Despite fielding teams in a number of varsity sports, the three sports that stand out in American sports are football, basketball and baseball. The Ducks have had varying degrees of success in each major sport, but their results have usually been very consistent.
Football:
The Oregon Ducks football program is one of the most famous sporting programs in the school. The team is a member of the Pacific-12 Conference and competes in the NCAA Division 1 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The school initiated the football program in 1893 and the team played its first official game in 1894. Prior to playing in their current stadium, Autzen Arena (which was completed in 1967), the team used to play in Hayward Field, which they used to share with the Track and Field team.
The football team has made it to the prestigious Rose Bowl six times, winning the first one in 1917 against the University of Pennsylvania, and made their most recent appearance last year in 2012. The Ducks also won the 2013 Fiesta Bowl, where they defeated the Kansas State Wildcats. The team has won eleven conference titles in their history and has produced six consensus All-Americans. Their form in recent years has been outstanding, and the team has been dominating their conference. Since 2000, they have won conference five titles, including three back to back titles from 2009-2011.
Basketball:
The Ducks men’s basketball program was established at the turn of the twentieth century and the team played its first season in 1902. Their first major success came in 1939, when head coach Howard Hobson led the team to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. The team earned the nickname “The Tall Firs” during their successful run for the title. The team has made it to the NCAA elite eight, four times (1939, 1960. 2002, 2007) and the sweet sixteen four times as well (1960, 2002, 2007, 2013). They have been crowned conference tournament champions three times (2003, 2007, 2013) and have been Conference regular season champions four times as well (1919, 1939, 1944, 2002).
The team used to play at the McArthur court before moving to the newly built Matthew Knight Arena in 2011.
Baseball:
The Ducks’ baseball team is also a member of the Pacific-12 conference and plays its home matches at the PK Park. The baseball team was formed in 1877, a year after the university was established. The team had a highly successful run in the sport for the first half of the twentieth century and won fourteen conference titles in between 1877 and 1957.
But the university was forced to shut down the program in 1981 due to budgetary concerns and lack of student interest. However, the Ducks baseball team rejoined the NCAA Division 1 in 2007 under new head coach, George Horton, who lead the team to the regional finals in only his second year in charge.
Overall the team has made one college series appearance (1954), five NCAA Tournament appearances (1954, 1964, 2010, 2012 and 2013) and has won fourteen conference titles.
Other Sports:
Apart from the major three sports, the university’s most successful program has been their track and field. The men’s track and field program has won five NCAA titles while the women’s track and field has won one. The men’s indoor track and field team has won one NCAA title, while the women’s team has been crowned national champions four times (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013). Another successful program at the school has been the cross-country program, which has won a combined nine titles.