Nebraska Cornhuskers

Nebraska Cornhuskers
University	University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Conference	Big Ten (primary) Patriot Rifle (rifle)
NCAA	Division I (FBS)
Athletic director	Troy Dannen
Location	Lincoln, Nebraska
Varsity teams	24 (10 men's, 14 women's)
Football stadium	Memorial Stadium
Basketball arena	Pinnacle Bank Arena
Baseball stadium	Hawks Field
Softball stadium	Bowlin Stadium
Soccer stadium	Hibner Stadium
Lacrosse stadium	Cook Pavilion
Other venues	Devaney Center Dillon Tennis Center East Campus Bowling Lanes Hawks Championship Center Nebraska Rifle Range Wilderness Ridge Golf Club
Mascot	Herbie Husker Lil' Red
Nickname	Cornhuskers Big Red
Fight song	Hail Varsity
Colors	Scarlet and cream[1]
Website	huskers.com
Team NCAA championships
21
Individual and relay NCAA champions
136[2]

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 competes in NCAA Division I, fielding twenty-four varsity teams (ten men's, fourteen women's) in fifteen sports. Nineteen of these teams participate in the Big Ten, while 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 Antelopes (later adopted by the University of Nebraska at Kearney), Old Gold Knights, and Bugeaters.^[3] Cornhuskers first appeared in a school newspaper headline ("We Have Met The Cornhuskers And They Are Ours") after an 1893 victory over Iowa, though in this instance the term referred to Iowa.^[4][5][6] It was first applied to Nebraska in 1899 by Nebraska State Journal writer Cy Sherman and was officially adopted by the school the following year – and later by the state of Nebraska itself, which became "The Cornhusker State" in 1945.^[7][8][9]

Nebraska was a founding member of the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1907 (later known as the Big Six, Big Seven, and Big Eight Conference) and competed in it for the next eighty-nine years, with a brief hiatus during World War I. In 1996, NU and the seven other members of the Big Eight merged with four Texas schools from the Southwest Conference to form the Big 12 Conference. Nebraska joined the Big Ten in 2011.

Nebraska's athletic programs have won thirty-two national championships: eleven in bowling, eight in men's gymnastics, five each in football and volleyball, and three in women's track and field.^[10] Twenty-one of these were bestowed as NCAA championships.