The Minutemen and Minutewomen compete in NCAA Division I sports competition primarily as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Although "Aggies" was also used, by 1948 the school, which had changed its name to the University of Massachusetts the year before, decided a new nickname was in order.

From the leading choices, Redmen was chosen, both for the roles Native Americans served in the history of the Commonwealth and for their "strength and fierceness in defending his lands.

"[5] However, by 1972, Native Americans in the region were calling the choice of nickname into question for the derogatory connotations of the name.

[6] The administration began requesting that the name be used as little as possible, and by the end of the 1972 spring semester, the Board of Trustees chose to change the nickname to Minutemen, one of the choices that was a finalist in 1948.

The name was chosen for its ties to the history of the Commonwealth, as the Minutemen were instrumental in the early stages of the American Revolution.

A primary member of the Atlantic 10 Conference, the University of Massachusetts sponsors teams in ten men's and eleven women's NCAA sanctioned sports, with the ice hockey program competing in the Hockey East Association and men's lacrosse in the Colonial Athletic Association.

However, a subsequent NCAA investigation found that Camby illegally accepted a total of $28,000 from sports agents that were attempting to lure him into the NBA draft after his Sophomore season, and the school was forced to vacate its Final Four appearance as well as return their 1996 NCAA Final Four trophy.

Camby eventually repaid the school the $151,000 in lost Final Four revenue that came as a result of the NCAA's ruling.

While a Final Four banner still hangs from the rafters of the Mullins Center in defiance of the NCAA's ruling, the appearance is marked with an asterisk in official record books, even though it was noted that there was absolutely no institutional wrongdoing.

Notable UMass basketball alumni include Camby, Basketball Hall of Famer Julius Erving, St. Joseph's University (New York)head coach Rick Pitino, and Boston College head coach Al Skinner.

Camby, Roe, Williams, Stéphane Lasme and Gary Forbes were each named Atlantic 10 player of the year.

Timbilla along with Jennifer Butler were the only two players to ever reach 1,000 rebounds in Umass women's basketball history.

Minutewomen who have competed for Team USA in the Olympics include Judy Strong in 1980 and 1984, Patty Shea in 1988 and 1996, Megan Donnelly in 1998, and Pam Bustin in 1996.

The UMass football team competed at the NCAA Division I FCS (formerly I-AA) level until 2012, and won one national title in that subdivision in 1998.

UMass fell to Appalachian State in the national championship game by a score of 28–17 and finished the season with a record of 13–2.

Also, the 1979 Division I-AA title game was then known as the Pioneer Bowl and was played in Wichita Falls, Texas.

Some of their most successful players there include quarterback Greg Landry, running back Marcel Shipp, and tight end Milt Morin.

Class of 2010 members that went on to the NFL include offensive lineman Vladimir Ducasse and wide receiver Victor Cruz.

On November 30, 2010, the Boston Herald reported that the Mid-American Conference was exploring the possibility of adding the Minutemen for football.

The school cited the changing landscape of the FCS, especially in the Colonial Athletic Association, with Hofstra and Northeastern dropping their football programs in 2009, Rhode Island considering a move to the lower-profile Northeast Conference, Georgia State and Old Dominion joining the CAA, and Villanova considering a move to the Football Bowl Subdivision's Big East Conference.

The team competed in the Eastern College Athletic Conference at the Division II level through 1979, when the program was ceased due to the absence of an on-campus facility that could support ice hockey.

The program first showed steady improvement after resuming competition, with breakthrough years occurring in 2003 and 2004, when the team reached the Hockey East Tournament semifinals and finals, respectively.

[13] UMass alumni who have played/are playing professional hockey include Cale Makar, Mario Ferraro, Conor Sheary, Jonathan Quick, Thomas Pock, Greg Mauldin, Justin Braun, and Casey Wellman, among others.

Quick also won a silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics as a member of Team USA and the Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason MVP with the Los Angeles Kings during the 2012 NHL playoffs.

The men's lacrosse team reached the NCAA Championship Game in 2006, where they lost to the #1 ranked and undefeated Virginia Cavaliers.

UMass, unseeded in the tournament, had to defeat three seeded teams (Cornell, Hofstra, Maryland) to make it to the championship game in Philadelphia.

Of the notable softball alumni, one of the school's most famous is pitcher Danielle Henderson, who pitched in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, and led the United States to a gold medal.

Henderson also won the 1999 Honda Sports Award, given annually to the top collegiate softball player in the country.

UMass alumnus Julia Richter won the silver medal at the 2012 London Summer Olympics for Team Germany as a member of that country's women's four.