The Wildcats of Northwestern feature 19 varsity teams and compete in the NCAA division 1 Big East conference. Fighting game by game with colors purple and white, the college rallies behind mascot Willie the Wildcat. Northwestern games primarily take place at Ryan Field, Welsh-Ryan Arena, and Rocky Miller Park.
The colleges most popular sports consist of football, men's basketball, and women's lacrosse. The football program has been around since 1987 and at two points in time were the #1 ranked team in the country (1936 and 1962). The 2009 basketball team qualified for the NIT earning the #5 seed, but failed to get by Tulsa in the first round. The most successful Northwestern sport in recent history is Women's lacrosse, who have won five straight National championships (2005-2009).
