Pick your team! A guide to the Triangle’s college and pro sports squads
In North Carolina — and specifically, in the Triangle — we love sports.
With elite college athletics all around us, plus professional teams in a variety of sports, there isn’t a season that goes by where you can’t catch a game or match either on TV or in person.
Whether you’re a fan of basketball, baseball, soccer, football or hockey, here’s your guide to sports around the Triangle.
College sports: UNC, Duke, NC State & more
The Triangle is home to several universities with NCAA Division I athletic programs, making for elite match-ups in almost any sport you can think of.
Of course, basketball reigns supreme in the Tobacco Road Rivalry among UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke University and N.C. State University, as the three ACC schools have more than a dozen NCAA national championship titles between them.
But college football and baseball, plus other sports, including field hockey and men’s and women’s soccer, can also be fun to watch.
If you stay around the Triangle long enough, you’ll likely have to pick one school to cheer for (did we mention the intense rivalry?) — but when you’re new to the area, or if you don’t want to solidify any allegiances too quickly, it can be fun to watch games from all of the schools to get a taste of the talent each has to offer.
Here are links to the college athletic programs around the Triangle, where you can find more information on which sports each school offers, how to purchase tickets to games and more.
▪ Duke University — goduke.com
▪ North Carolina Central University — nccueaglepride.com
▪ N.C. State University — gopack.com
▪ UNC-Chapel Hill — goheels.com
NHL hockey in NC: Carolina Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes first joined the National Hockey League in 1979 as the Hartford Whalers, then relocated to Raleigh and became the Hurricanes in 1997.
▪ The team has won one Stanley Cup in its history, hoisting the trophy after a full 7-game series in the last round of playoffs in the 2005-2006 season. The team has also won two conference championships and four division championships — most recently winning the Central Division in the 2020-2021 season.
▪ The team in recent years has embraced a nickname, “Bunch of Jerks,” after an announcer used the phrase to criticize the team’s post-win celebrations in 2019.
▪ The team’s mascot is Stormy the Ice Hog, who weighs “tons of fun.”
▪ The Hurricanes — also referred to as simply “the Canes” — play their home games at PNC Arena in Raleigh. You can purchase tickets to Canes games at nhl.com/hurricanes/tickets, or view the team’s schedule at nhl.com/hurricanes/schedule.
Minor league baseball: Durham Bulls & Carolina Mudcats
North Carolina doesn’t have a Major League Baseball team, but we have a few Minor League teams at various levels of league play — including the Durham Bulls, which play at the highest level, and the Carolina Mudcats, which play at the fourth-highest level.
Durham Bulls
▪ The Durham Bulls were originally established in 1902 as the Durham Tobacconists, their name a nod to the tobacco industry that served as the “lifeblood” of Durham’s economy well into the late 1900s.
▪ The team folded after the 1902 season, then reformed as the Durham Bulls in 1912. The team went through a number of additional name changes in the 1960s and ‘70s, but has been known as the Durham Bulls since 1980.
▪ The team first affiliated with a Major League team in 1932, and has been affiliated with a total of 10 Major League teams throughout the team’s history. The team is currently affiliated with the Tampa Bay Rays as the organization’s Triple-A affiliate, one grade below the MLB.
▪ The team gained widespread name recognition after the release of the 1988 film “Bull Durham,” which starred Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon and depicts a fictionalized version of the team and its fans. The movie was filmed in Durham, including at the Durham Athletic Park, the Bulls’ stadium from 1926 to 1994.
▪ The team won both the Triple-A East league title and the Triple-A national championship title in 2021.
▪ The team’s mascot is Wool E. Bull. The “E” stands for Education.
▪ The Durham Bulls play their home games at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park (DBAP), located in downtown Durham. You can purchase tickets to Bulls games at milb.com/durham/tickets, or view the team’s schedule at milb.com/durham/schedule.
Carolina Mudcats
▪ The Carolina Mudcats are the Low-A affiliate of the MLB’s Milwaukee Brewers. The Low-A league is the fourth-highest Minor League level of play, just above the Rookie leagues.
▪ The Carolina Mudcats were established in 1991, after the Columbus Mudcats relocated from Columbus, Georgia, to North Carolina.
▪ The Mudcats’ mascot is Muddy the Mudcat, a catfish.
▪ The Mudcats play their home games at Five County Stadium in Zebulon, outside of Raleigh. You can purchase tickets to Mudcats games at milb.com/carolina-mudcats/tickets, or view the team’s schedule at milb.com/carolina-mudcats/schedule.
Professional soccer: NC Courage & North Carolina FC
The Triangle is home to two professional soccer teams: the North Carolina Courage, part of the National Women’s Soccer League, and North Carolina FC, part of League One of the United Soccer League.
Both teams are part of the North Carolina Football Club, a youth-to-pro soccer club established in 2016 to “bring the highest levels of men’s and women’s professional soccer to the state.”
Both teams play their home games at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary.
NC Courage
▪ Established in 2017, the NC Courage is a Division I, or highest level, team of the professional National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
▪ The team’s roster features U.S. women’s national soccer team goalkeeper Casey Murphy, who’s representing the U.S. at the 2022 SheBelieves Cup, as well as international stars Abby Erceg (New Zealand) and Debinha (Brazil).
▪ The team won the NWSL championship in 2018 and 2019.
▪ You can purchase tickets for NC Courage games at nccourage.com/tickets, or view the team’s schedule at nccourage.com/courageschedule.
North Carolina FC
▪ Previously known as the Carolina RailHawks, North Carolina FC is a professional soccer team in the United Soccer League (USL) League One, a Division III league. The team was rebranded as North Carolina FC in 2016.
▪ You can purchase tickets to North Carolina FC games at northcarolinafc.com/tickets, or view the team’s schedule at northcarolinafc.com/scheduletab.
Minor league cricket: Morrisville Cardinals
Did you know that the Triangle is home to North Carolina’s only minor league cricket team?
The Morrisville Cardinals started as “a group of people who share the passion and love for the game of cricket,” but now are part of the minor leagues of the Major Cricket League. The team plays other city-based teams from around the U.S.
▪ Not sure what cricket is? It’s a bat-and-ball game played with 11 players on each team.
▪ The Cardinals play their home matches at Church Street Park (5800 Cricket Pitch Way in Morrisville), which is quickly becoming recognized as a “cricket mecca” and “one of the best venues for cricket in the United States,” and will soon be expanded into an international-quality cricket venue.
▪ You can find out more about the Morrisville Cardinals at morrisvillecardinals.com, and view the team’s match schedule at morrisvillecardinals.com/matches.
NFL football in NC: Carolina Panthers
While North Carolina’s professional football team is located in Charlotte, it can be worth the trip to watch the Carolina Panthers in person. Or just watch from the comfort of your couch.
▪ The Panthers began playing in the NFL in 1995, first playing in South Carolina before moving to their permanent home of Charlotte the following season, in 1996.
▪ The Panthers have played in two Super Bowls in the team’s history — first in 2004, and again in 2016. They lost both games.
▪ The team’s mascot is Sir Purr, a very lovable panther who has famously and hilariously been mistaken for a bear.
▪ The Carolina Panthers play their home games at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. You can purchase tickets to Panthers games at panthers.com/tickets, or view the team’s schedule at panthers.com/schedule.
NBA basketball in NC: Charlotte Hornets
Also located in Charlotte is North Carolina’s professional basketball team, the Charlotte Hornets.
▪ The Hornets played their inaugural season in the 1988-1989 NBA season.
▪ After the 2002 NBA season, the team moved to New Orleans. Charlotte was granted a new franchise, the Charlotte Bobcats, in 2004. After the 2013-2014 season, the Bobcats became the Hornets once again, after basketball legend and North Carolina native Michael Jordan bought the team in 2010 and applied for the name change.
▪ The team’s mascot is Hugo, a blue and purple hornet.
▪ The Hornets play their home games at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte. You can purchase tickets to Hornets games at nba.com/hornets/tickets, or view the team’s schedule at nba.com/hornets/schedule.
This story was originally published February 18, 2022 at 10:03 AM with the headline "Pick your team! A guide to the Triangle’s college and pro sports squads."
