The Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs (also SMSU Mustangs and formerly Southwest State Mustangs) are the athletic teams that represent Southwest Minnesota State University, located in

Marshall, Minnesota Marshall is a city in Lyon County, Minnesota, Lyon County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,628 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, and 13,906 as of 2023 estimates. Marshall is a regional center in southwest Minnesota ...

, in

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

intercollegiate sports. The Mustangs compete as members of the

Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Upper Midwest of the United States. Nine of ...

for all 14 varsity sports. SMSU has been competing since 1969, but has been a part of the conference since before the merger of the Northern Intercollegiate Conference and the Northern Sun Conference that formed the NSIC. SMSU moved with the NSIC from the NAIA to NCAA Division II affiliation in 1992.

Varsity teams

List of teams

Men's sports * Baseball * Basketball * Cross Country * Football * Track & Field * Wheelchair Basketball * Wrestling Women's sports * Basketball * Cross Country * Golf * Soccer * Softball * Tennis * Track & Field * Volleyball

Mustang NFL Draft picks

*1992 Round 7 NE Patriots - Wayne Hawkins, Wide receiver *1991 Round 10 ATL Falcons - Walter Sutton, Wide receiver

Sports culture

The student booster club for basketball is the Mustang Maniacs. Their slogan is, "Our team loves us and our opponents fear us". An annual basketball tradition is Hawaiian Night, which usually coincides with the Winter Meltdown festival held during the second week of the Spring Semester (which lasts from early January through early May).

Non-varsity sports

Intramural sports

Intramural sports Intramural sports are recreational sports organized within a particular institution, usually an educational institution, for the purpose of fun and exercise. The term, which is chiefly North American, derives from the Latin words ''intra muros'' m ...

include badminton, basketball, flag football, floor hockey, broomball, racquetball, softball, tennis, ultimate Frisbee, and volleyball. The Mustang Rugby Club competes in the Minnesota Rugby Union (USA Rugby) and won the Minnesota Division III Championship in 2002. Recently the Mustangs Rugby Club won the Minnesota Division IIIB championship in 2010.

References

External links

* {{Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference navbox