Central Michigan Chippewas

Infobox college athletics
name = Central Michigan Chippewas

university = Central Michigan University
conference = Mid-American Conference
division = Division I
director = Dave Heeke
city = Mount Pleasant
state = Michigan
stateabb = MI
teams = 16
stadium = Kelly/Shorts Stadium
fightsong = The Fighting Chippewa
arena = Daniel P. Rose Center
mascot = "none"
nickname = Chippewas
color1 = Maroon
color2 = Gold
hex1 = 660033
hex2 = FFCC00
pageurl = http://www.cmuchippewas.com
pagename = cmuchippewas.com

The Central Michigan Chippewas are the sixteen men's and women's athletics teams of Central Michigan University. CMU was a member of the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1950-1970. The school's athletics programs are affiliated with the NCAA and compete in the Mid-American Conference. The school colors are maroon and gold, and the school, and its students and alumni are referred to as "Chippewas" which is sometimes shortened to "Chips". This nickname is used with consent of the nearby Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, who have a positive relationship with the university. The university was placed on the NCAA's list of schools with "hostile or abusive" nicknames in August 2005, but appealed the decision, with the support of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. On September 2, 2005 the university announced that their appeal of the decision had been upheld.

History

The school athletics logo has changed over time, once featuring an Indian spear, but is now a stylized block letter "C". Within the university this logo is often referred to as the "flying C" or the "running C" (and derisively as the "flaming C"), although it is actually called the "action C". The current version of the athletic trademark was first used in 1997. The "flying C" logo was designed by an IET Department undergraduate student in 1995.

CMU's football team won the second NCAA Division II national championship in 1974 by defeating the University of Delaware 54 to 14. The team was voted national champion in the Associated Press College Division poll. The Chips have also been national runner-up twice. In 1958 the men's swimming and diving team was runner-up to North Central College at the second annual NAIA national meet, which was held in Muncie, Ind. Central's baseball team was NCAA Division II runner-up in 1971, having lost to Florida Southern College 4 to 0 in the championship game. In 2006, they won the MAC Championship in football against Ohio and then defeated Middle Tennessee State in the Motor City Bowl. In 2007, the team defended their MAC Championship title in the game against Miami University, and barely lost to Purdue in the Motor City Bowl.

ee also

*Central Michigan Chippewas men's basketball
*Central Michigan Chippewas football