History of the Roadrunners
The UTSA Roadrunners is a collegiate athletic program representing the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). The UTSA Roadrunners are also commonly referred to as "UTSA," "Roadrunners," "Runners," “The Meep Meeps,” or simply “The Birds,” and are represented by the mascot Rowdy. The origin of Rowdy dates back to 1977 when the Roadrunner was chosen as the university's mascot by student election. The Roadrunners compete in the NCAA Division I Conference in the USA in 17 varsity sports. UTSA is San Antonio's only institution that competes in Division I FBS. UTSA joined the Western Athletic Conference on July 1, 2012. In April 2012, it was announced that UTSA would join Conference USA on July 1, 2013. Eight years later, on October 21, 2021, it was announced that UTSA would join the American Athletic Conference. The UTSA Cheer team has garnered two National Cheerleading Associations’ (NCA) collegiate national championships, first in 2012 and again in 2021. The cheer team also secured a pair of top 5 finishes in 2019.
College Sports Established
1969
Location
San Antonio, Texas
College Name
University of Texas at San Antonio
Collegiate History
1973 - Present / NCAA Division 1
1969 - 1973 / University Division of the NCAA
Conference History
2023 - / American Athletic Conference
2013 - 2023 / Conference USA
2012 / Western Athletic Conference
2011 / Independent
1992 - 2011 / Southland Conference
1986 - 1991 / Trans America Athletic Conference
1982 - 1986 / Independent
Nickname
Roadrunners - The origin of Rowdy dates back to 1977, when the Student Representative Assembly (the forerunner to the modern Student Government Association) was openly debating the university's mascot. An original vote, which favored "The Armadillos" and "The Stars" was declared null and void by the SRA, making way for a second campus-wide poll. The second election was hotly contested between "The Roadrunners" and "The Armadillos"—with vigorous support on either side. after the final vote, the roadrunner was announced as the official mascot of UTSA at a bonfire celebration later that year.
The older version of Rowdy.
On March 1, 2008, UTSA unveiled the new Rowdy and UTSA logos at the homecoming men's basketball game vs. Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. Many students and administrators at UTSA thought the previous Rowdy bore too much resemblance to the Kansas Jayhawk.
NCAA Championships
Baseball 0
Men's Basketball 0
Women's Basketball 0
Football 0
Soccer 0
To qualify as the greatest player for this team, the player must have played one season for this team. If not, we will remove the player.
* verifies that player has played for this team as an added player by a fan.
