Western Illinois Leathernecks The Western Illinois Leathernecks are the teams and athletes that represent Western Illinois University , located in Macomb , Illinois , in NCAA Division I sports . The school ' s primary conference affiliation is with The Summit League ; its football team is a member of the Division I FCS ( formerly Division I - AA ) Missouri Valley Football Conference . Since the fall semester of 2009 , the men ' s and women ' s teams have been unified under the Leathernecks name ; previously , the women ' s teams and athletes at the school had been known as the Westerwinds . WIU ' s nickname , the Leathernecks , and its mascot , the English bulldog , are taken from the traditions of the United States Marine Corps . The university has had permission to use the official nickname and mascot of the Corps since 1927 , when Ray Hanson , then - athletic director and coach of the baseball , basketball and football teams , gained permission to use the symbols as a homage to his service in that military branch during World War I . Western Illinois University is the only non - military university to use a military nickname . WIU is also one of the three major state universities in Illinois to employ a dog as its mascot ( the others being the SIU Salukis and the NIU Huskies ) . Men ' s basketball . The Leathernecks basketball team team has never played in the NCAA Division I Men ' s Basketball Tournament . The coach since March 11 , 2008 has been Jim Molinari . From 1954 to 1963 the Leathernecks appeared in the NAIA Division I Men ' s Basketball Tournament . Although never winning the National Title , the Leathernecks did walk away with national runner - up titles , and third place finishes . Football . The football program has had several NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision ( formerly Division I - AA ) playoff appearances . They play in the Missouri Valley Football Conference . Coach Mark Hendrickson was fired on November 20 , 2012 . Western Illinois has been ranked number one once and ranked number two numerous times . The two best chances for an FCS championship were in 1997 , when they lost to runner - up McNeese State by two points and beat the FCS champion Youngstown State ( coached by Jim Tressel at the time ) during the regular season . In 2002 , WIU beat national champions Western Kentucky during the regular season 14 - 0 and lost to that same team at home 31 - 28 after a missed 63 - yard field goal attempt by Mike Scifres that fell just short . In 2010 , WIU quarterback Matt Barr , was nominated for the 2010 Walter Payton Award . Bowl games . Note : Since 1981 , the NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs Regional Championships were commonly referred Pecan Bowl ( Midwest Region Championship ) and Camellia Bowl ( West Region Championship ) . Baseball . The baseball program was coached by Stan Hyman until his sudden death from leukemia in September 2009 . The Leathernecks are one of the few mid - major teams to play every team in the Big 12 Conference . The program ' s three biggest wins were a 5 – 4 win over # 18 Oklahoma in 2004 ; a 3 – 0 win over # 7 Long Beach State in 2008 ; and a 5 – 3 win over # 4 Missouri , also in 2008 .