The Southern Illinois Salukis are the varsity athletic teams representing Southern Illinois University, and their nickname comes from the saluki, the royal dog of Egypt, which ties into the fact that southern Illinois has had the nickname "Little Egypt" for just under 200 years. Their official uniform colors are maroon and white, and their sports mascot is the Saluki, who is one of the oldest dog breeds, and an Egyptian hunting dog similar to a greyhound or whippet. Their athletics director is Mario Moccia.
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The Salukis football program competes in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision and play their home football games at the 17,000 capacity McAndrew Stadium in Carbondale, Illinois. The Salukis were victorious against Northern Illinois University in 2007, and that marked the second consecutive year that SIU has beaten an FBS Division 1-A school in football. They defeated Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana in 2006, and SIU has been ranked in the Top-20 of the FCS Coaches Poll for 54 straight weeks. Since 2003 they have won 40 games, ranking 12th in Division 1 football during that time span. The Salukis are coached by Dale Lennon, who had previous success at the University of North Dakota. The University is planning to build a new stadium south of the current one as part of the "Saluki Way" restructuring of the athletic campus.