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Northern Colorado Bears football

{{Short description|Intercollegiate American football team}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2024}}{{more citations needed|date=August 2014}}

{{Infobox NCAA football school

| CurrentSeason = 2025 Northern Colorado Bears football team

| TeamName = Northern Colorado Bears

| Image = UNC Bears.png

| ImageSize = 250

| HeadCoach = Ed Lamb{{cite web | url=https://www.unco.edu/news/articles/coach-lamb-welcome.aspx | title=Big Sky Champion ed Lamb Named Head Football Coach at Northern Colorado }}

| HeadCoachYear = 2nd

| HCWins = 1

| HCLosses = 22

| Stadium = Nottingham Field

| StadCapacity = 8,533{{cite web|title=Gameday at Northern Colorado |url=http://uncbears.com/sports/2014/10/9/GAMEDAY%20EXP.aspx|publisher=University of Northern Colorado|access-date=September 4, 2015|quote=Stadium Capacity: 8,533}}

| StadSurface =

| Location = Greeley, Colorado

| NCAAdivision = I FCS

| Conference = Big Sky Conference

| FirstYear = {{start date and age|1893}}{{cite web|title=Northern Colorado Record Book |url=http://uncbears.com/documents/2015/8/26/Career_FB_Records2014.pdf|publisher=Northern Colorado Bears Athletics|access-date=September 4, 2015 |date=December 2014}}

| WebsiteName = uncbears.com

| WebsiteURL = http://www.uncbears.com/sports/fball/index

| BowlWins =

| BowlLosses =

| BowlTies =

| NatlTitles = 2 (D-II)
(1996, 1997)

| ConfTitles = 12 (D-II)
RMAC - 4
GPAC - 3
NCC - 5

| DivTitles =

| Rivalries = Colorado State
Wyoming
Western Colorado
Colorado School of Mines
North Dakota
Montana State
Portland State

| Heismans =

| AllAmericans =

| uniform =

| ATWins = 428

| ATLosses = 452

| ATTies = 27

}}

The Northern Colorado Bears football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of Northern Colorado located in Greeley, Colorado. The team competes in the Big Sky Conference{{cite web|title=Member Institutions|url=http://www.bigskyconf.com/sports/2008/6/9/MemberInst060908.aspx?|publisher=Big Sky Conference|access-date=September 4, 2015}} at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The university's first football team was fielded in 1893.{{cite web|title=Northern Colorado Football Weekly Release, September 5, 2015|url=http://www.uncbears.com/documents/2015/9/4//Game%20Notes%20Week%201.pdf?id=3645|publisher=University of Northern Colorado Athletics|access-date=September 4, 2015|page=2}} The team plays its home games at the 8,533 seat Nottingham Field on campus. The Bears announced the hiring of Ed Lamb on December 6, 2022,{{Cite web |date=2022-12-06 |title=Big Sky Champion Ed Lamb named Head Football Coach at Northern Colorado |url=https://uncbears.com/news/2022/12/6/big-sky-champion-ed-lamb-named-head-football-coach-at-northern-colorado.aspx |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=University of Northern Colorado Athletics |language=en}} replacing Ed McCaffrey, who went 6–16 in two seasons.{{cite news|url=https://uncbears.com/news/2022/11/21/mccaffrey-will-not-return-as-northern-colorado-head-football-coach.aspx|title=McCaffrey will not return as Northern Colorado head football coach|publisher=Northern Colorado Bears|date=November 21, 2022}}

Conference affiliations

Below is the list of conferences in which Northern Colorado has been a member.

Championships

= National championships =

Northern Colorado made two appearances in the NCAA Division II National Championship Game. The Bears defeated Carson–Newman, 23–14 in 1996, and later defeated New Haven, 51–0 in 1997.

class="wikitable"

{{CollegePrimaryHeader|team=Northern Colorado Bears|Year|NCAA Division|Coach|Record|National Championship Game|Opponent|Result|Location}}

1996IIJoe Glenn12–31996 Division II National ChampionshipCarson–NewmanW 23–14Florence, AL
1997IIJoe Glenn13–21997 Division II National ChampionshipNew HavenW 51–0Florence, AL

=Conference championships=

class="wikitable"

{{CollegePrimaryHeader|team=Northern Colorado Bears|Year|Coach|Conference|Overall record|Conference record}}

1934†rowspan="2"|John W. Hancockrowspan="4"|Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference6–16–1
19484–43–0
1969rowspan="6"|Bob Blasi10–05–0
19718–1–15–0
1973†rowspan="3"|Great Plains Athletic Conference7–24–1
19748–15–0
19758–15–0
1980rowspan="5"|North Central Conference7–46–1
1997†rowspan=3|Joe Glenn13–28–1
1998†11–28–1
1999†11–28–1
2002Kay Dalton12–28–0
align="center"

| colspan=3 style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Northern Colorado Bears|border=0|color=white}}" | Conference Championships

| colspan=3 style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Northern Colorado Bears|border=0|color=white}}" | 12

† Co-champions

=Division championships =

class="wikitable"

{{CollegePrimaryHeader|team=Northern Colorado Bears|Year|Coach|Division championship|Opponent|CG result}}

1969rowspan="3"|Bob Blasirowspan="3"|RMAC PlainsAdams StateW 33–14
1970†colspan=2 | N/A lost tiebreaker to Pittsburg State
1971Western StateW 25–15
align="center"

| colspan=3 style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Northern Colorado Bears|border=0|color=white}}" | Division Championships

| colspan=3 style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Northern Colorado Bears|border=0|color=white}}" | 3

Playoff appearances

=NCAA Division II=

The Bears appeared in the Division II playoffs nine times with an overall record of 12–7.

class="wikitable"

{{CollegePrimaryHeader|team=Northern Colorado Bears|Year|Round|Opponent|Result}}

1980First Round
Eastern Illinois
L 14–21
1990First Round
North Dakota State
L 7–17
1991First Round
Portland State
L 24–28
1995First Round
Pittsburg State
L 17–36
1996First Round
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Finals		Pittsburg State
NW Missouri State
Clarion
Carson-Newman		W 24–21
W 27–26
W 19–18
W 23–14
1997First Round
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Finals		Pittsburg State
NW Missouri State
Carson-Newman
New Haven		W 24–16
W 35–19
W 30–29
W 51–0
1998First Round
Quarterfinals		North Dakota
NW Missouri State		W 52–28
L 17–42
1999First Round
Quarterfinals		Pittsburg State
NW Missouri State		W 34–31
L 35–41
2002First Round
Quarterfinals
Semifinals		Central Missouri State
NW Missouri State
Grand Valley		W 49–28
W 23–12
L 7–44

Attendance

=Highest attendance=

Below is a list of the Bears best-attended home games at Nottingham Field.

class="wikitable"
Rk.DateOpponentAttendance
align="center" Colspan="4" style="background:#013C65; color:white" | Highest attendance
1October 1, 2005Cal Poly9,145
2October 29, 2005Fort Lewis8,561
3October 2, 2010Montana8,105
4September 3, 2005Colorado School of Mines7,554
5October 23, 1998South Dakota7,520
6October 9, 1999Nebraska-Omaha7,499
7November 21, 1998North Dakota7,312
8September 20, 1998Texas State7,246
9October 19, 2002South Dakota7,198
10October 10, 1998South Dakota7,135

As of the 2014 season.

=Yearly attendance=

Source:

Below is the Bears home attendance by season at Nottingham Field.

class="wikitable"
SeasonTotalAverageHigh
align="center" Colspan="4" style="background:#013C65; color:white" | Northern Colorado Bears
2018

|25,293

|4,215

|5,672

2017

|21,917

|4,383

|5,378

2016

|24,477

|4,895

|5,476

201525,6124,2695,205
201421,0374,2076,348
201323,9903,9984,619
201221,2404,2485,136
201123,4283,9055,692
201027,9195,5848,105
200921,1113,5185,247
200821,6764,3557,246
200720,4414,0886,684
200628,8576,2194,810
200537,5497,5109,142
200427,3704,5626,481
200328,7305,7466,660
200234,8985,8167,198
200126,1534,3595,488
200029,1626,3524,860
199946,5526,6507,520
199840,6905,8137,312
199725,3024,2176,345
199627,2824,5476,318
199525,0674,3647,024

As of the 2015 season.

Notable former players

Notable alumni include:

Head coaching records in FCS

Since moving to the Big Sky Conference in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in 2006, the Bears have struggled. Their FCS record since 2006 is 35 and 138 as of the 2024 season.

FCS head coaching records

Team FCS record as of the end of 2024 {{winpct|35|138|record=y}}

https://uncbears.com/sports/football

Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of August 11, 2024.{{cite web |title=Northern Colorado Bears Football Future Schedules |publisher=FBSchedules.com |url=https://fbschedules.com/ncaa/northern-colorado/ |access-date=August 11, 2024}}

class="wikitable"
{{CollegePrimaryHeader|team=Northern Colorado Bears|2025|2026|2027|2028|2031}}
Chadron State

| South Dakota

| at New Mexico

| at Colorado

| at Colorado

at Colorado State

| at Wyoming

| Houston Christian

|

|

at South Dakota

| Stephen F. Austin

|

|

|

at Houston Christian

|

|

|

|

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • {{Official website}}

{{Northern Colorado Bears football navbox}}

{{University of Northern Colorado}}

{{Big Sky Conference football navbox}}

Category:American football teams established in 1893

Category:1893 establishments in Colorado