The Milwaukee Panthers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level, competing in the Horizon League for all sports since the 1994–95 season. A total of 13 Panthers athletic teams compete in NCAA Division I. The Panthers have won the James J. McCafferty Trophy as the Horizon League's all-sports champions seven times since 2000.
History
Milwaukee's athletic teams are nicknamed the Panthers, having previously been the Green Gulls (1927–1956) and Cardinals (1956–1964), adopting the Panthers nickname in 1964.[2] Before 1990, the university's athletics program spent the majority of its history at the NCAA Division III and II levels, as well as several years at the NAIA level. All non-Division I sports moved to the NCAA Division I level for the 1990–91 academic year.
The Panthers are the only Division I college baseball team in the state of Wisconsin. They have also qualified for four NCAA tournaments since 1999, most notably recording an 8–4 win over regional host Rice in the first round of the 1999 NCAA tournament. They also appeared in the 2001, 2002, and 2010 tournaments.
The Panthers men's basketball team has had several high-profile head coaches, including Bo Ryan (1999–2001), who was a national runner-up in 2014 as the head coach at Wisconsin, and Bruce Pearl (2001–2005), who made the 2019 Final Four as head coach at Auburn.
As a Division I program, Milwaukee has made four NCAA tournaments since 2003, most notably, the 2005 tournament. As the twelfth seed in the Midwest regional, the Panthers upset fifth-seeded Alabama in the first round and fourth-seeded Boston College in the second round to reach the Sweet Sixteen. The Panthers would go on to lose in that round to the top-seeded eventual tournament runner-up Illinois.
The Panthers have had five players selected in the NBA draft. The highest selection is Patrick Baldwin Jr., who was selected with the 28th pick in the first round by the Golden State Warriors in 2022.
Milwaukee men's soccer team in action against Marquette
The Milwaukee men's soccer team has made six NCAA tournaments since 2002, including four straight where they advanced to the second round. In the 2004 and 2005 tournaments, the Panthers lost to the top team in the country in the second round: 2004 against UC Santa Barbara in double-overtime and 2005 against New Mexico on penalty kicks.
Panthers men's soccer holds the attendance record for Engelmann Stadium, which was set during a match against cross-town rival Marquette on September 3, 2015, with a crowd of 4,030.[4]
Women's soccer
Milwaukee women's soccer team before game against Marquette
Milwaukee's women's soccer team has won the Horizon League tournament and 12 times since 1997 and has made the NCAA tournament 16 times since then, including six straight from 2008 to 2013. The Panthers have also made every NCAA tournament since 2018, winning two tournament matches in that span.
Milwaukee's highest end-of-season ranking is 23, which they achieved in 2011 following a Horizon League Championship and a win in the NCAA tournament at home against Illinois State.
Women's volleyball
Milwaukee women's volleyball team in 2023
The women's volleyball team at Milwaukee has also enjoyed national success in recent years, qualifying for six of the last nine NCAA Tournaments and compiling an all-time record of 867–477–7 through the end of the 2006 season.
Milwaukee's now-defunct football program competed at the NCAA College Division (now NCAA Division II) level; due to lack of funds and a long string of losing seasons, they dropped the sport after the 1974 season.
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