'Washington Huskies is the mascot of the the University of Washington. The school is a member of the NCAA Division I-A and the Pacific-10 Conference. The athletic program is made up of 10 men's sports (baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, rowing, swimming, soccer, tennis, track) and 11 women's sports (basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, rowing, swimming, soccer, softball, tennis, track, volleyball). Among its facilities on campus are Husky Stadium (football and track & field), the Bank of America Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion (basketball), the Nordstrom Tennis Center and the blank">Conibear Shellhouse (rowing). The golf team plays at the Washington National Golf Club and the swimming team calls the _Weyerhaeuser Aquatic Center and the Husky pool home.
UW students, sports teams, and alumni are called Huskies, and often referred to metonymically as "Montlake," due to the campus's location on Montlake Boulevard N.E. thiel22.html" target="_blank">http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/thiel/300600_thiel22.html (It should be noticed that the traditional bounds of the _Montlake neighborhood do not extend north of the Montlake Cut to encompass the campus.) The husky was selected as the school mascot by student committee in 1922. It replaced the "Sun Dodger," an abstract reference to the local weather that was quickly dropped in favor of something more tangible. The costumed "Harry the Husky" performs at sporting and special events, and a live Alaskan Malamute, currently named Spirit, has traditionally led the UW football team onto the field at the start of games. The school colors of purple and gold were adopted in 1892 by student vote. The choice was purportedly inspired by the first stanza of Lord Byron's The Destruction of Sennacherib: The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold; And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
College football has a long and storied history at the University of Washington. Over the years the Washington Huskies have won 15 Pacific Ten Conference Championships, 7 Rose Bowl Titles and 2 National Championships. Washington's all-time record of 639-363-50 (as of 2005) ranks 17th by all-time winning percentage and 16th by all-time victories.
The Huskies play in historic Husky Stadium, which is the largest stadium in the Pacific Northwest with a seating capacity of 72,500.
As of 2007, Washington is one of only five of the 119 Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) teams to have never played a Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) team since Division I was split in 1978. Chris Dufrense, blank">UCLA victory is crucial for Dorrell, Los Angeles Times, September 20, 2007.
The Huskies have recently fallen on hard times. They have not had a winning season since 2002 (the last year under _Rick Neuheisel), and have had 4 consecutive losing seasons, something which had not happened before in the history of Washington's football program.
