Harvard Crimson The Harvard Crimson are the athletic teams of Harvard University . The school ' s teams compete in NCAA Division I . As of 2006 , there were 41 Division I intercollegiate varsity sports teams for women and men at Harvard , more than at any other NCAA Division I college in the country . Like the other Ivy League universities , Harvard does not offer athletic scholarships . The school has won national championships in men ' s football ( 12 ) , golf ( 6 ) , men ' s ice hockey ( 1 ) , women ' s lacrosse ( 1 ) , men ' s soccer ( 4 ) , coed sailing ( 1 ) , women ' s sailing ( 1 ) , fencing ( 1 ) , women ' s rowing ( 1 ) , and men ' s individual wrestling ( 3 ) . Teams . Baseball . Harvard ' s baseball program began competing in the 1865 season . It has appeared in four College World Series . It plays at Joseph J . O ' Donnell Field and is currently coached by Bill Decker . Basketball . Men ' s basketball . Harvard Crimson men ' s basketball program represents intercollegiate men ' s basketball at Harvard University . The team currently competes in the Ivy League in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) and play home games at the Lavietes Pavilion in Boston , Massachusetts . The team ' s last appearance in the NCAA Division I Men ' s Basketball Tournament was in 2012 . The Crimson are currently coached by Tommy Amaker . Fencing . The fencing won the 2006 NCAA team championship in men ' s and women ' s combined fencing . Football . The football team has competed since 1873 . They have won ten national championships when the school competed in what is now known as the FBS . They are perhaps best known for their rivalry with Yale , known as " The Game " . Sixteen former players have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame . Harvard ' s athletic rivalry with Yale is intense in every sport in which they meet , coming to a climax each fall in their annual football meeting , which dates back to 1875 . While Harvard ' s football team is no longer one of the country ' s best as it often was a century ago during football ' s early days ( it won the Rose Bowl in 1920 ) , both it and Yale have influenced the way the game is played . In 1903 , Harvard Stadium introduced a new era into football with the first - ever permanent reinforced concrete stadium of its kind in the country . The stadium ' s structure actually played a role in the evolution of the college game . Seeking to reduce the alarming number of deaths and serious injuries in the sport , the Father of Football , Walter Camp ( former captain of the Yale football team ) , suggested widening the field to open up the game . But the state - of - the - art Harvard Stadium was too narrow to accommodate a wider playing surface . So , other steps had to be taken . Camp would instead support revolutionary new rules for the 1906 season . These included legalizing the forward pass , perhaps the most significant rule change in the sport ' s history . In both 1919 and 1920 , headed by All - American brothers Arnold Horween and Ralph Horween , Harvard was undefeated ( 9 – 0 – 1 , as they outscored their competition 229 – 19 , and 8 – 0 – 1 , respectively ) . The team won the 1920 Rose Bowl against the University of Oregon , 7 – 6 . It was the only bowl appearance in Harvard history . Golf . Men ' s golf . Harvard has won six men ' s golf championships : 1898 ( spring ) , 1899 , 1901 , 1902 ( fall ) , 1903 , and 1904 . Ice hockey . Men ' s ice hockey . The men ' s ice hockey team is one of the oldest intercollegiate ice hockey teams in the United States , having played their first game on January 19 , 1898 in a 0 - 6 loss to Brown . Former head coach William H . Claflin and former captain George Owen are credited with the first use of line change in a game against Yale on March 3 , 1923 when the Crimson substituted entire forward lines instead of individuals . The men ' s ice hockey team won the NCAA Division I Championship on April 1 , 1989 , defeating the Minnesota Golden Gophers 4 - 3 in overtime . The Cleary Cup , awarded to the ECAC regular - season champion , is named for former Harvard All - America n hockey player , coach , and athletic director Bill Cleary , a member of the U . S . hockey team that won the 1960 Winter Olympics gold medal . The team competes in ECAC Hockey along with six other Ivy League schools and is coached by Harvard alumnus , Olympian , and former NHL forward , Ted Donato . Harvard competes in one of the most heated rivalries of college hockey at least twice each season against Harvard ' s archrival , the Cornell Big Red , in installments of the Cornell - Harvard hockey rivalry . Cornell and Harvard are the most storied programs currently in the ECAC . Lacrosse . Women ' s lacrosse . Harvard became the first Ivy League institution to win a NCAA championship title in a women ' s sport , when its women ' s lacrosse team won the NCAA championship in 1990 . The team was runner - up in 1989 and 1992 . Rowing . Older than " The Game " by 23 years , the Harvard - Yale Regatta was the original source of the athletic rivalry between the two schools . It is held annually in June on the Thames river in eastern Connecticut . Both the Harvard heavyweight and lightweight teams are typically considered to be among the top teams in the country in rowing , having won numerous national championships in recent years . For a time the Harvard lightweight mens team had one of the " oddest " streaks in collegiate sports , having won the national championships in every odd year from 1989 to 2003 ( and in no corresponding even years ) . The streak was broken when Harvard lost to Yale by almost 4 seconds in 2005 . The women ' s heavyweight rowing team were NCAA Champions in 2003 . Rugby . The Harvard Rugby Football Club is the college rugby team of Harvard . Founded in 1872 , Harvard RFC is Harvard ' s oldest athletic team , and the oldest rugby club in the United States . Harvard competes in the Ivy League , and won the Ivy League Championship in 2007 , 2003 and 1994 , and were National Champions in 1984 . In 2009 , the men joined a newly established Ivy Rugby Conference that kicked off as a separate conference in Division 1 . In 2013 , Harvard will add women ' s rugby as a varsity sport , increasing the number of sports the school offers to 42 . Sailing . The Harvard team won the Intercollegiate Sailing Association National Championships in 2003 and is currently ranked 11th nationally according to Sailing World . Soccer . Men ' s soccer . Before the NCAA began its tournament in 1959 , the annual national champion was declared by the Intercollegiate Association Football League ( IAFL ) — from 1911 to 1926 — and then the Intercollegiate Soccer Football Association ( ISFA ) , from 1927 to 1958 . From 1911 to 1958 , Harvard won four national championships . Volleyball . Men ' s volleyball . Inaugural season for the men ' s team was 1981 . The Crimson compete in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association ( EIVA ) and are under the direction of head coach , Brian Baise . Women ' s volleyball . Inaugural season for the women ' s team was 1981 . The Crimson compete in the Ivy League and are under the direction of head coach , Jennifer Weiss . Water Polo . Coach Ted Minnis heads both the Men ' s and Women ' s Water Polo teams , which compete in the Collegiate Water Polo Association . The teams both play in Blodgett Pool . Facilities . Harvard has several athletic facilities , such as the Lavietes Pavilion , a multi - purpose arena and home to the basketball teams . The Malkin Athletic Center , known as the " MAC , " serves both as the university ' s primary recreation facility and as home to the varsity men ' s and women ' s volleyball , men ' s and women ' s fencing , and wrestling teams . The five - story building includes two cardio rooms , an Olympic - size swimming pool , a smaller pool for aquaerobics and other activities , a mezzanine , where all types of classes are held at all hours of the day , and an indoor cycling studio , three weight rooms , and a three - court gym floor to play basketball . The MAC also offers personal trainers and specialty classes . The MAC is also home to volleyball , fencing , and wrestling . The offices of several of the school ' s varsity coaches are also in the MAC . Weld Boathouse and Newell Boathouse house the women ' s and men ' s rowing teams , respectively . The men ' s crew also uses the Red Top complex in Ledyard , CT , as their training camp for the annual Harvard - Yale Regatta . The Bright Hockey Center hosts the ice hockey teams , and the Murr Center serves both as a home for the squash and tennis teams as well as a strength and conditioning center for all athletic sports . Other facilities include : Joseph J . O ' Donnell Field ( baseball ) , Harvard Stadium ( football ) , Cumnock Turf and Harvard Stadium ( lacrosse ) , Soldiers Field Soccer Stadium and Ohiri Field ( soccer ) , and Blodgett Pool ( swimming and diving , water polo ) . Television footage . " Harvard Undergraduate Television " has footage from historical games and athletic events including the 2005 pep - rally before the Harvard - Yale Game . Harvard ' s official athletics website has more comprehensive information about Harvard ' s athletic facilities .