The Florida A&M Rattlers represent

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a public historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida. Founded in 1887, It is the third largest historically black university in the U ...

(FAMU) in

college athletics College athletics encompasses non- professional, collegiate and university-level competitive sports and games. World University Games The first World University Games were held in 1923. There were originally called the ''Union Nationale de ...

. Florida A&M is a member of the

Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United States. It participates ...

and participates in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level 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 athleti ...

Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athleti ...

(FCS). FAMU offers men's sports in baseball, basketball, football, golf, swimming, tennis and track and field. It offers women's sports in basketball, bowling, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field and volleyball.

Sports

Men's basketball

Women's basketball

Football

From 1938 to 1961, the football team won the Black College National Championship eight times, including six times under head coach

Jake Gaither Alonzo Smith "Jake" Gaither (April 11, 1903 – February 18, 1994) was an American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Florida A&M University (FAMU) for 25 years, from 1945 to 1969, compili ...

, in 1950, 1952, 1954, 1957, 1959 and 1961. When Gaither retired after 25 years of coaching in 1969, his FAMU teams had a 203-36-4 (wins-losses-ties) record, for a .844 winning percentage. Thirty-six players from Gaither's teams were

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

ns, and 42 went on to play in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

. During his 25 years as head coach, FAMU won 22

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Formed in 1913, it consists mostly of historically black c ...

championships. Gaither was elected to the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were v ...

in 1975. FAMU went on to win the first NCAA D1-AA National Championship in 1978 after defeating the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

. The Rattlers meet the

Bethune–Cookman Wildcats The Bethune–Cookman Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Bethune–Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida. Bethune-Cookman is a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and participates in NCAA Division I Football Champion ...

every year in the

Florida Classic The Florida Classic is the annual college football rivalry game between Bethune–Cookman University and Florida A&M University. The game has been televised nationally by ESPN Classic as a part of a multi-year contract with the Mid-Easte ...

on the third weekend in November. The Rattlers lead the overall series with Bethune Cookman University, 45-15-1. One of the most notable wins in FAMU football history came when they defeated the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, ...

in 1979. On November 15, 2008, Florida A&M football received national attention when ESPN's College GameDay was broadcast live from the campus. FAMU became the first historically black college or university campus to ever host the program. The Florida A&M Rattlers have won 29 Conference Championships and 13 different college football national titles. They have won the

black college football national championship The black college football national championship is a national championship honor that, since 1920, has been regularly bestowed upon the best football teams among historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) within the United States. Hist ...

11 times. An Associated Press College Division National Championship in 1962. The Rattlers also won the inaugural NCAA Division I-AA National Championship in 1978.

Men's tennis

The Florida A&M Rattlers Men's Tennis team won HBCU National Tennis Championships in 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. They also captured the MEAC Championship for the 2016-2017 season, beating South Carolina State 4–2. Freshman recruit, Luis Federico Nani from Argentina, clinched the last game. The Men Rattlers made it to the first round of the NCAA Championship. The Women's team won the HBCU National Tennis Championship in 2008.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Florida AandM Rattlers and Lady Rattlers