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 university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. ...

(FAMU) in

college athletics College sports or college athletics encompasses amateur sports played by non- professional, collegiate and university-level student athletes in competitive sports and games. College sports have led to many college rivalries. College sports ...

. Florida A&M is a member of the

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

and participates 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 ...

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 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (F ...

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

Sports Sponsored

Football

Florida A&M has a storied football program. From 1938 to 1961, the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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 college football coach and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Florida A&M University (FAMU) for 25 years, from 1945 to 1969, compilin ...

, 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 on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

ns, and 42 went on to play in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

. 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 col ...

championships. Gaither was elected to the

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

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) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

. 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 Champio ...

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 is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group that also organizes the Pop-Tarts Bowl and ...

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 university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

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, also named the HBCU football championship, is a National championship#Football, national championship honor that, since 1920, has been regularly bestowed upon the best College football teams among ...

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 basketball

Women's basketball

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 Florida A&M Rattlers and Lady Rattlers,