Launching Pad Trivia Quiz

Answer: Auburn

John Heisman, whose name is now on the trophy given to college football's top player, was a former head coach at Auburn from 1895 to 1899. Both Newton and Jackson each won the Heisman Trophy in their time at Auburn. Auburn's annual Iron Bowl rivalry against Alabama is one of the biggest games on the schedule.

In the pool, the 2000s saw an Auburn dynasty as the men's team won five consecutive championships from 2003-2007, and the women won five of six championships between 2002-2007. While at Auburn, Kirsty Coventry won a gold medal and two others at the 2004 Summer Olympics for her home country of Zimbabwe.

Answer: Wisconsin

The Badgers have been a part of the Big Ten Conference since 1896 in all sports the Big Ten has hosted since then. The school has experienced some heartbreak on the national stage, losing three consecutive Rose Bowl games between 2010-12, as well as defeats in consecutive Final Fours in men's basketball in 2014 and 2015. On the ice, the Badgers have not been disappointed.

In 2006, Wisconsin became the first school to win national championships in both men's and women's ice hockey.

Answer: Pittsburgh

Football at the University of Pittsburgh started in 1889, while the school was still the Western University of Pennsylvania. In the early 20th century the team was unstoppable, winning national championships in 1915, 1916 and 1918 and five more between 1929 and 1937. Pitt has also shaped football through the use of numbers on jerseys, hosting the first live radio broadcast of a college football game. Along with championships in men's basketball from 1928 and 1930, Pitt is one of the few schools to claim national titles in the two marquee NCAA sports.

Answer: North Carolina

UNC has been dominant in women's soccer, winning 16 national championships in 19 years from 1982-2000 under head coach Anson Dorrance. The men's basketball program has been the subject of national attention under coaches Dean Smith and Roy Williams. Smith described his coaching as "The Carolina Way", where academics and athletics go hand in hand. Of the names listed above, Brown, Jordan, and Taylor all are enshrined in their respective sports' Hall of Fame, while Hamm is a two-time Olympic gold medallist.

Answer: Boston College

Boston College is one of the rare schools where the hockey program compares in publicity with the football and basketball programs. Each year, BC competes with crosstown rivals Boston University, Harvard, and Northeastern in the Beanpot tournament on the ice, as well as on the diamond.

After the success of the men's hockey tournament, a similar tournament for the men's baseball teams was formed. Doug Flutie launched Boston College into the national spotlight after he threw a 64-yard Hail Mary touchdown to Gerard Phelan, beating Miami on national television in 1984. Flutie was on his way to the Heisman Trophy that season.

Answer: UCLA

Under the tutelage of "The Wizard of Westwood" John Wooden, the UCLA Bruins won seven consecutive men's basketball championships (1967-1973), part of ten in a twelve year period (1964-1975) when UCLA dominated the college basketball landscape (they also won 88 consecutive games at one point). UCLA's dominance has not been restricted to the court, when the women's water polo team claimed the national title in 2007, they secured the 100th NCAA championship in school history. UCLA teams won three more championships in May 2008 alone! Before breaking baseball's colour barrier, Jackie Robinson attended UCLA where he won the 1940 NCAA long jump as well as playing baseball, football and basketball as well. Robinson did not finish his degree, disrupted by World War II and his emerging baseball career.

Answer: Texas

The University of Texas holds a few unique claims. The school claims to have both the world's largest drum (although Purdue University disputes it) and the world's largest Texas flag. The school is also the only remaining NCAA Division 1 school to have separate mens and womens athletic departments.

The school also has a 24 hour channel dedicated solely to Longhorns athletics. The Longhorn Network, a joint venture with ESPN, launched in 2011 and features coverage of all Longhorn athletic events as well as campus-specific programming.

Answer: North Dakota

North Dakota's athletic teams were referred to as the Sioux before 1999 when they added Fighting to the nickname. With the name change came a new logo, which resulted in controversy for its depiction of members of the Sioux tribe. The name was retired after 2012 after much controversy, with a statewide referendum concluding the debate. 67.3% of voters elected to drop the nickname, resulting in the team going without a nickname for three years until Fighting Hawks won a fan vote. North Dakota's marquee sport is men's hockey and has produced many players who have gone to play or coach in the NHL.

Answer: Georgetown

What's a hoya? I don't know and neither does the school itself. The belief is that it comes from the Greek word "Hoya" meaning "what", which was incorporated into a student chant during sporting events at the turn of the 20th century. The word Hoya started becoming more common on campus and the team slowly adopted the nickname.

Although the men's baseball team first ran in 1870, it took 90 years until the school opened up varsity athletics to women. Despite the long history, it took until the 1984 men's basketball national championship, (with Ewing on the court) for the school to claim its first national team title.

The women's cross country team delivered the second in 2011.

Answer: Arizona

The LA Times were the creators of the "Wildcats", when they proclaimed Arizona's team played with the heart of a wildcat in a 1914 game against the University of California. The Arizona climate lends itself to a strong golf program, and Arizona has just that. Along with Furyk, female golfers Annika Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa also are Wildcat graduates. Arizona's softball team claimed four national championships in five years between 1993 and 1997. Arizona's men's basketball team defeated three #1 seeds in their 1998 championship run, but has also stumbled in March Madness, losing in the first round as a #3 and #2 seed in consecutive years.