Troy Trojans football The Troy Trojans football program represents Troy University , Alabama , in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision , formerly known as Division I - A , of which it has been a member since 2001 . The football program joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2004 , while the other Troy athletic programs didn ' t join the SBC until 2005 . History . Troy University has fielded a football team continuously since 1946 . Prior to that year , the team was fielded with only a few interruptions from 1909 to 1942 . Eight years were skipped due to lack of participation and later World War I from 1913 – 1920 , while the Wall Street Crash of 1929 kept the team from playing that year . Having moved up from Division I - AA , the team has competed in the NCAA ' s Division I since 2001 . Troy University football began playing in the NCAA ' s Division I - A in 2001 , became a football only member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2004 , and joined that conference for all other sports in 2005 . In 2001 , Troy defeated Mississippi State University at Scott Field in Starkville , Mississippi , by a count of 21 - 9 to notch the Trojans ' first victory over a BCS level program . The Trojans began their 2004 campaign with a win over Marshall , and then garnered the program ' s largest win one game later as the Trojans defeated then # 17 ranked Missouri , 24 – 14 , in front of a Movie Gallery Stadium record crowd . The Trojan football team made its first bowl game appearance in the Silicon Valley Football Classic on December 30 , 2004 that same season , but lost to Northern Illinois , 34 – 21 . In 2006 , Troy won the Sun Belt Conference for the first time after defeating Middle Tennessee State in dramatic fashion in the last game of the 2006 season in a game that is now referred to as " The Miracle in Murfreesboro " . As the 2006 Sun Belt Conference champions , Troy played in the New Orleans Bowl on December 22 , 2006 against Rice University , routing the Owls of Conference USA by a score of 41 – 17 . The New Orleans Bowl victory was Troy ' s first bowl victory in history . Troy football head coach Larry Blakeney is entering his 20th season as head coach . He has led the program to three Southland Football League titles and five straight Sun Belt Conference titles , as well as guided the Trojans to seven FCS playoff appearances and four FBS bowl games . Blakeney boasts an overall record of 152 - 71 - 1 as head coach at Troy . Blakeney is the winningest coach in the Troy University history and he is the 4th winningest collegiate coach all - time in the state of Alabama , only behind greats Paul " Bear " Bryant , Cleveland L . Abbott , and Ralph " Shug " Jordan . Blakeney is just one of two coaches to ever take a football program from Division II to I - A ( the other is UCF ’ s Gene McDowell ) . Troy ' s only perfect regular season record in football came at the conclusion of the 1995 season as the Trojans finished 11 – 0 and were crowned champions of the Southland Football League heading into the NCAA Division I - AA playoffs . Troy won the NAIA national football championship in 1968 and the NCAA Division II national football championship in 1984 and 1987 . Troy has accomplished winning five straight Sun Belt Conference championships since 2006 , breaking North Texas ' record of four straight Sun Belt titles from 2001 to 2004 . The Trojans have also compiled a 32 - 5 record against Sun Belt competition during the last five seasons . Championships . Troy has won 20 total conference championships to go along with 3 national championships . The program won the 1968 NAIA National Championship against Texas A & I ( now Texas A & M - Kingsville ) . Troy beat North Dakota State in 1984 to win their first Division II national title . They won their second Division II national title in 1987 after defeating Portland State . Season Records . Troy Trojans football seasons Rivalries . Troy plays Middle Tennessee in the annual Battle for the Palladium . Troy and Middle Tennessee first played each other in 1936 , but it wasn ' t until 2003 that schools started playing annually for the Palladium Trophy . Troy used to play Jacksonville State in the annual Battle for the Ol ' School Bell . The schools first played in 1924 and was one of the fiercest rivalries for both schools . The game hasn ' t been played since 2001 after Troy joined the FBS .