Nebraska Cornhuskers School History

History of the Huskers

The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Division I, fielding twenty-two varsity teams (nine men's, thirteen women's) in fifteen sports. Nineteen of these teams participate in the Big Ten, while the rifle is a member of the single-sport Patriot Rifle Conference, and beach volleyball and bowling compete as independents. The Cornhuskers have two official mascots, Herbie Husker and Lil' Red.

Early nicknames for the university's athletic teams included the Antelopes (later adopted by the University of Nebraska at Kearney), the Old Gold Knights, the Bugeaters, and the Mankilling Mastodons. Cornhuskers first appeared in a school newspaper headline ("We Have Met The Cornhuskers And They Are Ours"), after a 20–18 upset victory over Iowa in 1893. In this instance, Cornhuskers was used to referring to Iowa. The term was first applied to Nebraska in 1899 by Nebraska State Journal writer Cy Sherman, who would later help originate the AP Poll. The next year, the nickname was officially adopted by the school.

For nearly one hundred years, the Cornhuskers participated in the Big Eight Conference (previously known as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the Big Six, and the Big Seven), and later for fifteen years in the Big 12 Conference, which was formed when the Big Eight merged with four members of the defunct Southwest Conference. Nebraska joined the Big Ten in 2011.

Nebraska's athletic programs have won twenty-nine national championships: eight in men's gymnastics and bowling, five in football and volleyball, and three in women's track and field.

College Sports Established
1907

Location
Lincoln, Nebraska

College Name
University of Nebraska

Collegiate History
1973 - Present / NCAA Division 1
1921 - 1973 / University Division of the NCAA
1907 - 1921 / Athletic Association of the United States

Conference History
2011 - Present / Big 10 Conference
1994 - 2011 / Big 12 Conference
1907 - 1918, 1921 - 1994 / Big 8 Conference

Nickname
Cornhuskers - Before 1900, Nebraska football teams were known by such names as the Old Gold Knights, Antelopes, Rattlesnake Boys and the Bugeaters. In its first two seasons (1890-91), Nebraska competed as the Old Gold Knights, but beginning in 1892, Nebraska adopted Scarlet and Cream as its colors and accepted the Bugeaters as its most popular nickname until the turn of the century. Named after the insect-devouring bull bats that hovered over the plains, the Bugeaters also found their prey in the Midwest, enjoying winning campaigns in every year of the 1890s until a disappointing season in 1899.

After its first losing season in a decade, it must have seemed only fitting that Nebraska move in a new direction, and Lincoln sportswriter Charles S. (Cy) Sherman, who was to gain national renown as the sports editor of the Lincoln Star and help originate The Associated Press Poll, provided the nickname that has gained fame for a century. Sherman tired of referring to the Nebraska teams with such an unglamorous term as Bugeaters. Iowa had, from time to time, been called the Cornhuskers, and the name appealed to Sherman.

Iowa partisans seemed to prefer Hawkeyes, so Sherman started referring to the Nebraska team as Cornhuskers, and the 1900 team was first to bear that label.

NCAA Championships
Baseball 0

Men's Basketball 0

Women's Basketball 0

Football 5
1997, 1995, 1994, 1971, 1970

Soccer 0