Sports Main article: Colgate Raiders 80 of students participate in sports on three different levels: the university team (the best college players have to prove in the team), “club” (an informal team that plays with other universities without record) and “intramural” (several teams of friends, clubs, or homes competing in college). There are 23 sports officially recognized by the university, over 40 teams of “club” and 18 sports that are played in college. Colgate participates in NCAA Division I in all sports except football, which participates in Division I-AA. The teams are called the “Raiders,” and dress in maroon, white, and gray. Colgate plays in the Patriot League conference. In much of its history, the teams were called the “Red Raiders” (The Red Raiders).At issue is the origin of the name: on the one hand, it is said that the word comes from the colors of the university (garnet), on the other hand, it is believed that refers to the ability of the team to beat its larger rival, the ” Big Red “at Cornell. However, a Native American mascot reflects a third possibility. In the 1970s, the administration had discussed a change of name and mascot due to the fact that they were offensive to Native Americans. It was the name, but it’s over an Indian mascot carrying a torch. In 2001 a group of students presented the issue that the name “Red Raiders” still implied an insult to Native Americans. The university agreed to delete the title “Red” starting Fall 2001. It introduced a new mascot in 2006. In 1989-90, Colgate University was the smallest in the history of NCAA Division I reach the final game of ice hockey, when it lost to the University of Wisconsin.Parke-Davis gave the football team first ranking in Division I in 1875 and 1932. Colgate began playing in Division I-AA in 1982 and reached the playoffs in 1982, 1983, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003 and 2005. In the 2003 season for the first time, Colgate reached the final of the Division I-AA, which lost to the University of Delaware. His record was 15-1. At that time, he won more games consecutively in the history of the division. The Syracuse and Cornell Universities are common rival in all sports, but Colgate does not compete against Syracuse in football, golf, or hockey. The hockey game against Cornell is one of the biggest events of the year, students form a line to get tickets for many hours before the game starts.After the game, students coming to Cornell (as it is two hours by car) cast tubes of Colgate toothpaste – to mock the name shared with Colgate-Palmolive – on the ice while Colgate students throw packages gum “Big Red,” to mock the Cornell mascot.