VMI Keydets

From Hoopedia

The Virginia Military Institute (VMI), located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state military college in the United States. In keeping with its founding principles, and unlike any other state military college in the country, all students at VMI are military cadets pursuing undergraduate degrees. VMI offers cadets a spartan, physically demanding environment combined with strict military discipline. While VMI has been called the "West Point of the South", it differs from the federal service academies. For example, VMI cadets have the flexibility of accepting a commission in any of the five military service branches, or pursuing civilian endeavors upon graduation. VMI cadets pursue bachelor's degrees in 14 disciplines in the fields of engineering, science, and the liberal arts.

VMI fields 15 teams on the NCAA Division I level (FCS, formerly I-AA, for football). Varsity sports include baseball, basketball, men's and women's cross-country, football, lacrosse, men's and women's rifle, men and women's soccer, swimming, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track, wrestling, and Rugby. VMI is a member of the Big South, the Southern (for wrestling), and the Metro Atlantic Athletic (for men's lacrosse) conferences. The VMI team name is the Keydets, possibly a Southern style slang for the word "cadets".

Perhaps the most famous athletic story in VMI history was the two-year run of the 1976 and 1977 basketball teams. The 1976 squad advanced within one game of the Final Four before bowing to undefeated Rutgers in the East Regional Final, and in 1977 VMI finished with 26 wins and just four losses, still a school record, and reached the "Sweet 16" round of the NCAA tournament.