[2] A member of the America East Conference, the University at Albany, SUNY sponsors teams in eight men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports.

Tennis remained a constant from 1898 onward along with men's basketball from 1909, but attempts to field teams in football (1922), baseball (1896–1901), swimming, and hockey were aborted.

Expansion into men's and women's sports increased after World War II and then expanded greatly in the 1960s (men's sports of lacrosse, track & field, cross-country and swimming moved from club to varsity status, and women's tennis, softball, field hockey, basketball and swimming were introduced), as a direct result of the introduction of the new Uptown Campus and its expanded athletic facilities.

A nickname change also occurred in 1965 when the Pedagogues became the Great Danes, making Albany the only American college or university with that mascot.

Mrs. Earle, UAlbany class of '67, selected the Great Danes because of their "Size, weight, strength, character, courage, speed, and stamina".

Rudy Vido, who graduated in 1974 as a fullback and defensive end, became the first player in school history to sign a contract with an NFL team.

Barksdale was cut however at the end of training camp, but was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs, and became the first player in school history placed on an NFL 53-man roster.

On December 30, 2008, Barksdale became the first UA stand-out to make an NFL Playoff roster after the Giants signed him to replace corner Sam Madison, who went down with an ankle injury.

From 1996 to 2012, the university's practice fields were handed over to the Giants, bringing fans and media from around New York and the United States to Albany.

In 2007, the school dedicated the university's football practice field in honor of Wellington Mara and Preston Robert Tisch, the late co-owners of the Giants.

Despite the #16 seed being 0–87 before Albany took the floor, head coach Will Brown believed that his team had a chance to beat UConn in the tournament.

The Great Danes brought home their first-ever America East Conference title, and represented the league in the NCAA Tournament.

The Great Danes, with strong defensive play, defeated the Greyhounds 13–6 for the second NCAA Tournament victory in school history.

He finished with an NCAA Division I best 121 points, the second-highest single season tally in DI history, and 69 assists, adding 52 goals.

It would be the first time that any UAlbany Division I team, and any DI program affiliated with the State of New York (SUNY) system, had been ranked #1 in its history.

Sophomore Jakob Patterson and Senior Kyle McClancy stepped up on offense, while goalie JD Colarusso was a force in net.

The Great Danes would run through the America East Tournament as the #1 seed and host to take home the title on May 5 in a 14–4 win over Vermont.

Despite a close game early on, UAlbany would win 18–9 to advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals to face the Denver Pioneers at Hofstra.

However, much hype was focused on the battle of the top two faceoff-men in the country, UAlbany's TD Ierlan and Denver's Trevor Baptiste.

Ierlan had the final faceoff victory and ground ball with 38 seconds left as UAlbany ran out the clock for the win.

The Commissioner's Cup annually recognizes the strongest athletic program in America East as determined by a scoring system that rewards a school for success both during the regular season and at championship competition in the conference's 22 sports.

While the women's basketball match-up receives less fan fare than the men's game, it is part of the Albany Cup battle.

While both the men's and women's basketball games battle for the Albany Cup, the rivalry has been dubbed the "Crosstown Showdown" by sportscasters in the Capital Region.

Stony Brook University is UAlbany's biggest SUNY rival and has had intense competition in sports like men's basketball and lacrosse is recent years.

While Albany has had more historical success overall in the NCAA since 2000, they had lost to Stony Brook in three straight America East Tournament games (2010, 2011, 2012).

In 2012, Stony Brook defeated the Great Danes in three out of four regular season match-ups in their memorable run to the College World Series.

In that time frame, UAlbany and UVM met twice in the America East Tournament finals with the Great Danes winning both games.

The Ferocious Feast is a pregame indoor tailgate with music, beer tasting, games and activities for all ages and great food.

"Purple and Gold", UAlbany's fight song, was written by John Regan and Jonathan Hansen, both members of the university's Chamber Singers.

Lyrics: Purple and Gold, your colors shining through Hear as the carillons are ringing true The State of New York sends up its cheers to you Let's go Albany!