic Sun Conference tournament. The Trojans faced 3-seed Xavier in the first round, but the Trojans lost 71–59. They finished the 2003 season with a 26-6 overall record. In their most recent post-season appearance in 2010, the Trojans won the Sun Belt Conference regular-season title but lost in the conference tournament final. Because of this, Troy made its way back to the NIT for the second time since 2004, falling to Ole Miss in the first round. In 2004, Troy was an NIT participant in a match-up against Niagara University. In 2008, coach Maestri was inducted into the Wiregrass Sports Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Dothan, Alabama. In 2009, the Trojans finished 3rd place in the Sun Belt Conference and competed in the CBI against College of Charleston. After winning the Sun Belt regular-season title in 2010, the Trojans would be invited to play in the NIT once again against Ole Miss. Maestri is a member of the Troy University Sports Hall of Fame.
The Trojan basketball team is recognized in recent Division I Basketball history for leading the nation in three-pointers from 2004 to 2006, making 1068 three-pointers over the course of 89 games during those three seasons. Troy's biggest claim to fame, however, is their game against DeVry Institute of Atlanta on January 12, 1992 when the Trojans came out victorious by the NCAA-record score of 258–141. This is currently the highest scoring game in NCAA basketball history.
Football
Troy University has fielded a football team continuously since 1946. Troy has won national championships at the NAIA level in 1968 and at the NCAA Division II level in 1984 and 1987.Troy University football began playing in the NCAA's Division I-A in 2001, became a football-only member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2004, and joined that conference for all other sports in 2005. In 2001, Troy defeated Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi to notch the Trojans' first victory over a BCS level program. On September 9, 2004, the Trojans garnered the program's first win over a ranked opponent when they defeated then #17 ranked Missouri, 24-14, upsetting former Heisman-hopeful Brad Smith's Heisman Trophy chances. Three years later in 2007, the Trojans routed Oklahoma State at home by a score of 41-23. The Trojan football team made its first bowl game appearance in the Silicon Valley Football Classic against Northern Illinois University on December 30, 2004, but lost. The Trojans won their first bowl game on December 20, 2006 at the New Orleans Bowl against Rice University by a score of 41-17. The football program won five straight Sun Belt titles from 2006 to 2010, finishing their run in 2010 with a New Orleans Bowl win over Ohio by a score of 48-21. At the end of the 2014 season, longtime head coach Larry Blakeney retired from coaching. He finished his career at Troy with a 178-113-1 record, 8 conference championships, and 5 bowl appearances. He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.
Neal Brown was hired as head coach following Blakeney's retirement. After starting his first season ever as a head coach in 2015, going 4-8, he led a monumental turnaround for the football program in the 2016 season, as the Trojan finished 10-3, including a 28-23 win over Ohio in the Dollar General Bowl. During that season, Troy cracked the AP Top 25 for the first time since the program joined the FBS in 2001. Troy was also the first football program in the Sun Belt Conference to ever receive a Top 25 ranking.
Chip Lindsey was hired after Neal Brown accepted the head coaching position at West Virginia in 2019. Lindsey had an overall record of 15-19 while at Troy. He was fired November 21, 2021 with one game left in the season. Defensive coordinator Brandon Hall served as interim head coach until Jon Sumrall was hired December 2, 2021.
Sumrall previously served as assistant head coach under Neal Brown from 2015-2017. During his first season as head coach Sumrall lead the Trojans 12-2. The Trojans hosted Coastal Carolina for the Sunbelt Conference Championship December 3, 2022 where the Trojans took home a 45-26 victory. Following the championship victory, Troy was ranked No. 24 in the CFP Rankings. This was the first time the Trojans had been ranked by the CFP Committee in program history. Troy also earned a No. 23 ranking in the AP Top 25 and was also ranked No. 24 in the Coaches Poll. On December 16, 2022 Troy defeated UTSA in the Cure Bowl. The Trojans ended the 2022 season with an 11 game win streak.
The Trojans football team has won three national titles: 1968, 1984, and 1987.