The West Alabama Tigers are the athletic teams that represent the University of West Alabama, located in Livingston, Alabama, in intercollegiate sports at the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Tigers have primarily competed in the Gulf South Conference since the 1970–71 academic year. Men's and women's rodeo compete as affiliate members in the Ozark Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association.
West Alabama's main rivals include North Alabama and Delta State. The rivalry with North Alabama is especially heated as the two compete annually in most sports. Other rivals include Alabama-Huntsville, Montevallo, Valdosta State, West Florida, and West Georgia.
West Alabama competes in 16 intercollegiate varsity sports. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, rodeo, soccer, tennis, and outdoor track; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, rodeo, soccer, softball, tennis, outdoor track, and volleyball.
Conference affiliations NCAA Gulf South Conference (1970–present)
Varsity teams Football
West Alabama's football team was first fielded in 1931 when the school was known as Livingston State Teachers College. However, intercollegiate competition for all the university's athletics was not scheduled until seven years later. In 1938, they competed in four games against Marion Institute, Jacksonville State, Demopolis A.S, and Troy State, all of whom were local teams. LSTC finished the season 2-2. That year also marked the start of World War II which led to a decline in college enrollment across the United States. Therefore, LSTC fielded no athletic teams from 1942 to 1945. In 1944, Dr. William Wilson Hill became president of the university and instantly started recruiting students to enroll.
After a three-year hiatus, the football team returned to action under the guidance of new head coach E.G McCollum. They opened their season with the first of many future match-ups against Mississippi College, which resulted in a 24–14 loss. Also, that season, LSTC renewed its rivalry with eventual Gulf South Conference foes, Troy State and Delta State. The team concluded the season with a 6–3 record, and McCollum resigned to pursue a bigger opportunity elsewhere.
Following two dismal seasons from 1947 and 1948, LSTC hired former University of Alabama star Vaughn Mancha as the fourth head coach in team history. Mancha at the time was only 28 years old with no prior coaching experience. The former two-time All-American had also recently completed his first and only season in the NFL as a member of the Boston Yanks. In Mancha's first season, he led LSTC to a 13–6 win over Florida State. The team also concluded the regular season 7–1–1, which at the time marked the best record in school history. LSTC would go on to the Paper Bowl against Jacksonville State, but JSU won 12–7.
Until 1952, the Tigers played home games at Livingston High School. From then on, all their home games were played at Tiger Stadium, a 7,000-capacity stadium located on filled-in land that was previously known as "Crawdad Creek." The next season saw the team finish 6–3–1. During Mancha's third season, the team started off 2-4 but came back to end the season 5-5. This season was the last in Mancha's tenure at LSTC, after which he took over as defensive coordinator at Florida State. Mancha departed with an 18-10-2 overall record.
The Tigers went 15 years without a winning season after Mancha's departure; the most successful season was 1965 when they finished 5–4. Their luck finally started to change after hiring Morris Higginbotham in 1967. Before coming to Livingston, he was one of the most successful high school coaches in Alabama, compiling a 111-27-8 record. The native of Birmingham, earned Alabama Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year honors for the efforts of his 1968 team that featured a 9–2 mark and an appearance in the Peanut Bowl in Dothan, Alabama. Higginbotham remained at the school for three seasons, leading the Tigers to a 19-9-2 record.
Higginbotham was succeeded by assistant head coach Mickey Andrews. Similar to former LU head coach, Vaughn Mancha, Andrews starred in football and baseball at the University of Alabama from 1961 to 1964 before being hired at the university in 1967. Andrews spent three seasons guiding the UWA football team, leading the Tigers to a 24-7-2 record during his tenure. The team also won their first and only championship in school history during the 1971 season defeating Arkansas Tech. LU's bid for a second consecutive NAIA National Championship came up short to Carson-Newman in the 1972 NAIA semi-final. The teams battled to a 7–7 tie, but a controversial tiebreaker ruling went in favor of Carson-Newman.
In 1973, Andrews became the second LU head coach to resign and accept the defensive coordinator position at Florida State. Once again, LU hired a coach from within the program: Andrews’ top assistant, Jim King. King, a native of Adamsville, Alabama, came to LU in 1970. In 1975, he led the Tigers to the NCAA playoffs with a 10–3 record. In the NCAA Quarter Finals, the team faced a tough task of taking on number one-ranked North Dakota. The game was nearly cancelled due to heavy snow. Nevertheless, LU prevailed in an upset. During the semi-finals, they faced a tough Northern Michigan team on national television. Although LU jumped out to a 10–0 lead, they fell short 28–26. King departed the team after compiling a 29-14-1 record in three seasons.
The hiring of Bobby Wallace in 2006 marked a new era within the football program. Before arriving in Livingston, he had served as the head coach at Temple University since 1997. Wallace's first head coaching stint came in the GSC when he was the head coach at the University of North Alabama from 1988 to 1997. During his time at UNA, he led the Lions to three consecutive national championships from 1993 to 1995 as his squads finished with an overall record of 41–1 in those three seasons. The 1995 team was selected as the "Best Team of the Quarter Century" in Division II. Wallace also led UNA to Gulf South Conference Championships during the 1993–95 seasons, while his Lions also qualified for the NCAA Division II Playoffs six times during his tenure. Over his 10 seasons at the helm, he compiled an overall mark of 82–36–1, and he also produced a total of 12 NFL players.
The Wallace Era began with UWA's first winning season in 14 years. The Tigers finished 6–5 on the season. UWA also ended several streaks picking up wins at Lambuth, against Southern Arkansas, and at Arkansas-Monticello. However, the team finished the 2007 season with a 1–9 record and posted a 4–7 record in 2008.
The 2009 season began with three consecutive victories including a televised home win over Arkansas Tech. Unfortunately, three consecutive losses followed. A couple of wins over #22 Delta State and Arkansas-Monticello put UWA back into the playoff race, but they lost to West Georgia the following week.
The season finale was against longtime rival and Wallace's former team, North Alabama. At the time, UNA was ranked number one in all the Division II polls. UWA sent the game to overtime after losing the lead they held throughout the game. After four overtimes, it appeared UNA was set to claim the victory until a forced fumble gave UWA the ball. From that, they took advantage and kicked the game-winning field goal. It was the first win for the Tigers at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence since the 1987 season.
The NCAA rewarded UWA's efforts with a berth in the NCAA Division II playoffs. In the first round, the Tigers upset #20 Albany State 24–22 on the road. After falling behind early against #10 Carson-Newman, the Tigers mounted a rally but ultimately lost 59–41. The Tigers gathered an 8–5 record, the most wins since 1975, and had eight All-GSC honors. UWA posted a 5–1 record at Tiger Stadium, the best since 1985, and tallied the most wins over GSC opponents since 1981 with six. They received their first two rankings in school history at the end of the season. The AFCA placed them #21, while the D2Football.com poll placed them higher two spots at #19.
UWA entered the 2010 season ranked 12th nationally by USA Today. The team was also ranked 23rd in the Lindy's Preseason Top 25 poll and 24th in the Sporting News Preseason Top 25 poll. The UWA football team recorded its highest pre-season ranking since 1976 as the Tigers were selected second by the head coaches of the 2010 Gulf South Conference in the GSC Pre-Season Poll. West Alabama opened the season on August 28 against NAIA member Shorter in nearby Demopolis, Alabama. Tiger Stadium was renovated, and a synthetic surface was recently installed. The Tigers played their first contest on the new surface on September 18 against Lambuth but were narrowly defeated. UWA opened Gulf South Conference play with a home win over West Georgia but lost to Delta State on the road. After a 3–2 start, the Tigers reeled off three consecutive wins, including a last-second homecoming victory over Henderson State. It appeared the game had ended, but officials put a second back on the clock. Quarterback Deon Williams connected to wide receiver Gerald Worsham in the back of the endzone for the game-winner. The team lost back to back in the following two weeks before returning home to face Valdosta State in the season finale. The day before the contest, Bobby Wallace announced to his players that he would be stepping down as head coach upon the end of the season. After falling behind and trailing at the half, the Tigers upset the number 7-ranked Blazers to give Wallace a victory in his final game. The team notched its second win against Valdosta State and picked up their first win in the series since 1985. UWA finished the season 7–4 to earn consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 1991 and 1992. Deon Williams was recognized as one of 24 candidates for the Harlon Hill Trophy, the Division II equivalent to Division I's Heisman Trophy. Offensive coordinator Will Hall was named Bobby Wallace's successor a week after the season concluded. Bobby Wallace was inducted into the Division II Hall of Fame in December. The 2011 team went 8–4, beat DI foe Georgia State, and qualified for the NCAA DII tournament. The 2012 team went undefeated in Gulf South play (5–0) to claim the conference title. UWA defeated Miles College 41–7 in round one of the playoffs. The team lost at eventual national champion Valdosta State 49–21 in the second round. UWA finished 9–4.
Volleyball The first known volleyball team for the University of West Alabama came in 1979. UWA struggled throughout the 1980s and early part of the 1990s. At this time, only season schedules beginning in 1994 are available. Under the direction of head coach Pam Gailbreath, the team won nine games that year. The following year, UWA improved on its previous season finishing at 17–18. In 1996, the Tigers reached an all-time high, going 32–14 to set a school record for wins. The next four seasons proved difficult for the Tigers as they did not get over the .500 point. Then, in 2001, UWA won 23 games to finish with a .575 winning percentage. They improved even more in 2002 when they went 25–13.
UWA started the 2007 campaign 18-0 and was the only Division II undefeated team in America. In response AVCA placed them at #25, the first ranking in the program's history. A sweep over Albany State broke the school record for most consecutive wins. They went on to finish the season 27–6 in head coach Ron Arenz's final year. UWA recorded eight conference wins, the most for the team since 2002. Although the season ended in the opening round of the GSC Tournament, the Tigers broke several school records throughout the season.