FIU Golden Panthers

Infobox college athletics
name = FIU Golden Panthers

university = Florida International University
conference = Sun Belt Conference
division = Division I
director = Pete Garcia
city = Miami
state = Florida
stateabb = FL
teams = 17
stadium = FIU Stadium
arena = FIU Arena
mascot = Roary the Panther
nickname = Golden Panthers
fightsong = FIU Fight Song
color1 = Blue
color2 = Gold
hex1 = 191970
hex2 = DAA520
pageurl = http://www.FIUsports.com/
pagename = www.FIUsports.com

The FIU Golden Panthers is the name of the athletic teams of Florida International University, a public university located in Miami, Florida. The Golden Panthers compete in NCAA Division I athletics, and in the Sun Belt Conference. FIU fields 16 teams in 13 sports:

Men's sports
*Baseball
*Basketball
*Cross Country
*Football
*Soccer
*Track and Field

Women's sports
*Basketball
*Cheer and Dance
*Cross Country
*Golf
*Soccer
*Softball
*Swimming and Diving
*Tennis
*Track and Field
*Volleyball

Athletic Department History & Information

FIU’s colors are dark blue and gold, and their mascot is the Golden Panther, which is embodied by an anthromorphic panther named Roary the Panther. Initially, the school's original nickname was the "Sunblazers", but it was changed in 1987 to the current.

FIU is a member of the NCAA, participating in Division I, and the Sun Belt Conference in all sports except for men's soccer (which competes in Conference USA as an affiliate member). FIU joined the Sun Belt Conference in 1998 having previously competed in the Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC), from 1991 to 1998.

FIU's Athletic Department has produced several professional and Olympic athletes, including current players in Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, the National Basketball Association, the National Football League, and in the Women's National Basketball Association.

FIU’s main rivals are the University of Miami Hurricanes and the Florida Atlantic University Owls.Fact|date=June 2008

ports

Baseball

FIU’s baseball team began play in 1973 as a Division II member, and is one of the most successful programs in the school’s history. This can be attributed to the team reaching the post-season 13 times in school history, including eight as a Division I program, and five as a Division II program including a Division II College World Series appearance.

Many players from past years have been drafted by Major League Baseball teams and have played in Major League games. FIU’s most notable baseball alumni is Mike Lowell, the current third baseman with the Boston Red Sox and 2007 World Series MVP .

Team Honors:

"Trans America Athletic Conference Tournament Champions (1):" 1998

"Sun Belt Conference Tournament Champions (1):" 1999

"NCAA Division II Regional Appearances (5):" 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982

"NCAA Division II College World Series (1):" 1980

"NCAA Division I Regional Appearances (8):" 1991, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002

"NCAA Division I Super Regional Appearances (1):" 2001

Men's Basketball

The current head coach of the FIU men's basketball team is Sergio Rouco, who has been at the helm since the 2004-2005 season.

FIU men's basketball team had its lone NCAA Tournament appearance in the 1995 tournament under then Head Coach Bob Weltlich. FIU won the TAAC Basketball Tournament and in doing so earned an automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament. FIU was seeded #16 and played the #1 seeded UCLA Bruins in the first round of the West Regional, which was played at the Taco Bell Arena in Boise, ID. The Panthers lost the game to the Bruins by the score of 92-56, being the first tournament win in UCLA's successful run the National Championship that year.

FIU alumni who have played in the National Basketball Association include Carlos Arroyo, formerly of the Orlando Magic, and Raja Bell of the Phoenix Suns.

The "Sunblazers" men’s basketball team was also featured in a second season episode of Miami Vice entitled "The Fix".

Team Honors:

"Trans America Athletic Conference Regular Season Champions (1):" 1992-93

"Trans America Athletic Conference Tournament Champions (1):" 1995

"NCAA Tournament Appearances (1):" 1995

Football

The FIU Golden Panthers football team competes in the NCAA FBS Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly known as Division 1-A), the highest level in intercolligiate football and is a member of the Sun Belt Conference. They are led by head coach Mario Cristobal and play at FIU Stadium on FIU's University Park campus. The team began playing in 2002 as a member of NCAA Division 1-AA, now known as NCAA FCS Football Championship Subdivision. Three years later, the FIU Athletics Department decided to move the progam up to Division 1-A. FIU became the fastest school to make such a move from a program's inception. Though it has a young program the university has already been able to develop NFL caliber players.

On August 29, 2002, the program played its first game at home against Saint Peter's College in front of a sold out crowd of 17,314. FIU defeated St. Peters's by the score of 27-3.

The FIU football team's main rival are the Florida Atlantic Owls. Both teams play annually in a game known as the Shula Bowl. The game is named after former Miami Dolphins Head Coach Don Shula.

Men's Soccer

FIU has won two NCAA Division II national championships in men's soccer. In 1982, FIU beat Southern Connecticut State by the score of 2-1, to win the school's first national title in any sport. Two years later the Panthers won their second national title beating Seattle Pacific University 1-0. To date these are the only national titles the university has achieved in athletic competition.

The men's soccer team competes as an affiliate member of Conference USA, and is the only FIU team to do so. This relationship began in 2005 and was formed since the Sun Belt Conference does not sponsor men's soccer. The team previously played in the Atlantic Soccer Conference from 2000 to 2004 and the Trans America Athletic Conference from 1991 to 1999.

FIU has regularly qualified for the NCAA Tournament in men's soccer, both as Division I and Division II program. In addition to the national championships achieved by the team as a Division II program, the team reached the Division I championship game in 1996, losing to St. John's University 4-1.

Recently, two new soccer fields were finished in the Summer of 2007 on the northwest side of campus. These fields will compliment the other two, making four soccer fields for use by both the men and women's soccer teams, as well as practice fields for the Golden Panthers football team.

Team Honors:

"Division II National Champions (2):" 1982, 1984

"Division II National Runner-Up (2):" 1980, 1985

"Division I National Runner-Up (1):" 1996

"Trans America Athletic Conference Champions (1):" 1991

"Atlantic Soccer Conference Champions (4):" 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004

"NCAA Division II Tournament Appearances (8):" 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985

"NCAA Division I Tournament Appearances (8):" 1991, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004

Facilities

FIU Stadium

FIU Arena

FIU Arena, previously known as Pharmed Arena, is a 6,000-seat multi-purpose arena which opened on February 1, 1986 and is home to the Florida International University Golden Panthers basketball and volleyball teams. It was originally named Sunblazer Arena but was renamed Golden Panther Arena when FIU's athletic teams changed their nickname from Sunblazers to Golden Panthers in 1987. It was eventually renamed on September 1, 2004 in honor of Pharmed Group after a $1 million USD donation was made to the FIU athletic department by Pharmed owners Jorge and Carlos de Cespedes, but was changed to "FIU Arena" in 2008. Other events such as MTV's Campus Invasion, music concerts, ceremonies and fairs are also held year-round at the arena.

University Park Stadium

University Park Stadium is a baseball stadium located on the University Park campus of Florida International University in Miami, Florida. It is used as the home venue of the university's baseball team. The facility opened on January 26, 1996 with an FIU victory against Bethune-Cookman, 1-0. The team spent the 2000 season at the Homestead Sports Complex in Homestead, Florida while the facility underwent an expansion.

In 2005, the facility also hosted the Sun Belt Conference Baseball Tournament.

Traditions

Fight Song

The FIU Fight Song is sung at sports games and official ceremonies. It was changed in both lyrics and music in 2006.

Old Lyrics

From the green fields of Tamiami
To the north shore of Biscayne Bay
Here's the place where we can gather,
Where Golden Panthers hunt their prey
Anyone who tries to defeat us
Better think twice and stand aside,
Bring them here with their fear to Miami
And when they come we'll show our Panther Pride
Golden Panthers, see the paw,
We will fight, you'll feel the claw!
Let's go Panthers, Gold and Blue,
Fight For FIU!

New Lyrics

We are the panthers of FIU
the golden panthers of FIU
We will continue to fight
with all of our might
for victory for gold and blue
we stand together and proudly say
our golden panthers go all the way
We'll always strive for victory
blue-blooded through and through
'cause we're F-I-U

Go F
Go I
Go U
Go F-I-U
Panthers fight!
Panthers fight!
Panthers fight!
(repeat)

External links

* [http://www.fiu.edu/ Official FIU website]
* [http://www.fiusports.com/ Official FIU Athletics site]
* [http://floridainternational.scout.com/ FIU Insider]