Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens are the athletic teams of the University of Delaware (UD) of Newark, Delaware, in the United States. The Blue Hens compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as members of the Coastal Athletic Association and its technically separate football league, CAA Football.
| Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens | |
|---|---|
| University | University of Delaware |
| Conference | CAA CUSA (July 1, 2025) CHA (women's ice hockey; July 1, 2025) Summit (men's soccer; July 1, 2025) |
| NCAA | Division I |
| Athletic director | Christine Rawak |
| Location | Newark, Delaware |
| Varsity teams | 21 (22 in 2025) |
| Football stadium | Delaware Stadium |
| Basketball arena | Bob Carpenter Center |
| Baseball stadium | Bob Hannah Stadium |
| Soccer stadium | Stuart and Suzanne Grant Stadium |
| Other venues | Delaware Field House |
| Mascot | YoUDee |
| Nickname | The Blue Hens |
| Fight song | "The Delaware Fight Song" |
| Colors | Royal blue and gold |
| Website | www |
On November 28, 2023, UD and Conference USA (CUSA) jointly announced that UD would start a transition to the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in 2024 and join CUSA in 2025. UD will continue to compete in both sides of the CAA in 2024–25; it will be ineligible for the FCS playoffs due to NCAA rules for transitioning programs, but will be eligible for all non-football CAA championships. Upon joining CUSA, UD will be eligible for all conference championship events except the football championship game; it will become eligible for that event upon completing the FBS transition in 2026. At the same time, UD also announced it would add one women's sport due to Title IX considerations, and would also be seeking conference homes for the seven sports that UD sponsors but CUSA does not. The new women's sport would later be announced as ice hockey; UD will join College Hockey America for its first season of varsity play in 2025–26.