The Creighton Bluejays, or Jays, are the athletic teams that represent Creighton University, a Jesuit/Catholic University in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

, United States. They compete in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

in the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

Sports sponsored

Baseball

Creighton's baseball team played its first Big East season in 2014. They are coached by Ed Servais who is in his twenty first season as head coach of the Bluejays. His record at Creighton is 678–405 (.597 winning percentage). The team plays its home games at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, also the home of the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

. Prior to the opening of TD Ameritrade Park, the program played games at the Creighton Sports Complex and

Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium was a baseball stadium in Omaha, Nebraska, the former home to the annual NCAA Division I College World Series and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A Omaha Royals (now Omaha Storm Chasers, Storm Chasers). It was the ...

in South Omaha, which was also the home of the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

College World Series and the Omaha Royals (now known as the Omaha Storm Chasers) of the Pacific Coast League. ;1991 College World Series Creighton appeared in the NCAA College World Series for the only time in 1991. The Jays advanced to the CWS by defeating the Hawaii Rainbows 15–8 in finals of the NCAA West I Regional in Los Angeles. Prior to the victory over Hawaii, the Jays swept the four-game regional by beating Pepperdine,

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

and host team

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

in a 10-inning 8–7 victory. The seventh-seeded Bluejays (49–20) opened play against the second seeded Clemson Tigers in front of then record crowd of more than 16,000 at Rosenblatt Stadium. The game ended with an 8–4 Creighton victory, setting up a second round match with MVC rival Wichita State. The Jays had finished the 1991 regular season with an overall record of 46–18, and a 16–8 record in the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

, good enough for second place behind league champion Wichita State. The Shockers had swept the regular season four-game series with the Jays, and had also defeated the Jays twice in the 1991 Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Tournament. In one of the more memorable games in

history, the Shockers defeated the Jays 3–2 in 12 innings. With one out in the bottom of the twelfth inning Wichita State center fielder Jim Audley threw out Creighton's pinch-runner Steve Burns at home plate in a play known to Bluejay and Shocker fans alike as "''the throw''." The game was recently ranked third in the list of the 25 greatest games in

history by the Omaha World-Herald. The Jays bounced back to defeat Long Beach State 13–4 in an elimination game, to set up a rematch with Wichita State in the National Semifinals. A trip to the title game for Creighton was not to be, however, as Wichita State advanced to the National Championship game after defeating Creighton for the eighth time that season, 11–3.

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

defeated Wichita State 6–3 to win the 1991 NCAA Baseball National Championship. The Bluejays Head Coach during that memorable 1991 season, Jim Hendry, is a former General Manager of the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

. Jim Hendry is also the only former Creighton Bluejay to have his number retired. His name and number (25) hang on the center field fence of Creighton Sports Complex. Notable former Bluejay Baseball players include Hall of Fame inductee

Bob Gibson Robert Gibson (November 9, 1935October 2, 2020), nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot", was an American baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1959 to 1975. Known for his fiercely competi ...

as well as Dave McKay, Pat Venditte, Dennis Rasmussen, Scott Stahoviak, Scott Servais, Zach Daeges, Chad McConnell and Alan Benes.

Men's basketball

Creighton's men's basketball program has been a member of the

since the 2013–14 season. Prior to the 2013–14 season, the Jays were members of the

from 1978–2013. Prior to the 1977–78 season, the Jays participated as an Independent from 1948–1977. Creighton's current head coach is Greg McDermott. He became head coach on April 27, 2010, following stints as the head coach at Wayne State (Nebraska), Northern Iowa, and Iowa State. The men's team plays all of their home games at CHI Health Center Omaha (capacity 18,320), which opened in 2003 as Qwest Center Omaha and was known from 2011 to 2018 as CenturyLink Center Omaha. The 2018–19 season will be their 16th at CHI Health Center. Famous individuals associated with Creighton basketball include former players

, Paul Silas, Doug McDermott, Bob Portman, Gene Harmon, Benoit Benjamin, Bob Harstad, Chad Gallagher, Rodney Buford, Kyle Korver, Gary Swain, Ryan Sears, Nate Funk, and Anthony Tolliver. Famous former coaches include "Red" McManus, Eddie Sutton, Willis Reed, Eddie Hickey, Tony Barone, Arthur A. Schabinger, and Dana Altman. The all-time leading scorer in Creighton men's basketball history is Doug McDermott, who surpassed former leader Rodney Buford during the 2012–13 season. McDermott ended his college career in 2014 with 3,150 total points, placing him fifth on the all-time Division I men's scoring list. He was named the first consensus first-team All-American in Creighton basketball history following the 2011–12 season, his sophomore year, and repeated as a consensus first-team All-American in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. This made him the first Division I men's player to be a three-time consensus first-team All-American since Patrick Ewing and Wayman Tisdale from 1983 to 1985. McDermott was also named the consensus national player of the year in 2014. Creighton University was the host institution for the First and Second Rounds site at the venue now known as CHI Health Center Omaha during the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and 2024 NCAA tournaments, the Second and Third Round during the 2012 NCAA tournament, and the Second and Third Round during the 2015 NCAA tournament.

Women's basketball

The women's basketball team is coached by Jim Flanery, and were the 2004 WNIT Champions. They play their home games on campus at

D. J. Sokol Arena D. J. Sokol Arena is a multi-purpose student recreational facility in Omaha, Nebraska. It was opened on August 28, 2009. It currently hosts the Creighton Bluejays women's basketball and volleyball teams. It has a seating capacity of approximat ...

Men's soccer

Creighton's current men's soccer coach is Elmar Bolowich. He was named head coach of the Creighton Bluejays on February 9, 2011 following 22 seasons as the head coach at

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. Creighton plays their home matches on campus at Morrison Stadium, which is named after former university President Fr. Michael Morrison, S.J. The last time Creighton hosted the

men's soccer Tournament was 2011. The men's soccer team has gone to the NCAA tournament in 18 of the previous 19 seasons with three appearances in the College Cup and one appearance in the National Championship Match.

Women's soccer

The women's soccer team has won four Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championships, earning the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament in each of those years. The team also plays its home games on campus at Morrison Stadium.

Softball

The softball team has appeared in five

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States and is held annually in Oklahoma City, OK. The event is held at Devon Park (stadium), Devon Park loca ...

, in 1969 (the first WCWS), 1980, 1981, 1982 (first NCAA WCWS) and 1986.

Discontinued sports

Football

Football, as well as basketball, were discontinued during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

for the duration of the war after the conclusion of the basketball season because of travel restrictions and the uncertainty of draft status for 18 and 19-year-old students; basketball returned after the war, but the university never subsequently fielded a football team.

References

External links

* {{Nebraska Sports