Athletic director Candy Young Varsity teams 16 | ||
Conference Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (most sports)Independent (women's soccer)National Collegiate Equestrian Association (women's equestrian)Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference | ||
The Delaware State Hornets are the sixteen sports teams representing Delaware State University in Dover, Delaware in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's basketball, cross country, tennis, and track and field; women's-only bowling, softball, and volleyball; and men's-only baseball. The Hornets complete in the NCAA Division I; they have been members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference since 1970. While most teams play in the MEAC, the women's soccer team competes as an independent, and the women's equestrian team plays in the National Collegiate Equestrian Association.
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The university's Department of Intramural Sports provides a wide variety of quality recreational programs for students, faculty and staff.
Teams
A member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), Delaware State sponsors teams in six men's and twelve women's NCAA sanctioned sports.
Football
The football team won the 2007 MEAC football championship with a win over Norfolk State University with a score of 28 to 21 in overtime giving them an automatic bid into the NCAA Division I FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) playoffs. During that tournament the Hornets lost to the University of Delaware with a score of 44–7 in the first round, the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
DSU and UD now compete for the First State Cup as part of the Route 1 Rivalry games during the regular season. The Hornets also lost the games played in 2009 and 2011.
Basketball
The university has both men's and women's basketball teams.
Its men's basketball team won the 2005 MEAC championship and earned a berth in the 2005 NCAA tournament. Playing as a sixteen-seed, the Hornets lost 57–46 in the opening round to one-seed Duke University. The Hornets also have made back to back National Invitation Tournament appearances in 2006 and 2007.
The women's basketball team won the 2006 MEAC championship and earned a berth in the 2006 NCAA tournament. Playing as a fifteen-seed, the Lady Hornets kept the game close down by only three until nine minutes remained in the game, but lost 62–47 in the opening round to two-seed Vanderbilt University.