History of the Trojans
The Troy Trojans are the sports teams of Troy University. 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.
Before becoming an NCAA Division One athletics member 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 (now the University of West Alabama), and the University of North Alabama. The rivalry between Troy and Jacksonville State was arguably the fiercest of those. However, this once-heated rivalry has cooled significantly since Troy University moved to Division I-A participation in football, and Troy and JSU no longer share the same conference affiliation. Troy has Sun Belt rivalries with all East Division schools (Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, and South Alabama). Currently, the Trojans' most prominent rival in all sports is their main Sun Belt rival, South Alabama.
College Sports Established
1887
Location
Troy, Alabama
College Name
Troy University
Collegiate History
1993 - Present / NCAA Division I
Conference History
2005 - Present / Sun Belt Conference
1997 - 2005 / ASUN Conference
Nickname
Trojans - The Troy athletic teams have had a variety of nicknames throughout the years, from Bulldogs to Teachers to Red Wave. As the football team began competition in the 1910s, the was called Bulldogs or Teachers (since the school began as teacher’s college). In 1922, the group was called Trojans for the first time. That lasted until Albert Elmore’s arrival on campus 1931. A graduate of the University of Alabama, Elmore changed the nickname to Red Wave, a variation of Crimson Tide. The Red Wave moniker stuck until 1973, when the student body was charged again with voting for its new team nickname. The first game of the season in 1973 on the road against Northeast Louisiana (now Louisiana-Monroe), the squad departed Troy without a nickname. However, the students voted on the nickname that Saturday morning. The winner? Trojans. The current nickname won the election by a two-to-one margin with the ballots being tallied just hours before kickoff. With the new nickname, the Trojans battled Northeast Louisiana to a 15-15 tie.
NCAA Championships
Baseball 0
Men's Basketball 0
Women's Basketball 0
Football 0
Soccer 0
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