Omaha Mavericks

The Omaha Mavericks are the sports teams of the University of Nebraska Omaha. They participate in the NCAA's Division I and in The Summit League, except in ice hockey, where they compete in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC).

Omaha Mavericks
UniversityUniversity of Nebraska Omaha
ConferenceSummit League
NCAADivision I
Athletic directorTrev Alberts
LocationOmaha, Nebraska
Varsity teams16
Basketball arenaBaxter Arena
Ice hockey arenaBaxter Arena
Baseball stadiumJ. J. Isaacson Field at Seymour Smith Park
Soccer stadiumAl F. Caniglia Field
Other arenasSapp Fieldhouse
School of Health & Kinesiology
MascotDurango
NicknameMavericks
Fight songUNO Fite
ColorsCrimson and Black[1]
         
Websiteomavs.com

History

A long-time member of the North Central Conference, UNO joined the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association on July 1, 2008 after the NCC ceased operations. In March 2011, the school announced its intentions to move from Division II to Division I and join The Summit League. In the process it would abandon its football and wrestling programs to better fit with the sports sponsored by The Summit League and to maintain Title IX compliance. Wrestling had been the school's most successful sport with national championships in 1991, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2011.[2] Football also had a long, successful history with multiple conference championships (1983–1984, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2004–2007) and several NCAA Division II tournament appearances. Marlin Briscoe, first black starting quarterback in modern American professional football (the American Football League), attended and played for UNO from 1964–1967. Former Maverick football players currently playing in the NFL include names such as Zach Miller, Kenny Onatolu and Greg Zuerlein.[3] As part of its Division I move, Omaha added men's soccer (becoming the only school in the University of Nebraska system to sponsor the sport for men) and men's golf, both of which are sponsored by The Summit League. Hockey moved to the new NCHC starting with the 2013-14 season.

In the 1975 AIAW Women's College World Series, the Maverettes (as they were then known) softball team defeated Northern Iowa, 6–4, in the deciding game, led by pitcher Pat Linson to earn the university's first team national championship.[4] In 1969–1979, the team played in ten of the first eleven Women's College World Series ever held, missing only in 1974.

The women's soccer (2005) and softball (2001) teams have won NCAA's Division II national championships, as had the wrestling team, who were seven-time national champions (1991, 2004–2006 and 2009–2011).

Men's sports Women's sports
BaseballBasketball
BasketballCross country
GolfGolf
Ice hockeySoccer
SoccerSoftball
TennisSwimming & diving
Track & field†
Volleyball
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor
Summit League logo in Omaha's colors

Ice hockey

The men's ice hockey program competes at the Division I level in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC), which began play in the 2013–14 season following a major conference realignment in that sport. Before the formation of the NCHC, Omaha had been a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The men's ice hockey program reached the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament in 2006, 2011, and 2015. During the 2015 tournament, the Mavericks made it to the 2015 Frozen Four, their first in school history. The Mavericks are currently coached by Mike Gabinet. Gabinet is the third coach in program history, following Mike Kemp and Dean Blais. The team moved into the new on-campus Baxter Arena for the 2015–16 season.

Men's basketball

The Omaha men's basketball team is led by head coach Derrin Hansen, and also moved into Baxter Arena starting in 2015–16. They transitioned from Division II to Division I beginning in the 2011–12 season. The 2015–16 season is the first in which they are eligible for NCAA-sponsored postseason play (either the NCAA Tournament or the NIT). The Mavericks' all-time record is 1,087–1,083. Omaha won regular season North Central Conference championships in 1979, 1984, 2004, and 2005.

Wrestling

Wrestling has also been a top sport for the Mavericks, winning the Division II championships in 1991, 2004–2006 and 2009–2011.[5] However, in 2011 Trev Alberts made the decision to disband the wrestling team only a few hours after it had won its third consecutive NCAA team title in order for Omaha to transition to NCAA Division I.[6] Head coach Mike Denney and a number of his wrestlers later transferred to Maryville University to start a Division II team.

Championships

Conference champions

Baseball – 1979, 1981, 2005, 2008*, 20131, 20141, 2019
Basketball, Men's – 1979, 1984, 2004, 2005, 2008*, 2010
Basketball, Women's – 1980, 1982, 1982
Football – 19832, 19842, 1996, 19983, 2000, 2004, 20054, 20065 2007*
Golf – 2002, 2003, 2006
Soccer, Men's – 2017
Soccer, Women's – 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006
Softball – 1981, 1985, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2008*, 2011
Swimming and Diving – 2005, 2008*
Tennis – 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008*
Track – 1979 (outdoor), 1981 (indoor)
Volleyball – 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 19966, 19976, 20007

* Final NCC Champions (only 7 competing teams in NCC in 2008)
1Regular-season champion; not eligible for The Summit League tournament because of Division I transition
2Co-champion with North Dakota State
3Co-champion with Northern Colorado
44-way Co-champions with Minnesota-Duluth, North Dakota and South Dakota
5Co-champion with North Dakota
6Co-champion with Augustana
73-way Co-champion with Augustana and South Dakota State

NCAA champions
  • Softball – 1975∗, 2001
  • Women's Soccer – 2005
  • Volleyball – 1996
  • Wrestling – 1991, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011

∗ Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women Women's College World Series

Previous mascots and team names

Before 1939, UNO teams were known as the Cardinals.[7] From 1939 to 1971, the UNO teams were the Indians; the mascot at this time was a Native American named Ouampi. In The Native Peoples of North America: A History, the mascot is described as "so tacky by comparison that he made the Cleveland Indians' Chief Wahoo look like a real gentleman."[8] The switch to "Mavericks", the current team name, occurred in the summer of 1971. A resolution, passed by an 18–7 vote of the student senate, a 27–0 vote of the university senate, and approved by the university president, called for UNO to "discontinue use of the name 'Indian' for its athletic teams, abolish "Ouampi" as a school mascot and end the misuse of the Native American culture at university activities, such as homecoming and Ma-ie Day.

References
  1. "Color Palette". Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  2. "Americanchronicle.com". Americanchronicle.com. Retrieved 2015-05-13.
  3. "History of UNO Football" (PDF). Omavs.com. Retrieved 2015-05-13.
  4. Plummer, William; Floyd, Larry C. (2013). A Series Of Their Own: History Of The Women's College World Series. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States: Turnkey Communications Inc. pp. 29–32. ISBN 978-0-9893007-0-4.
  5. White, Rob (March 13, 2010). "Mavericks lock down second straight title". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
  6. "Nebraska-Omaha to make jump to D-I". ESPN. March 13, 2011. Retrieved April 24, 2011.
  7. "UNO Alumni Association". Unoalumni.org. 1949-05-13. Retrieved 2015-05-13.
  8. Johansen, Bruce E. (2006). The Native Peoples of North America: A History, Volume 1. Rutgers University Press. p. 428.
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