The Eastern Illinois Panthers are the intercollegiate athletic programs of Eastern Illinois University (EIU) located in Charleston, Illinois, United States. The Panthers athletic program is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) and competes at the NCAA Division I level in the Football Championship Subdivision. EIU's colors are blue and gray. Selected as the team mascot in 1930, EIU's panther was informally known as "Billy" for many years and was officially named "Billy the Panther" in 2008. Panther teams have won five NCAA national championships in three sports. The Panthers also won the 1969 NAIA men's soccer title.
History
Eastern Illinois athletics began in the school's very first year, with the inaugural football team taking the field only three weeks after the first students arrived on campus in 1899.
Eastern Illinois was a member of the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1912 to 1970. From 1978 to 1982 they were members of the Mid-Continent Athletic Association which was absorbed by the Association of Mid-Continent Universities later known as the Mid-Continent Conference now the Summit League till 1996. In 1996 they joined the Ohio Valley Conference which is their current conference.
A member of the Ohio Valley Conference since 1996, Eastern Illinois University sponsors teams in ten men's and eleven women's NCAA sanctioned sports. The Panthers' men's and women's swimming teams compete as associate members of the Summit League since those sports are not sponsored by the OVC. The men's soccer team also competed in the Summit League before the OVC launched a men's soccer league for the 2023 season (2023–24 school year). The OVC merged its men's tennis league into that of the Horizon League after the 2021–22 school year, with all OVC teams in that sport, including Eastern Illinois, becoming Horizon associates.
Sports sponsored
Baseball
1973 NCAA Division II World Series Third Place. 1978 NCAA Division II World Series Fifth Place. 1981 NCAA Division II World Series Runner-Up. The Panther baseball team has appeared in three NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, in 1999, 2008, and 2023.
Basketball
Men's basketball
NAIA tournament appearances (6) 1947, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1957. With a combined record of 7–7. Highest finish, 4th: 1957. NCAA Division II tournament appearances each year from 1975 to 1980. Highest finish, 3rd: 1976 and 1978. NCAA Division I tournament appearances (1992 and 2001). All time tournament results
Women’s basketball
NCAA Division I tournament appearance 1988.
Men's cross country
Team Championships: 1968 – NCAA College Division National Champions 1969 – NCAA College Division National Champions 1977 – NCAA Division II National Champions National Finishes: 1971 – NCAA Division II Fifth Place 1972 – NCAA Division II Seventh Place 1973 – NCAA Division II Third Place 1974 – NCAA Division II Third Place 1975 – NCAA Division II Third Place 1976 – NCAA Division II Third Place 1978 – NCAA Division II Fifth Place 1979 – NCAA Division II Third Place
Football
1978 Division II National Champion
1980 Division II National Runner-Up. NCAA Division I Football Championship tournament appearances: 1982, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015. Conference Titles: 1912, 1913, 1914, 1928, 1948, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2013 All time tournament results
Men’s golf
National Finishes: 1969 - NAIA 4th Place 1972 - NAIA 8th Place Individual National Champions: 1972 - Gaylord Burrows - NAIA
Soccer
Men's soccer
1969 – NAIA National Champion. NCAA Division II runners-up in 1979, 3rd in 1978, and 4th in 1974. Stripped of 1981 Division I 3rd-place finish.
Women’s soccer
The Panther women’s soccer team has appeared in four NCAA Division I Women's Soccer tournaments in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004.
Softball
The Panther softball team appeared in two AIAW Women's College World Series, in 1971 and 1974. They reached their first NCAA Division I softball tournament in 2023.
Men’s swimming and diving
National Finishes: 1975 - NCAA Division II 3rd Place
