SOUTH FLORIDA SUPER BOWL XLI HOST COMMITTEE
SPORTS CAPITAL

South Florida is the sports capital of the world. It is home to teams in all of the major sports leagues (NFL's Dolphins; MLB's Marlins; NBA's Heat; NHL's Panthers) and is the annual home to some of the biggest events in all of sports with the Fed Ex Orange Bowl (college football), the World Golf Championships CA Championship at Doral (PGA Tour), the Honda Classic (PGA Tour), the LPGA Playoffs at the ADT (LPGA), the Ford 400 (NASCAR's Nextel Cup Championship Race), the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships and the Sony Ericsson Open (Professional Tennis). South Florida is also home to three Division I-A intercollegiate athletic programs (University of Miami; Florida International University; Florida Atlantic University). On February 4, 2007, the largest annual sporting event in the world returns to South Florida for a record-tying 9th time when Super Bowl XLI is played at Dolphin Stadium.

Please visit the sites featured below to learn more about South Florida great sports offerings.

Regional College Sports

University of Miami

Great teams. Great student-athletes. Great coaches. National championships. All have helped the University of Miami earn a spot among the NCAA elite. While UM’s nine combined football and baseball national titles in the last 25 years have helped vault the Hurricanes into the upper echelon of college athletics, a strong tradition of winning and competitive excellence has always existed and continues throughout all of the school’s 15 sports. Miami has won 21 national titles: five in football (1983, ’87, ’89, ’91, 2001), five in women’s golf (1970, ’72, ’77, ’78, ’84), four in baseball (1982, ’85, ’99, ’01) and two in women’s swimming and diving (1975 and ’76). The Hurricanes also captured national titles in two discontinued sports: men’s crew (1988) and polo (1947, ’48, ’49, 50). 

Prior to its upcoming third season as a member of the highly-competitive Atlantic Coast Conference, Miami had competed in the Big East Conference since 1991, when it was a charter member of the Big East Football Conference. The Hurricanes won a combined 34 Big East titles: eight in football and women’s tennis, seven in men’s tennis, six in women’s outdoor track and field, two in women’s indoor track and one each in men’s basketball, women’s basketball and men’s swimming and diving. Since joining the ACC in July 2004, UM has won four conference championships, two in women’s indoor track and two in women’s outdoor track and field.

The 2005-06 seasons were full of great team and individual performances for Miami. UM’s football team played in its 21st bowl game in the last 23 years and maintained its position as college football’s winningest program since 1983. The 2006 NFL Draft also marked the 12th-consecutive year a Hurricane was drafted in the first round (Kelly Jennings, Seattle Seahawks), a draft record.

Florida Atlantic University

Florida Atlantic University is one of the fastest growing universities in the country. FAU’s athletic department sponsors 20 sports and all compete at the highest level the NCAA will allow. 2005-2006 saw FAU capture five conference women’s championships and was one of just eight universities nationally to have five or more championships on the women’s side—Notre Dame topped the list. FAU holds a holistic approach to college athletics. More than 33 percent of the student-athletes earn a 3.0 GPA or better and currently 38 are playing professional sports. Head Coach Howard Schnellenberger leads the FAU football team and has done so with a rapid ascent into NCAA Division I-A and has assaulted the NCAA record books along the way. Baseball, football, men’s and women’s basketball, women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s tennis, track and women’s volleyball have all participated in post-season play.  

Barry University

Barry University is still young when it comes to longevity in intercollegiate athletics, but is a heavyweight when it comes to national success. Buccaneer Athletics is entering its 23rd year, but Barry has already won six national championships – three each in women’s soccer and volleyball. In addition, Barry has crowned 152 All-Americans and 129 Scholar All-Americans. The Buccaneer program boosts five Sunshine State Conference Mayor’s Cup trophies, 33 Sunshine State Conference Championships, 92 national tournament appearances and 49 appearances in the national finals.

Barry also provides excellent facilities for its student-athletes. The Health & Sports Center houses the Buccaneer gymnasium and is the home court to Buccaneer volleyball and men’s and women’s basketball. In 1992-93, the Health & Sports Center was the training site for the Miami HEAT of the National Basketball Association and also served as the host site for two NCAA Division II volleyball national championships in which the Buccaneers won the title in 1995 and 2004. Barry’s outdoor facilities include baseball, softball, and soccer fields, plus a lighted complex with eight tennis courts and four racquetball courts. In 1989-90, the Barry baseball field (Feinbloom Field) was named Diamond-of-the-Year by the Beam Clay company. The Buccaneer softball field served as host for the 1997, 2002, and 2003 NCAA South Regional tournaments, while the Buccaneer Soccer Field has served as the host of the NCAA Division II Women’s Soccer Final Four a total of four times including 1989 and 1993 when the Bucs won two of their three national titles. In 1996 and 2003, the Brazilian national men’s soccer team used Buccaneer Field as its official training facility and shared the facility with the United States National Team during the 2003 Gold Cup, which was hosted at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

Florida International University

Like the university itself, the FIU Golden Panthers have displayed a dedication to excellence playing intercollegiate athletics as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the Sun Belt Conference and Conference USA. The university’s 17 sports teams include women’s basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field and volleyball. The men’s program includes baseball, basketball, cross country, football, soccer and indoor and outdoor track and field. The University's primary sports facilities on FIU-University Park include the FIU Football Stadium, Pharmed Arena and lighted tennis courts, baseball and soccer fields. FIU's Biscayne Bay Campus offers an aquatic center, which serves as home for the Golden Panthers intercollegiate women's swimming and diving program.

Sports are played throughout the academic year beginning the first week of school with the Golden Panthers football team taking center stage. Under the direction of former long-time Miami Dolphins quarterback Don Strock, FIU is fully BCS bowl eligible, battling for a Sun Belt Conference crown, which comes with an automatic bid to the New Orleans Bowl in mid-December. Men’s and women’s basketball highlight the winter months with home games played at the Pharmed Arena, while nationally-recognized baseball and softball teams compete in the spring. Prominent FIU athletic alumni include LPGA Hall of Fame member Pat Bradley, Major League Baseball All-Star Mike Lowell (Boston Red Sox), NBA standout Raja Bell (Phoenix Suns), three-time Olympic track and field medalist Tayna Lawrence and former and current U.S. National Soccer Team performers Robin Fraser, Steve Ralston and Greg Vanney. Additionally, FIU has captured 40 Division I team conference championships over the last 18 years, earned a pair of NCAA Division II championships in men’s soccer and boasts individual national champion Sheri-Ann Brooks who won the NCAA 2005 Outdoor Track & Field title in the women’s 200-meter dash.

Nova Southeastern University

Located on a beautiful 300-acre campus in Fort Lauderdale, Nova Southeastern University has more than 25,000 students and is the largest independent institution of higher education in Florida. Nova Southeastern University is affiliated to NCAA Division II. They are part of the Sunshine State Conference, and their first year dates back to 1982. Nova’s sports program includes eight woman and five men sports. The athletic venues are the University Center Arena for basketball and volleyball, NSU Baseball Complex, NSU Soccer Complex, A.D. Griffin Softball Complex and the Miami Dolphins Training Facility.

In addition to being the home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins and their training facility, the FedEx Orange Bowl Committee uses the state-of-the-art NSU athletic facilities as an official training site for their participating teams. This year USA Baseball will hold their Youth National Team Trials at NSU, while historically Major League Baseball pre-draft player tryouts, U.S. National Women’s Soccer Team training and Major League Soccer pre-season workouts have been held at Nova Southeastern University.

Saint Thomas University

Intercollegiate athletics at St. Thomas University affords student-athletes a competitive and diverse environment where they can challenge themselves on the field or court while achieving academic success. Through participation in athletics, student-athletes learn lifelong values that improve the mental, social, physical, emotional, moral and spiritual aspects of their lives, which better prepares them for future endeavors. These values teach leadership and teamwork that enhance good citizenship. Through the Catholic tradition at St. Thomas University, the Bobcat Athletics Department emphasizes our rich environment and opportunities within the community through volunteer service. The Department of Athletics and its staff, fans and student-athletes create an atmosphere of respect and dignity with quality sportsmanship for all.