Davidson Wildcats

The Davidson Wildcats are the NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics teams representing Davidson College of Davidson, North Carolina, United States. A member of the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10), Davidson College sponsors teams in ten men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports.

The Wildcats previously competed in the Southern Conference, and the wrestling team retains associate membership in that league since the sport is not sponsored by the A-10. The football team is a member of the Pioneer Football League, a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) conference of schools that do not offer athletic scholarships for football.

Bowl Games

Davidson's basketball team first reached considerable success in the 1960s under Coach Lefty Driesell, when Sports Illustrated ranked it No. 1 in the country prior to the 1964–65 season.

The Wildcat men have competed in 11 NCAA tournaments (1966, 1968–70, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2006–08, and 2012). Their last tournament victory was in 2008 over Wisconsin in the Sweet Sixteen. With that victory, the Wildcats advanced to the Elite Eight where they lost to the eventual champion Kansas Jayhawks 59–57, capping off an incredible run that saw the rise of Stephen Curry to national prominence. The Wildcats' NCAA Tournament run came after finishing their regular season undefeated in conference play, at 20–0, and as the champions of the Southern Conference tournament. Curry led the nation in scoring in 2008–09, his last season at Davidson before declaring for the 2009 NBA Draft.

Under the guidance of Coach Bob McKillop, the Wildcats have consistently posted winning seasons. In 2006–07, the team completed its regular-season conference schedule with only one loss and entered the Southern Conference tournament as a No. 1 seed, where the team would win the Southern Conference tournament for the second consecutive season.

In 2005–06, the Wildcats went 20–10 and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament after winning the Southern Conference tournament. In 2004–05, the Wildcats were undefeated in conference play at 16–0 and advanced to the third round of the NIT. In 2001–02, the Wildcats won the Southern Conference tournament and lost a close game to Ohio State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

In addition to Driesell and McKillop, a number of notable NCAA men's basketball head coaches have coached at Davidson. Matt Doherty, former head coach of SMU, Notre Dame, North Carolina and Florida Atlantic, experienced his first coaching job as an assistant under McKillop, who, not coincidentally, was Doherty's high school coach on Long Island. Former Virginia head coach and current East Carolina athletic director Terry Holland is a Davidson graduate (Class of 1964) and was Driesell's first recruit at Davidson, before advancing to assistant coaching, head coaching and athletic director duties at Davidson. Larry Brown, who would go on to win an NCAA championship with Kansas in 1988 and NBA championship with Detroit in 2004, began his nomadic head coaching career at Davidson, managing to depart before the start of his first season. Jim Larrañaga, who took George Mason to the 2006 Final Four, is a former Davidson assistant coach. Rick Barnes of Texas was also a Davidson assistant.