The Ferris State Bulldogs (FSU Bulldogs) are the athletic teams that represent Ferris State University, located in Big Rapids, Michigan, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sporting competitions. The Bulldogs compete as members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for 14 of 15 varsity sports, while the men's hockey team (the only team that competes at the Division I level) plays in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. The Bulldogs have been members of the GLIAC since 1972.
Year in and year out, nearly 400 student-athletes have the opportunity to compete for the Bulldogs on a regional and national level for conference titles and NCAA Championships. Ferris’ men’s club ice hockey won the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division 2 national title in 1994, the men's basketball team won the NCAA Division II national title in 2018, and the football program won the Division II national title in 2021 and 2022.
Varsity teams
Facilities
The Ferris Ice Arena and Sports Complex features basketball courts, volleyball courts, hockey rink and a general ice-skating rink located in the Ewigleben Arena, named after former college president Robert Ewigleben. This sports complex hosts university and high school competitions as well as community sports programs.
Championships
National Championships: 2018: Men's Basketball—NCAA Division II 2021: Football–NCAA Division II 2022: Football–NCAA Division II National Runners-up: 1989: Wrestling—NCAA Division II 2004: Women's Golf—NCAA Division II 2006: Women's Golf—NCAA Division II 2012: Men's Ice Hockey—NCAA Division I 2018: Football—NCAA Division II
Club Sports National Championships: 1994: Men's Ice Hockey—ACHA Division 2
Individual sports
Basketball
Led by power forward/center Zach Hankins in 2015-16, who had 130 blocks on the season, which led Division II and set the school single-season school record, the team won a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) regular-season and tournament title and had a then-school record for wins with a 28–5 record. Ferris State reached the second round of the 2017 NCAA Division II Tournament before falling to GLIAC rival Findlay 68–63. In his junior season, Hankins averaged 15.1 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 3.3 blocks per game and had a field goal percentage of 63 percent. His 128 blocks led the nation. Hankins repeated as GLIAC Player of the Year. He was named the National Player of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. On the season, Ferris State compiled a 38–1 record and claimed the school’s first national championship in the 2018 NCAA Division II Tournament, defeating Northern State in the final by a score of 71–69.
Ice hockey
The 2011–12 season marked the first time in school history that the Bulldogs reached the NCAA Division I Ice Hockey national championship finals. In the national championship match at the Frozen Four the Bulldogs lost 4–1 to Boston College in the title contest, leading to the cheer "Save Ferris" . The season came to a close with a 26–12–5 overall record and included a trip to the Frozen Four and a national runner-up finish. Ferris State's 26 wins were the second-most in school history, and the season highlights also included the school's second-ever Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) Regular-Season Championship and a Midwest Regional crown.
Prior to the 2011–12 season, the program's best season performance in the NCAA Division I was the 2002/03 campaign with a school-best 31–10–1 overall record. The Bulldogs also claimed their first-ever CCHA Regular-Season Championship title with a first-place 22–5–1 league mark and advanced to the NCAA Championship Tournament's West Regional title game in their initial NCAA Tourney appearance. Ferris State also earned the distinction of being the nation's first team to reach the 30-win plateau in 2002/03 and also competed in the CCHA Super Six Championship Tourney for the first time since 1993.
