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Southern Utah Thunderbirds

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Southern Utah Thunderbirds
Logo
UniversitySouthern Utah University
ConferenceWestern Athletic Conference (primary)
United Athletic Conference (football)
MPSF (women's gymnastics)
NCAADivision I (FCS)
Athletic directorDoug Knuth
LocationCedar City, Utah
Varsity teams13 (5 men's and 8 women's)
Football stadiumEccles Coliseum
Basketball arenaAmerica First Event Center
Soccer stadiumThunderbird Park Complex
NicknameThunderbirds
ColorsScarlet and white[1]
   
Websitesuutbirds.com

The Southern Utah Thunderbirds are the varsity athletic teams representing Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah in intercollegiate athletics. The university sponsors thirteen teams including five men's sports: basketball, cross country, football, golf, and track and field and eight women's sports: basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, soccer, softball, track and field, and volleyball. The baseball program was dropped after the 2011–12 season.[2] The Thunderbirds compete in NCAA Division I and joined the Big Sky Conference on July 1, 2012, after departing from The Summit League.[3]

Since 1961, Southern Utah has used the Thunderbird as its team mascot in the sports events they participate in. Its football team mascot is an even more powerful version of the Thunderbird, as it is inspired by Thor, a well-known god of Norse mythology.[4]

In 2022, the Thunderbirds left the Big Sky Conference and joined the Western Athletic Conference.[5] The football team played the 2022 season in a partnership between the WAC and the Atlantic Sun Conference. After that season, the two conferences merged their football leagues, creating what eventually became the United Athletic Conference.

The women's gymnastics team, also known as the Flippin' Birds, is a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, joining that for the 2023–24 season after the demise of its former gymnastics home of the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference.[6]

Sports sponsored

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A member of the Western Athletic Conference. SUU sponsors teams in six men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports.[7]

Men's sports Women's sports
Basketball Basketball
Cross country Cross country
Football Golf
Golf Gymnastics
Track and field† Soccer
Softball
Track and field†
Volleyball
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor

References

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  1. ^ "Branding & Creative - Marketing Communication". Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  2. ^ "College baseball: Southern Utah mourns, celebrates dropped program | The Salt Lake Tribune". Sltrib.com. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  3. ^ "Big Sky Conference - Member Institutions". Bigskyconf.com. July 1, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  4. ^ "Top 5 Football Mascots in Utah – Cougars, Utes, and More". Daily Herald. October 21, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  5. ^ "WAC adds Southern Utah University, and will play football in 2022". ABC4 Utah. January 14, 2021. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  6. ^ "Southern Utah Joins MPSF Women's Gymnastics" (Press release). Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. September 21, 2023. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  7. ^ "Southern Utah Thunderbirds". Southern Utah University. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
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