Baseball

The baseball team has won 16 conference titles and for the last 37 seasons they had been coached by two men. The last 23 of those years Steve Peterson has been at the helm. Middle Tennessee has made 13 NCAA Tournament appearances. Their best turnout was in 1982 when the Blue Raiders fell one game short of making the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. In 2009, Rawley Bishop, Nathan Hines, and Bryce Brentz all broke several team and league records to lead the Blue Raiders to the 2009 Sun Belt Conference regular season and tournament titles. They also set a school record with 44 wins, going 44–18 on the season. The Blue Raiders were chosen for the Louisville Regional. They won their first game against in-state rival Vanderbilt 5–4, but lost to host Louisville in their second game 3–2 and were eliminated by Vanderbilt 6–0 in game three. In 2010, outfielder Bryce Brentz was selected in the supplemental first round with the 36th overall pick by the Boston Red Sox, becoming the second highest Blue Raider picked in the MLB First-Year Player Draft. The highest was pitcher Dewon Brazelton who was selected third overall by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2001 MLB First-Year Player Draft. In the summer of 2012, Steve Peterson decided to retire. Peterson and John Stanford, the previous coach before him, had been the only two coaches in the past 38 years. Peterson retires with an all-time career record of 791–637–3. Peterson did a lot more for the program than just win ballgames. He helped carry on annual events such as the yearly Fish Fry that is held every October and was started by Coach John Stanford. Also, he carried on the tradition of the Groundhog Day Luncheon that takes place every February. Peterson also was the prime leader in fundraising for the renovations that took place to Reese Smith Jr. Field. In addition to fundraising enough money for increased seating at Reese Smith Jr. Field, Peterson raised enough money for a clubhouse. The Stephen B. Smith clubhouse was built in 1998 and has served as the team's locker room for the past 14 seasons.

Men's basketball

Murphy Center, home of the men's and women's basketball teams (November 2008)

The men's basketball program has had staggered history. 1975 saw Middle Tennessee and head coach Jimmy Earle make their first NCAA Tournament. The team was selected for the Mideast Regional, but fell in the first round to Oregon State 78–67. After one more first round bow out, the Raiders, then coached by Stan Simpson, won their first NCAA Tournament game as an 11-seed, the highest seeding the school has received in the tournament. In the historic Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tenn., Middle Tennessee beat Kentucky 50–44 in the Mideast Regional. The Raiders would lose to Louisville in the second round, who won the regional title that year and advanced to the Final Four.

Then 1985 saw Middle Tennessee embark on a string of five consecutive seasons with a post-season berth, either in the NCAA Tournament or the National Invitation Tournament. Their best post-season run was in the 1988 NIT. In the first round coach Bruce Stewart's Raiders hosted in-state rival Tennessee and beat the Volunteers 85–80 in front of a full-house in the Murphy Center. Four nights later Middle Tennessee hosted another Southeastern Conference foe Georgia. Ty Baynham and Randy Henry led Middle Tennessee to another victory, this time 69–59. After beating the Bulldogs, the Blue Raiders hosted Boston College for the right to go to Madison Square Garden and the NIT Semifinals. However Murphy's Magic ran out, and the Eagles defeated Middle Tennessee 78–69. The following season the Blue Raiders once again made the NCAA Tournament. Earning a 13-seed, the Raiders defeated the Florida State Seminoles 97–83. Middle Tennessee was down by 17 (67–50) with 16 minutes left in the game. Freshman Mike Buck put the team on his shoulders at that point, and with a career high 26 points, led the Raiders on a 47–16 run to end the game and advance the team to the round of 32. Middle Tennessee's dream season would end in the second round at the hands of the Virginia Cavaliers with a 104–88 loss. After Stewart was let go amid NCAA rules violations after the 1990–91 season, the Blue Raiders enjoyed only modest success until the 2011–12 season.

Coach Kermit Davis broke the all-time coaching wins record, previously held by Earle, with a 68–56 win over Ole Miss on December 21. The win was especially sweet for Davis. Not only is he now the winningest coach in Blue Raiders history, but he also graduated from the Rebels' biggest rival, Mississippi State. On January 26, Middle Tennessee beat Troy 71–58 to earn their 20th win of the season, the first time the school had reached that mark since the 1990–91 season. And on February 18 the Blue Raiders defeated Florida Atlantic to earn their 24th win and break the school's single season wins record. The team finished the regular season 25–5 overall and 14–2 in the Sun Belt Conference, earning them their first ever outright championship of the league.

On March 18, 2016, the 15th seeded Blue Raiders defeated 2nd seeded Michigan State in the opening round of the Midwest Region of the 2016 NCAA men's tournament, becoming the eighth #15 seed to win a game in the history of the tournament. The Blue Raiders lost in the second round to 10th seed Syracuse on March 20.

Women's basketball

The women's basketball team, currently coached by Rick Insell, has appeared several times in the NCAA and WNIT basketball tournaments, dating back to the 1970s. The Blue Raiders won the Sun Belt Conference championship in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2012, receiving the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA women's tournament. In 2008, the team lost in the Sun Belt Championship game, and received a bid to play in the WNIT. The MTSU Women's team has been home to the NCAA's leading scorer for two recent consecutive seasons: Amber Holt in 2008, and Alysha Clark in 2009.

Football

The football team has won 12 conference titles, the most recent being in 2006. That year, the Blue Raiders won their second Sun Belt Conference championship and received a bid to play in the Motor City Bowl in Detroit, Mich., the program's first major FBS (Formerly Division I-A) bowl game. In 2009 the team became the first Sun Belt Conference team to reach 10 wins in a single season. The Raiders finished the season 10–3 with their first bowl win over Southern Mississippi in the New Orleans Bowl. Middle Tennessee has had 15 head coaches including Johnny "Red" Floyd, the man who the football stadium is named after. The Blue Raiders are currently led by Rick Stockstill.

Men's golf

The men's golf team has won 19 conference championships:^[3]

• Ohio Valley Conference (16): 1956, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1974, 1978, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000
• Sun Belt Conference (1): 2009
• Conference USA (2): 2018, 2019

They won the NCAA Division II Championship in 1965 while Gary Head (1963) and Larry Gilbert (1965) won individual national titles.^[3]

The 2008 team advanced to the NCAA tournament final round (16 teams) and finished ranked 15th in the nation.

Track

The track program has a storied history including 43 conference titles, 18 NCAA top-25 finishes and 80 All-American awards. The program has been led since 1965 by legendary coach Dean Hayes.

Volleyball

The women's volleyball program - which plays its games in Alumni Memorial Gym - has developed into a national power with Sun Belt Conference championships in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010; and NCAA tournament bids in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. In 2006 the Blue Raiders advanced to the NCAA tournament second round and followed that up in 2007 with a "sweet 16" appearance to conclude the best season in team history.

The Blue Raiders hosted the 2013 Conference USA Volleyball Championship at Alumni Memorial Gym, winning the bid to host in Middle Tennessee's first year in C-USA.

Alma maters

In 1912, student William J. McConnell wrote the first school song titled, "Hail, M.T.N!" The music is the 19th-century Russian national anthem, God Save the Tsar!, composed by Alexei Lvov. When the normal school became Middle Tennessee State Teacher's College, the abbreviations "M.T.N." were substituted with "S.T.C."

During the golden anniversary in 1961, Charles Douglas Williams, graduate in 1953, wrote "Alma Mater", an original composition musically and lyrically. The state college adopted the new piece as its alma mater. The song is played before every football game and sung during commencement exercises.^[4]

Fight songs

The original fight song of MTSU is "Blue Raiders Ride!" The march, written by Paul Yoder, opens with a traditional drum roll and a trumpet fanfare that closely resembles Dixie, which was played as a fight sung up until then, tying in the Confederate symbolism of the school's mascot, the Raider. The march is 148 bpm in the key of B-flat.

On September 10, 2011, the day before the centennial of MTSU, the Blue Raiders hosted the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets for the largest crowd to fill Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium. As part of the official Centennial Celebration, the Band of Blue performed Blue Raiders Ride!, an arrangement of Happy Birthday, and The Stars and Stripes Forever. Because of the positive crowd response, Blue Raiders Ride! became part of the regular pre-game performance.

A new fight song was adopted in 1993, featuring a cheer. The tune and melody are similar to that of On, On, U of K.^[5]