The Southern Jaguars represent Southern University

Southern University

Southern University and A&M College is a historically black college located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Baton Rouge campus is located on Scott’s Bluff overlooking the Mississippi River in the northern section...

 in NCAA intercollegiate athletics.

Conference affiliation

Southern University's athletic teams participate in the Southwestern Athletic Conference

Southwestern Athletic Conference

The Southwestern Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black universities in the Southern United States...

 (SWAC) which is a part of the NCAA Division I. Football participates in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA). Southern University's colors are columbia blue

Columbia blue

Columbia blue, also known as Jordy blue, is a light blue tertiary color named after Columbia University. The typical Columbia blue is defined by Pantone Columbia Blue 3 .- Usage, symbolism, colloquial expressions :...

 and gold

Gold (color)

Gold, also called golden, is one of a variety of orange-yellow color blends used to give the impression of the color of the element gold....

 and their nickname is the Jaguar

Jaguar

The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...

.

Bayou Classic

Every Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...

 weekend, Southern plays archrival Grambling State University

Grambling State University

Grambling State University is a historically black , public, coeducational university, located in Grambling, Louisiana. The university is the home of legendary football coach Eddie Robinson and is on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.-Academics:Grambling State University provides over...

 in the Bayou Classic

Bayou Classic

The State Farm Bayou Classic is the annual college football game between the Grambling State University Tigers and the Southern University Jaguars, first held under that name in 1974 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, although the series itself actually began in 1936...

 at the Louisiana Superdome

Louisiana Superdome

The Mercedes-Benz Superdome, previously known as the Louisiana Superdome and colloquially known as the Superdome, is a sports and exhibition arena located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA...

 in New Orleans. The game is telecast on NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

. Due to Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

, the 2005 game was moved to Reliant Stadium

Reliant Stadium

Reliant Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, in Houston, Texas, USA. Reliant Stadium has a seating capacity of 71,500, a total square footage of with of natural grass playing surface....

 in Houston, Texas.

Notable alumni

Mel Blount played running back and cornerback for Southern from 1967-69 before enjoying a 14-year career as a cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

. Starring on the Steel Curtain

Steel Curtain

The Steel Curtain was the nickname given to the front four of the famous defensive line of the American football team Pittsburgh Steelers during their 1970s dynasty years. This defense was the backbone of the Steelers dynasty, which won 4 Super Bowls...

 defense, he helped the franchise win four Super Bowl

Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...

 championships in six years. Blount was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Pro Football Hall of Fame

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...

 in 1989.

Baseball

The university's baseball team has won more regular season championships than any other SWAC member. They play their home games at Lee-Hines Field

Lee-Hines Field

Lee–Hines Field is a baseball stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is the home field of the Southern University Jaguars baseball team.The stadium served as host of the 2008 SWAC baseball tournament from May 13 through 17th....

.

Notable alumni

Rickie Weeks

Rickie Weeks

Rickie Darnell Weeks is a Major League Baseball second baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers....

 was the first college player selected in the 2003 Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 Draft when the Milwaukee Brewers

Milwaukee Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers are a professional baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, currently playing in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League...

 made him their No. 1 pick, the highest a second baseman has ever been drafted in MLB Draft history. Weeks won the Golden Spikes Award

Golden Spikes Award

The Golden Spikes Award is awarded annually to the best amateur baseball player. It is awarded by USA Baseball and sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association. Though the award can be presented to any amateur player, it has always been given to a college baseball player.-Past...

, Dick Howser Trophy

Dick Howser Trophy

The Dick Howser Trophy, considered to be the Heisman Trophy of college baseball, is an award presented annually to the national college baseball player of the year, presented by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association ....

, and Baseball America College Player of the Year honors as the nation's top collegiate player during the 2003 season.

Hall of Famer Lou Brock

Lou Brock

Louis Clark "Lou" Brock is an American former professional baseball player. He began his Major League Baseball career with the Chicago Cubs but, spent the majority of his career as the left fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals. Brock was best known for breaking Ty Cobb's all-time major league...

 played baseball at Southern University from 1958-1960.

Men's Basketball

In 1993, the Southern University men's basketball team defeated the fourth-seeded Georgia Tech Yellowjackets, 93-78, during the NCAA Tournament

NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship

The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...

. In the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament

NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship

The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...

 in Greensboro, North Carolina

Greensboro, North Carolina

Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...

, the Jaguars lost to Duke University

Duke University

Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...

, 70-54. In his first season at SU, head coach Rob Spivery was named 2005-06 SWAC Coach of the Year after winning both the SWAC regular season and tournament titles.

Notable alumni

Avery Johnson

Avery Johnson

Avery Johnson is a former American professional basketball player and current head coach of the National Basketball Association team New Jersey Nets. He has also coached the Dallas Mavericks, leading them to their first NBA Finals appearance and four consecutive 50+ win seasons...

, former NBA star who won an NBA title with the San Antonio Spurs

San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....

, is a 1988 graduate of Southern. Johnson was named NBA Coach of the Year in 2006 after leading the Dallas Mavericks

Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks are a professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association , and the reigning NBA champions, having defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.According to a 2011...

 to the NBA Finals

2006 NBA Finals

The 2006 NBA Finals was the championship series of the 2005–06 National Basketball Association season. The Miami Heat won the championship in six games over the Dallas Mavericks, winning the final game at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, and becoming the third team to win a championship...

.

Women's Basketball

The 2005-2006 women's basketball team won a share of the SWAC regular season title and won the SWAC women's basketball tournament. This was Coach Sandy Pugh's third appearance in the NCAA tournament with the university.

Marching band

Often accompanying the SU athletic teams is the university's marching band and dance line. Nicknamed the Southern University Human Jukebox and the Dancing Dolls, the band has performed at several Super Bowls, NFL games, the inaugurations of Presidents Reagan and Clinton, Yankee Stadium

Yankee Stadium

Yankee Stadium was a stadium located in The Bronx in New York City, New York. It was the home ballpark of the New York Yankees from 1923 to 1973 and from 1976 to 2008. The stadium hosted 6,581 Yankees regular season home games during its 85-year history. It was also the former home of the New York...

, in foreign countries, at bowl games, at Radio City Music Hall

Radio City Music Hall

Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...

, and in television commercials and specials, movies and music videos.

External links

• www.gojagsports.cstv.com -- Southern University at www.cstv.com