The Citadel Bulldogs
University	The Citadel
Conference	SoCon (primary)
NCAA	Division I (FCS)
Athletic director	Art Chase
Location	Charleston, South Carolina
Varsity teams	14 (8 men's, 5 women's, 1 co-ed)
Football stadium	Johnson Hagood Stadium
Basketball arena	McAlister Field House
Baseball stadium	Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park
Soccer stadium	WLI Field
Mascot	General and Boo IX (live), Spike
Nickname	Bulldogs
Fight song	"The Fighting Light Brigade"
Colors	Infantry blue and white[1]
Website	citadelsports.com

The Citadel Bulldogs are the athletic teams that representThe Citadel. All sports participate in theNCAA Division I except football, which competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Since 1936, varsity sports have competed in theSouthern Conference. The Citadel fields teams in sixteen sports, nine for men and seven for women. Members of the corps of cadets and non-cadet day and night students are eligible to participate in Citadel athletics.

The Citadel is one of only two Division I schools that do not sponsor women's basketball; the other is fellow Southern Conference member andsenior military collegeVMI.

The Citadel competes in the Southern Conference for all sports.

From 1909 to 1935, The Citadel played as a part of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association, a conglomerate of many schools which gave birth to the Southern Conference during a clash over freshman eligibility. The Citadel remained in the SIAA after eight schools joined with six non-SIAA members to create the SoCon in 1921.

Shortly after thirteen schools departed the Southern Conference to form theSoutheastern Conference (SEC), The Citadel and six other schools joined the conference.Furman also joined in 1936, making them and The Citadel the schools with the longest currentcontinuous tenure in the conference. (VMI joined even earlier in 1924 but was not a member from 2003 to 2014.)

A member of theSouthern Conference, The Citadel sponsors teams in nine men's and seven women's NCAA sanctioned sports.

The Citadel's most successful athletics program, the baseball team has won thirteen Southern Conference championships and eightSouthern Conference baseball tournament championships. The 1990 team advanced to theCollege World Series, becoming the first military school to do so; they finished with a record of 46–14 and were ranked sixth in the finalCollegiate Baseball poll that season. The Bulldogs are coached byRussell Triplett. As of the end of the 2025 season, 50 players have been selected in theMajor League Baseball Draft.

The Citadel Bulldogs basketball team dates to the 1900–01 season, posting an all-time record of 914–1176. The Citadel's 1966–67 season is chronicled inPat Conroy'sMy Losing Season. The 2008–09 squad won 20 games for just the second time in school history and participated in the postseason for the first time, playing in theCollegeInsider.com Tournament; they were defeated in the first round by eventual championOld Dominion. The team has never played in theNCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

The current Head Coach isEd Conroy '89, cousin of bestselling author Pat Conroy '67. Recent head coaches have included Duggar Baucom andChuck Driesell, son of coaching legendLefty Driesell.

The Citadel has won four Southern Conference Championships in 1961, 1992, 2015 and 2016. In 1960, the Bulldogs won theTangerine Bowl, defeatingTennessee Tech 27–0. The Bulldogs have appeared in the FCS Playoffs five times, advancing to the second round in 1992 before losing to eventual runner-upYoungstown State. The 1992 squad finished with a record of 11–2 and was ranked #1 in the final regular season I-AA poll.

The current Head Coach isMaurice Drayton.

Since 2005, three Bulldog players have been drafted by NFL teams. Several alumni have played in the pro ranks including formerESPN analystPaul Maguire, a tight end and punter with theLA/San Diego Chargers andBuffalo Bills; running backStump Mitchell with theSt. Louis/Arizona Cardinals, kickerGreg Davis who played for several teams includingAtlanta,Tampa Bay and Arizona; running backTravis Jervey who played in 2 Super Bowls withGreen Bay and fullbackNehemiah Broughton who played forWashington, theNew York Giants and Arizona. Wide receiverAndre Roberts of the Bills and cornerbackCortez Allen ofPittsburgh are currently active.

The Rifle team is coached by William Smith, in his 17th season in 2017–18. Under Smith's leadership, the team returned to varsity status in 2001 after 9 years at the club level. The Bulldogs have claimed SEARC championships in 2001–02 and 2010–11 and National Championships in 1939, 1953, 1963, and 1965. The team also claimed eight Southern Conference titles between 1960 and 1974. The pre-NCAA sponsoring body, theNational Rifle Association of America, credits The Citadel with oneIntercollege Rifle Team Trophy, in 1963.^[2] The team competes at theInouye Marksmanship Center, a highly advanced $3.2 million facility that is also utilized by The Citadel's club pistol team, ROTC, local law enforcement and the South Carolina National Guard^[3][4][5]

The women's soccer team was established in 2001 and is currently coached by Ciaran Traquair. The team plays its home games at WLI Field.

The volleyball team was the first women's team sport sponsored by The Citadel, established in 1998, shortly after the integration of women into the Corps of Cadets in 1996. The team is currently led byDave Zelenock and competes inMcAlister Field House. The Bulldogs won the 2021 SoCon Tournament and appeared in the2021 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament (their first title in a women's sport)^[6] and also won the 2023 SoCon regular season title after starting the season 23–0.^[7]

The Citadel Bulldogs wrestling team has claimed Southern Conference championships in 1967 and 2004, and have 4 All-Americans, with 2 from the 2013 squad. They are currently coached by Ryan LeBlanc. Vandiver Hall is the practice facility on campus for the wrestling team, while theMcAlister Field House hosts home dual meets and tournaments, also located on campus.

• Boxing (discontinued 1953)
• Men'sGolf (discontinued 2004)
• Men'sSoccer (discontinued 2004)
• Men'sSwimming &Diving (discontinued 1983)

The Citadel football team plays inJohnson Hagood Stadium, a 11,500-seat stadium just to the south of campus. The stadium is undergoing a long-term renovation and rebuilding, which includes the Altman Athletic Center, completed in 2001, and the rebuilt west stands, 2006 and club tower, 2008. The team practices at the Mayberry Triplets Practice facility on the north edge of campus, and utilizes Seignious Hall, on campus behind McAlister Field House and Vandiver Hall, for locker rooms, team meeting space, and weightlifting.

The baseball team shares 6,000 seatsJoseph P. Riley Jr. Park with the professionalCharleston RiverDogs of the Class-ASouth Atlantic League for games, and practices atCollege Park, on Rutledge Avenue. The Citadel owns College Park and has considered a number of future uses for it, including a stadium for the women's soccer team and a tennis complex.

The basketball,wrestling, and volleyball teams useMcAlister Field House, a 6,000-seat facility on campus for games and practices. The basketball team's locker room is also in McAlister.

The women's soccer team practices and plays on WLI Field, located on campus to the west of the mess hall and Indian Hill. WLI Field is the former home of the baseball team and men's soccer team.

The rifle team uses theInouye Marksmanship Center, which is situated behind WLI field on the banks of the Ashley River.

The tennis team competes at the Earle Tennis Center, completed in 1990. Comprising ten courts, the facility is located between Stevens Barracks and the infirmary.

All teams, other than football, baseball and basketball, utilize Vandiver Hall, located behind McAlister Field House is home to track offices, golf offices, wrestling offices, various locker rooms, an indoor golf practice facility, indoor batting cages for baseball and the wrestling practice facility.^[8]

The Citadel's most heated rivalries are with theVMI Keydets,Furman Paladins,Charleston Southern Buccaneers andCollege of Charleston Cougars. Furman has been the longest running rivalry, although the Paladins have led the series in football for many decades. While The Citadel has played VMI in many sports for decades, the rivalry has only developed since the creation of the Silver Shako trophy for football in 1976. The football game is now known as theMilitary Classic of the South. Crosstown rival College of Charleston has become a major rivalry in basketball and baseball, although the Cougars have controlled the games in basketball since joining the Southern Conference (the Cougars left for theColonial Athletic Association in 2013).

Other historical rivalries includeClemson,South Carolina,Wofford,Presbyterian College, andNewberry College.

The Bulldogs claim four national championships in rifle, including two individual national championships. In addition, varsity Bulldog teams have claimed 41 conference championships and record 224 individual conference championships.^[9]

• Ice Hockey
• Lacrosse
• Judo^[10]
• Pistol
• Men's Rugby
• Women's Rugby
• Sailing
• Men's Soccer^[11]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toThe Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina athletics.

• Official website

• The Citadel Bulldogs

• Pages using the EasyTimeline extension
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
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• Commons category link from Wikidata