Northern Iowa Panthers The Northern Iowa Panthers are the athletic teams of the University of Northern Iowa . The university is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference and competes in NCAA Division I , ( Division I FCS in football ) . Teams . The University of Northern Iowa sponsors seven men ' s and ten women ' s teams in NCAA sanctioned sports : Men ' s Intercollegiate Sports Women ' s Intercollegiate Sports History . The school ' s mascot is the Panther . They participate in the NCAA ' s Division I ( I - FCS for football ) in the Missouri Valley Football Conference ( formerly the Gateway Football Conference ) , as an associate member of the Mid - American Conference in wrestling , and in the Missouri Valley Conference for all other sports . Northern Iowa previously competed in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference , North Central Conference , and the Mid - Continent Conference . Wrestling . The University of Northern Iowa Wrestling team , founded in 1923 , won the NCAA Division I national championship in 1950 and the NCAA Division II national championships in 1975 and 1978 . They competed in the Western Wrestling Conference until 2012 , when UNI became an associate member of the Mid - American Conference since the MVC is a non - wrestling conference . Doug Schwab is the current Head Coach for the Northern Iowa Wrestling Team . Mission Statement - To communicate with UNI wrestling fans to support , encourage , promote a successful UNI wrestling tradition . Northern Iowa Panther Wrestling Accomplishments : Notable wrestlers : Baseball . UNI ' s men ' s baseball program was discontinued after the 2008 - 2009 season . In 1961 , the Panthers led by future Baltimore RP Eddie Watt qualified for the NCAA Division 1 Baseball Tournament losing in the District 5 Final to eventual CWS Runner - Up Oklahoma State in Stillwater . Other MLB players who attended UNI include Duane Josephson , the first Panther named All - American and who led the nation in HR ' s . History of UNI nickname . On September 8 , 1931 , the following appeal appeared in the student newspaper , the College Eye , under the headline " Contest Started for School Name " : " Who wants to be called Tutors , Pedagogues , and Teachers all the time ? Every leading school in the country has some name by which they are known in the realm of sport . Iowa is known as the Hawkeyes , Minnesota as Gophers , Chicago as Maroons , and so forth . Why not give Iowa State Teachers College a name which signifies something characteristic about the school besides the fact that it is a teachers college ? " The article goes on to note that entries would be judged by a member of the Department of Physical Education , other faculty , and students . When the contest was announced , the Iowa State Teachers College had already been participating in intercollegiate athletics on a regular and organized basis for over thirty - five years . Teachers College teams had participated in contests with other Iowa colleges , and occasionally with teams from outside the state , in baseball , football , basketball , and track and field . Until the end of World War I , students certainly did get excited about these contests , but they probably took just as much pleasure in the success of the school ' s debate and oratorical teams . The school ' s sole mission , the preparation of teachers , tended to attract many more women than men to the Teachers College . And , consequently , the school did not have an abundance of material from which to draw its athletes in the days when only men participated in intercollegiate athletics . Following the war , however , the college made a distinct effort to attract men to the teaching profession . An important part of this effort was the addition of physical education courses to the curriculum that would help to prepare men for teaching positions that included athletics coaching responsibilities . Improved athletics facilities , including the construction of the West Gymnasium , showed that the school was taking a more serious attitude toward intercollegiate athletics . On September 18 , 1931 , the College Eye announced that Paul Bender , acting head of the Department of Physical Education for Men ; George Holmes , professor of journalism ; Robert Burley , president of the Student Council ; and the sports editor of the College Eye would judge entries . The winner would receive a leather briefcase from the Berg Drug Company . Second place would be a dresser alarm clock from Chase Jewelry Store . Third place would be a season football pass .