Princeton Tigers The Princeton Tigers are the athletic teams of Princeton University . The school sponsors 31 varsity sports . The school has won several NCAA national championships , including one in men ' s fencing , six in men ' s lacrosse , three in women ' s lacrosse , and eight in men ' s golf . Princeton ' s men ' s and women ' s crews have also won numerous national rowing championships . The field hockey team made history in 2012 as the first Ivy League team to win the Division I NCAA Championship in field hockey . Teams . Basketball . Men ' s basketball . Princeton ' s basketball team is perhaps the best - known team within the Ivy League . It is nicknamed the " perennial giant killer , " a nickname that it acquired during Pete Carril ' s coaching career from 1967 – 1996 . Its most notable upset was the 1996 defeat of defending NCAA champion UCLA in the tournament ' s opening round , Carril ' s final collegiate victory . In 1989 , the team almost became the only # 16 seed to win , losing to Georgetown 50 - 49 , after leading 29 – 21 at the half . During that 29 - year span , Pete Carril won thirteen Ivy League championships and received eleven NCAA berths and two NIT bids . Princeton placed third in the 1965 NCAA Tournament and won the NIT championship in 1975 . The deliberate " Princeton offense " is a legacy of his coaching career . It is employed by a number of other collegiate basketball teams . From 1992 – 2001 , a nine - year span , the men ' s basketball team entered the NCAA tournament four times . Notably , the Ivy League has never had an at - large entry in the NCAA tournament . For the last half - century , Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania have traditionally battled for men ' s basketball dominance in the Ivy League ; Princeton had its first losing season in 50 years of Ivy League basketball in 2005 . Princeton tied the record for fewest points in a Division I game since the 3 - point line started in 1986 – 87 when they scored 21 points in a loss against Monmouth University on December 14 , 2005 . Crew . Rowing was introduced to Princeton in 1870 by a handful of undergraduates who bought two old boats with their own funds and formed an impromptu " navy " on the Delaware and Raritan Canal . The construction of Lake Carnegie in 1906 enabled the sport to expand and laid the foundation for today ' s rowing program at Princeton . More recently , an $ 8 million upgrade and expansion of the existing boathouse in 2000 formed Shea Rowing Center , one of the finest rowing facilities in the country . With 150 athletes , 60 rowing shells , and 12 coaches , trainers , and boat riggers , crew is the largest varsity sport at Princeton , and one of the most successful . In recent years , from 2000 through 2010 , Princeton varsity crews ( both men ' s and women ' s ) won a total of 14 Eastern Sprints , IRA ( national ) , and NCAA championships , as well as two international events at Henley Royal Regatta . The Princeton boathouse is often a summer base for U . S . national teams in training , and many Princeton rowers and coaches have gone on to compete at the World Rowing Championships and the Olympics . Men ' s lightweight crew . " Main article under construction : Princeton Tigers Men ' s Lightweight Crew " Football . The football team has competed since 1869 and played in the first game against Rutgers University . They have won 24 national championships when the school competed in what is now known as the FBS . Twenty - one former players have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame . The first football game played between teams representing American colleges was an unfamiliar ancestor of today ' s college football because it was played under soccer - style London Football Association rules . The game , between Rutgers College ( now Rutgers University ) and the College of New Jersey ( now Princeton University ) , took place on November 6 , 1869 at College Field ( now the site of the College Avenue Gymnasium at Rutgers University ) in New Brunswick , New Jersey . Rutgers won by a score of six " runs " to Princeton ' s four . The 1869 game between Rutgers and Princeton is notable because it is the first documented game of any sport called " football " between two American colleges . It is also noteworthy because it occurred two years before a codified rugby game would be played in England . The Princeton / Rutgers game was significantly different from American rules football today but , nonetheless , it was the first inter - collegiate football contest in the United States . Another similar game took place between Rutgers and Columbia University in 1870 and a third notable game took place between Tufts University and Harvard University in 1875 . The popularity of intercollegiate competition in football would spread throughout the country shortly thereafter . Though Princeton is no longer a part of Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , the Tigers have the most overall national championships of any team in major college football history with 24 consensus and non - consensus national championships dating all the way back to their first one , shared with Rutgers , in 1869 . Since 1901 , however , they have 4 consensus national championships , which ranks as tied for 11th all time . Princeton ' s football helmets are also the basis for Michigan Wolverines football ' s famed winged helmets , as introduced by Fritz Crisler , the coach at Princeton before he was hired as the coach of The University of Michigan . Golf . Women ' s golf . The women ' s golf team was founded as a club sport in 1978 , coached by Betty Whelan . A group called " Friends of Women ' s Golf " began fundraising immediately , and the group began lobbying for inclusion as a varsity sport . After ten years of being denied varsity status by the university , representatives from the team contacted the ACLU asking for assistance and raising the possibility of a lawsuit under the protections of Title IX of the Civil Rights Act . In 1991 , the university committed to supporting a varsity women ' s golf program . After becoming a varsity team , women ' s golf too the Northeast championships in 1995 , and Mary Moan won the first Ivy League individual championship in 1997 . The team won its first Ivy League title in 1999 . Lacrosse . Men ' s lacrosse . The university ' s men ' s lacrosse team has enjoyed significant success since the early 1990s and is widely recognized as a perennial powerhouse in the Division I ranks . The team has won thirteen Ivy League titles ( 1992 , 1993 , 1995 – 2004 , 2006 ) and six national titles ( 1992 , 1994 , 1996 – 1998 , 2001 ) . Women ' s lacrosse . The Princeton Tigers women ' s lacrosse team has enjoyed much success , winning 3 NCAA championships , tied for 3rd place with Virginia in the number of NCAA championships won . They won NCAA division 1 titles in 1994 , 2002 , and 2003 . Their record in the NCAA tournament finals is 3 - 4 . Rugby . Men ' s Rugby . Ivy League Champions in 2004 , 1979 , 1977 , 1973 , 1971 and 1969 . Women ' s Rugby . National champions in 1995 and 1996 . Princeton women advanced to the Final Four in 1997 , 1999 , 2000 , 2001 , 2004 and 2005 . 32 Princeton women have been named All - Americans . Soccer . Men ' s soccer . Before the NCAA began its tournament in 1951 , 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 , Princeton won seven national championships . Women ' s soccer . In 2004 , the women ' s soccer team went to the Final Four in the NCAA tournament . It became the only Ivy League team ( men ' s or women ' s ) to do so in a 64 - team tournament . Squash . Princeton ' s men ' s and women ' s squash teams have earned a strong reputation during the past decade . Men ' s squash . The men have won the Ivy League championship from 2006 – 2008 and have placed second nationally in five of the past seven championships . On February 19 , the Tigers defeated the Trinity Bantams in a 5 - 4 thriller . The Bantams had won the past 13 National Championship and up until a few weeks prior to the Championship , had won 252 matches straight ( before falling to Yale 5 - 4 ) . The Tigers were undefeated in the Ivy League in 2012 and won the Ivy League championship . They were also the winner of the Sloane Sportsmanship award . Swimming and Diving . Men ' s swimming and diving . The men have won the Ivy League Championships from 2009 - 2013 . They are coached by the fearless leader C . Rob Orr . Women ' s swimming and diving . Led by Twitter celebrity , Rolls Boyce , the women have dominated the past decade . Track and field . Women ' s track and field . Princeton ' s women ' s track & field team has also enjoyed great success under Head Coach Peter Farrell . Volleyball . Women ' s volleyball . The Princeton women ' s volleyball team has won thirteen Ivy League titles and , in 1998 , its men ' s volleyball team became the first non - scholarship school to make the NCAA Final Four in 25 years . Facilities . The stadium is Princeton University Stadium , which replaced Palmer Stadium . Baseball is played at Bill Clarke Field . Basketball is played at Jadwin Gymnasium . Ice hockey is played at Baker Rink . Soccer is played at Roberts Stadium . Lacrosse is played at Class of 1952 Stadium . The men ' s and women ' s volleyball teams and the wrestling team compete at Dillon Gymnasium . All crews train at Shea Rowing Center and compete on Lake Carnegie . The Rugby Team plays at Rickerson Field on West Windsor Fields . Top athletes of the decade . 2000 - 2009 . 1 . Matty Bowman