Columbia Lions football The Columbia University Lions are the collective athletic teams and their members from Columbia University , an Ivy League institution in New York City , United States . The current director of athletics is M . Dianne Murphy . Ivy League athletics . The eight - institution athletic league to which Columbia University belongs , the Ivy League , also includes Brown University , Cornell University , Dartmouth College , Harvard University , University of Pennsylvania , Princeton University , and Yale University . The Ivy League conference sponsors championships in 33 men ' s and women ' s sports and averages 35 varsity teams at each of its eight universities . The League provides intercollegiate athletic opportunities for more men and women than any other conference in the United States . All eight Ivy schools are listed in the top 20 NCAA Division I schools in number of sports offered for both men and women . The Lions . Columbia University was founded in 1754 and currently fields 29 co - ed , men ’ s , and women ’ s teams . Women ' s teams are cooperatively organized with the affiliated Barnard College . All Columbia teams compete at the Division I level in the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) . The school ' s football team competes at the NCAA Division I FCS level . It is believed that the school adopted the nickname " Lions " as a reference to the institution ' s royal past . The University was originally named King ' s College since its charter in 1754 by King George II of England . The lion is the animal depicted on the English coat of arms . Only after the American Revolution was King ' s finally renamed Columbia University . History . Intercollegiate sports at Columbia date to the foundation of the baseball team in 1867 . Men ' s association football ( i . e . soccer ) followed in 1870 , and men ' s crew in 1873 . Men ' s Crew was one of Columbia ' s best early sports , and in 1878 the Columbia College Boat Club was the first non - English school to win a race at the Henley Royal Regatta . The third ever men ' s intercollegiate soccer match was played between Columbia and Rutgers University , with Rutgers winning 6 to 3 . Columbia joined the American football movement soon after Harvard and Yale played their first game in 1875 — in 1876 , Columbia , Harvard , and Princeton University formed the Intercollegiate Football Association . In addition , the Lions ' wrestling team is the nation ' s oldest . The Columbia football team won the Rose Bowl in 1934 , upsetting Stanford University 7 - 0 . Columbia also hosted the first televised sporting event : on May 17 , 1939 , the fledgling NBC network filmed the baseball double - header of the Light Blue versus the Princeton University Tigers at Columbia ' s Baker Field at the northernmost point in Manhattan . Men ’ s teams . Baseball , Basketball , Cross Country , Golf , Lacrosse , Heavyweight Rowing , Lightweight Rowing , Soccer , Swimming and Diving , Tennis , Track and Field , Football and Wrestling . Women ’ s teams ( Columbia - Barnard ) . Archery , Women ' s Basketball , Cross Country , Fencing , Field Hockey , Women ' s Golf , Lacrosse , Women ' s Rowing , Women ' s Soccer , Softball , Women ' s Swimming and Diving , Women ' s Tennis , Track and Field , and Volleyball , Achievements . Columbia University hosts one of the oldest and most storied traditions of athletics in the United States . Football . Columbia was one of the first schools to take up the game ; Columbia ' s 1870 contest with Rutgers was the second intercollegiate football game ever played . The Lions compete in the Ivy League , which is part of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision ( formerly known as Division I - AA . ) The football program unfortunately is best known for its record of futility set during the 1980s : between 1983 and 1988 , the team lost 44 games in a row , which is still the record for the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision . The streak was broken on October 8 , 1988 , with a 16 - 13 victory over archrival Princeton . That was the Lions ' first victory at Wien Stadium ( which was already four years old , having been opened during the streak . ) Even before the streak , the Lions had long been regarded as one of the worst football teams in the country . The program was much more successful in the first half of the 20th century , and was at times a national power . The 1915 squad went undefeated and untied . The 1933 edition of the Lions won an unofficial national championship by upsetting the top - ranked Stanford Indians 7 - 0 in the Rose Bowl on New Years Day 1934 . Lou Little , who coached the team from 1930 to 1956 , is in the College Football Hall of Fame . Pro Football Hall of Fame r Sid Luckman played his college ball at Columbia , graduating in 1938 . Luckman is also in the College Football Hall of Fame . Other Lions to have success in the NFL include offensive lineman George Starke , the Washington Redskins ' " Head Hog , " during the 1970s and 1980s , quarterback John Witkowski in the 1980s , and defensive lineman Marcellus Wiley in the 1990s . Perhaps the most famous personality associated with Lions football was a running back who had limited success on the field : the writer Jack Kerouac left school and went on the road after one injury - marred season at Columbia . Another Lions back who became legendary for his accomplishments off the gridiron was baseball great Lou Gehrig , who was a two - sport star at Columbia . The current head coach , Norries Wilson , is the first African - American head coach in the history of Ivy League football . He has served as the Lion ' s head coach since 2005 . Baseball . Lou Gehrig played college baseball at Columbia ( he joined the New York Yankees in 1923 , after his sophomore season ) as well as Hall of Fame inductee Eddie Collins . In 1939 the first live televised sporting event in the United States , was a Columbia Vs Princeton baseball game , broadcast from Baker Field in New York City . Other Columbia Lions who have gone on to play in Major League Baseball include Gene Larkin and Fernando Perez . Men ' s basketball . Columbia was one of the first schools to take up basketball . The Lions ' rivalry with the Yale Bulldogs is the longest continuous rivalry in NCAA college basketball ( tied with the Yale - Princeton rivalry ) : the two teams have played each other for 108 seasons in a row , going back to the 1901 - 1902 season . The Lions were the unofficial national collegiate champions in 1904 , 1905 , and 1910 , based on the Helms Foundation rankings . The 1903 - 1904 and 1904 - 1905 teams went undefeated . During the years just before the Ivy League formally became a sports conference , the Lions made it to " March Madness " on two occasions . In 1948 , they were one of eight teams in the tournament , losing in the East regional semifinal to the eventual champion Kentucky . The 1951 team went undefeated in the regular season and were one of the 16 teams invited to the championship . The Lions lost 79 - 71 to eventual semi - finalist Illinois for a final record of 21 - 1 ( best record in the nation that year with win - loss percentage of . 956 ) The 1951 team is , however , sadly best known for the tragic story of its brilliant but troubled star forward Jack Molinas , who eventually ended up in prison for crimes related his longtime involvement with gambling and who was murdered in 1975 in what appeared to be an organized - crime related assassination . Molinas still holds several school scoring records . In 1957 Chet Forte was a consensus All - American and UPI player of the year for NCAA Division I ; he averaged 28 . 9 points ( fifth in the nation . ) He is even more famous for his later work as a producer for ABC Sports , especially on the program " Monday Night Football " . The 1957 team had 2 , 016 rebounds , fourth highest in NCAA Division I history , even though they played only 24 games . The Lions have only won the official Ivy League championship once , in 1968 , when they reached the " Sweet Sixteen " in the NCAA national tournament . Two members of the 1968 team went on to play professional basketball : Jim McMillian and Dave Newmark . ( NFL great George Starke was also a member of the Lions ' basketball team in that era . ) Jack Rohan was voted Coach of the Year in 1968 . The Lions had a powerful squad in the late 1970s , even though they never won the Ivy League championship or made it to post - season play . In 1979 , the diminutive point guard Alton Byrd won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award , given to the best player under 6 feet in height . Byrd never made it to the NBA , but he moved on to a legendary career in European pro basketball . Women ' s basketball . Until the 1980s , the women ' s basketball team ( like the other women ' s teams ) was known as the Barnard Bears , playing under the aegis of Columbia ' s affiliated undergraduate women ' s college , Barnard College . When Columbia College went co - ed in 1983 , the schools formed the Columbia - Barnard Athletic Consortium , and today all Barnard athletes compete on Columbia teams . The women ' s basketball team joined the Ivy League in 1986 - 1987 , and for many years were a perennial cellar dweller , reaching their low point in 1994 - 1995 , when they went 0 - 26 . They had never finished higher than fourth in the league standings in their first 23 seasons . In 2009 - 2010 , however , they finished third , putting together a 9 - 5 record in the Ivy League , and , at 18 - 10 overall , their first winning season . Men ' s and women ' s soccer . Columbia ' s soccer program traces its origins to the same Columbia - Rutgers game that the gridiron football program counts as its first contest . ( The 1870 Columbia - Rutgers game was played by a set of rules which combined elements of present - day soccer and rugby . ) The Lions soccer team has a long history of success , spanning three centuries , highlighted by national collegiate championships in 1909 and 1910 ( Intercollegiate Soccer Football League ) , and a second - place finish in the 1983 NCAA championship . Dieter Ficken was named NSCAA Coach of the Year in 1983 after the Lions ' 1 - 0 double - overtime finals loss to seven - time champion Indiana University . 18 Lions players have been first - team all - Americans , and Amr Aly earned the 1984 Hermann Trophy national player of the year award . The women ' s team was the 2006 Ivy League champions . Notable athletes . The Lions have produced such notable athletes as :