Florida Atlantic Owls Tickets

About The Florida Atlantic Owls

FAU’s sports teams are called the Owls and compete in the NCAA’s Division I and the Sun Belt Conference. The university started sponsoring intercollegiate teams in 1979, which is also when their sports program started. The school has tried to develop its intercollegiate program more by bringing in coaches like Howard Schnellenberger, Matt Doherty and Rex Walters. One tradition between FAU and Florida International University, or FIU, is the Shula Bowl, which occurs on an annual basis. This football game is named after coach Don Shula and comes from the fact that both head coaches, FAU’s Schnellenberger and former FIU coach Don Strock, worked for Shula at some point in their careers. When the game is played at Dolphin Stadium, it’s considered a home game; when it’s played at FIU Stadium in Miami, it’s considered an away game.

The 1st Shula Bowl was played at Pro Player Stadium in 2002 and alternates between Dolphin Stadium and FIU Stadium. The Owls’ football team plays their home games at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, and Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. FAU started its football program in 2001 and they were coached by Schnellenberger. After only 4 seasons, they went from Division I-AA to Division I-A and joined the Sun Belt Conference. The Owls defeated Troy University in the last game of 2007’s regular season to become the Sun Belt Co-champions and got an invite to the New Orleans Bowl. This was the 7th year in the football team’s history and the 3rd playing in Division I; because of this, the team set an NCAA record by being the youngest team to receive an invitation to a bowl game. The team’s natural rivals are the Florida International Golden Panthers, who are only 50 miles away from FAU and both teams compete in the Sun Belt Conference.