The Chicago Maroons are the intercollegiate sports teams of the University of Chicago. They are named after the color maroon. Team colors are maroon and gray, and Phil the Phoenix is their mascot. They now compete in the NCAA Division III, mostly as members of the University Athletic Association.
The University of Chicago helped found the Big Ten Conference in 1895; although it dropped football in 1939 (as inconsistent with its academic vision), its other teams remained members until 1946. Football returned as a club sport in 1963, as a varsity sport in 1969, and began competing independently in Division III in 1973. The school was part of the Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference from 1976 to 1987, and its football team joined the Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference's successor, the Midwest Conference (MWC), in 2017. In the 2018–19 school year, Chicago added baseball to its MWC membership, and elevated its club team in women's lacrosse to full varsity status, with that sport competing in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW). The baseball team rejoined the University Athletic Association for the 2025 season.
Stagg Field is the home stadium for the re-instated football team.
Conference affiliation
Big Ten Conference
The Maroons helped establish the Big Ten Conference (then known as the "Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives", and commonly called the "Western Conference") at a follow-up meeting on February 8, 1896. The league initially consisted of Chicago, Purdue, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Northwestern.
Jay Berwanger was awarded the first Heisman trophy in 1935.
Hall of Fame coach Amos Alonzo Stagg coached the football team from 1892 to 1932, the basketball team from 1920 to 1921, and the baseball team from 1893 to 1905 and 1907–1913. He encouraged players to adopt vegetarianism, believing it supported both athleticism and a "gentle and gentlemanly" sportsmanship.
The football team was dropped following the 1939 season. In explaining the reason to drop football, Robert Maynard Hutchins, the university's president, had written acidly in The Saturday Evening Post “In many colleges, it is possible for a boy to win 12 letters without learning how to write one.”
On March 7, 1946, the University of Chicago withdrew from the Big Ten Conference. On May 31, 1946, the resignation was formally accepted by the Big Ten Conference.
Varsity teams
Men's sports Women's sports Baseball Basketball Basketball Cross country Cross country Lacrosse Football Soccer Golf Softball Soccer Swimming Swimming Tennis Tennis Track and field Track and field Volleyball Wrestling
Facilities
Current
Venue Sport(s) Open. Ref. Gerald Ratner Athletics Center Basketball (2003–)VolleyballWrestling Swimming 2003 Gerald Ratner Athletics Center Henry Crown Field House Indoor track and fieldRacquetballHandballBasketball (1933–2003) 1932 Henry Crown Field House Stagg Field Football Soccer Outdoor track and field 2013 How Stagg Field has changed throughout UChicago’s history By Sarah Hopkins on Chicagomaroon.com. September 23, 2024
Former
Venue Sport(s) Open. Clos. Ref. Men's Gymnasium Basketball 1891 1904 Bartlett Hall Basketball 1904 – Notes
Championships
National and NCAA championships Basketball (poll): 1906–07, 1907–08, and 1908–09 (Helms Athletic Foundation) Football (poll): 1905 (Helms Athletic Foundation), 1913 (Parke H. Davis) Men's Gymnastics: 1938 (team title), 9 individual champions Men's Soccer: 2022 Men's Tennis: 2022 Men's Track & Field (Outdoor): 7 individual champions Kris Alden: 1989 Men's Swimming Individual Champion Rhaina Echols: 1999 Women's Cross Country Individual Champion, 2000 Women's Indoor (3,000-meter run and 5,000-meter run) and 2000 Women's Outdoor Individual Track Champion (5,000-meter run) Tom Haxton: 2004 Men's Outdoor Track & Field Individual Champion (10,000-meter run) Adeoye Mabogunje: 2004 Men's Outdoor Track & Field Individual Champion (Triple Jump) Peter Wang: 1991 & 1992 Wrestling Individual Champion Liz Lawton: 2010 Women's Outdoor Track & Field Individual Champion (5,000-meter run and 10,000-meter run) Michael Bennett: 2014 Men's Indoor Track & Field Individual Champion (Pole Vault) Michelle Dobbs: 2016 Women's Indoor Track & Field Individual Champion (800-meter run) Khia Kurtenbach: 2017 Women's Cross Country Individual Champion
University Athletic Association championships Men's Basketball: 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2007, 2008 Women's Basketball: 1989, 2008, 2011, 2012 Men's Cross Country: 2002, 2004 Women's Cross Country: 1992, 1993, 2012, 2013, 2022 Football: 1998, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2014 Men's Soccer: 2001, 2009, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 Women's Soccer: 1994, 1996, 1999, 2010 Softball: 1996 Men's Track & Field (Indoor): 2002, 2008 Women's Track & Field (Indoor): 2008, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2018 Women's Track & Field (Outdoor): 2015 Wrestling: 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 Women's Tennis: 2010, 2012, 2022 Men's Tennis: 2018, 2022
Midwest Conference championships All championships listed here were won when the league was known as the Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference, and only sponsored men's sports. The Midwest Conference was established in its current form in 1994 with the merger of the MCAC and Midwest Athletic Conference for Women. Men's Soccer: 1978 Men's Tennis: 1984 Women's Tennis: 1983 Men's Track & Field (Indoor): 1980 Women's Track & Field (Outdoor): 1983, 1984
Big Ten Conference championships Baseball: 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899, 1913 Men's Basketball: 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1920, 1924 Men's Fencing: 1927–28, 1933–34, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1940–41 Football: 1899, 1905, 1907, 1908, 1913, 1922, 1924 Men's Golf: 1922, 1924, 1926 Men's Gymnastics: 1909, 1914, 1917, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1924, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934 Men's Swimming: 1916, 1919, 1921 Men's Tennis: 1910, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1918, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939 Men's Track & Field (Indoor): 1911, 1915, 1917 Men's Track & Field (Outdoor): 1905, 1908, 1917
Fight song Wave the Flag (For Old Chicago) is the fight song for the Maroons. Gordon Erickson wrote the lyrics in 1929. The tune was adapted from Miami University's "Marching Song" written in 1908 by Raymond H. Burke, a University of Chicago graduate who joined Miami's faculty in 1906.
The song is traditionally sung by the players at midfield after all home victories."Chicago Traditions" at University of Chicago official website (accessed 2012-12-29).
See also The University of Chicago Band
References
External links