Brown Bears The Brown Bears are the sports teams at Brown University , located in Providence , Rhode Island in the United States . The Bears are part of the Ivy League conference . Brown ' s mascot is Bruno . Both the men ' s and women ' s teams share the name , competing in 38 National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) Division I sports . In football , the Bears , along with all other the Ivy League teams , compete in the Football Championship Subdivision ( FCS ) . Varsity athletics . The Bears participate in 38 NCAA sports , ranking them third among all Division I institutions for number of sports offered . The Bears first fielded a football team in 1878 , playing Amherst College in their inaugural game . The Bears participate in the following varsity sports : Men ' s Sports Women ' s Sports Additions and subtractions . In 2011 , a Special Committee recommended that Brown cut four varsity sports due to Brown ' s budget cut backs — men ' s fencing , women ' s fencing , men ' s wrestling , and women ' s skiing — and recommended elevating at least one women ' s sport to varsity status to ensure Title IX compliance . These proposed changes would have reduced the number of varsity sports at Brown from 37 to 34 . None of the four varsity programs were cut . Brown added women ' s rugby as its 38th varsity sport in 2014 , becoming the second Ivy League school ( after Harvard ) to offer rugby as a varsity sport . Brown added rugby as a varsity sport in part due to the growth of rugby across communities and at the high school level . Teams . Football . The Brown Bears football team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision ( FCS ) and are members of the Ivy League . Brown ' s first football team was fielded in 1878 . The team plays its home games at the 20 , 000 seat Brown Stadium in Providence . Men ' s Basketball . The Brown Bears men ' s basketball team competes in the Ivy League . The Brown Bears have appeared in the NCAA Tournament two times , including the inaugural tournament in 1939 . Their combined record is 0 – 2 . The Brown Bears have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament ( NIT ) one time . Their record is 0 – 1 . Men ' s Soccer . The Brown Bears men ' s soccer team compete in the NCAA Division I in the Ivy League and are one of the most prolific collegiate men ' s soccer programs in the country with 27 appearances ; the Bears have been semifinalists in the NCAA tournament in 1968 , 1973 , and 1975 . They also finished in fourth place in 1977 . Mascot . Brown ' s first mascot was a burro , first introduced in 1902 in a game against Harvard . The burro mascot was not retained after it seemed frightened by the noise of the game , and due to the laughter it provoked . The University originally settled on the Bruin , but later changed it to a bear after the head of bear was placed at an archway above the student union in 1904 . In 1905 The Bears introduced Helen , the university ' s first live bear mascot , at a game against Dartmouth . Bruno , Brown ' s current mascot , was introduced in 1921 , originally also as a live bear . A number of bears represented Bruno over the years , later being represented by a person in costume by the late 60 ' s . Notable athletes . The Bears have produced many athletes . One of Brown ' s most famous athletes is John Heisman , namesake of the Heisman Trophy . Before finishing college at the University of Pennsylvania , Heisman played college football at Brown as a lineman .