Over the years, Boston University athletic teams have enjoyed unparalleled success not just on the local and regional level but also on the national scene. The Boston University has captured the America East Commissioner's Cup a total of five times and has finished in the top two 12 of the 16 years since the America East Conference was founded. The Cup recognizes the strongest overall athletic program in the Conference.

Few would have dreamt of this success in 1839 when Boston University was established as a Methodist university primarily for the purpose of higher education. By 1916, B. U. had grown to nearly 3,000 students. President Lemuel Murlin realized the large pool of athletic potential with the growing numbers and since BU had no athletic field at the time, the primary focal point was men's basketball.

The December 16, 1916 basketball game against the Posse School of Gymnastics marked the official entrance of Boston University into varsity level competition. Led by Coach V.B. Allison, a former Tilton Academy coach, the team won its first three games. Since gaining official status in 1916, and despite a brief hiatus in 1943 and 1944 due to World War II, Boston University men's basketball has gradually earned a reputation as a very successful program highlighted by an NCAA Tournament Final Eight appearance in 1958, and multiple NCAA and NIT post-season Tournament appearances.

During the 1917-18 academic year BU students voted to make the Boston terrier the official school mascot. Ironically, the Boston terrier was first bred in 1839, the year B.U. was founded.

The tireless dedication of student athletes created the foundation for varsity athletics, and progressively made way for more official recognition of men's club teams, like ice hockey (1917), football and baseball (1920), track (1931), crew (1939), tennis (1948), and soccer (1949).

In the fall of 1974, B.U. began funding for women's crew, swimming, and basketball, thus making them the University's first official women's varsity sports. Women's crew, the first recognized women's varsity sport, outrowed its competition in its initial 1974 season. With a perfect season record after the National Collegiate Championships, women's crew represented the U.S. at the World Championships, a first for B.U. By 1979, women's tennis, track and field, cross country, and field hockey became varsity sports, with the addition of softball in 1988. Finally, with additional funding, the women's lacrosse, golf, and soccer club teams became official intercollegiate varsity competitors by the mid to late Nineties.

While each of the Terrier teams can look point to a number of games as highlights in its storied history, there is no doubt that one date stands out as perhaps the key in the history of the entire athletic program. That date would be July 29, 1953, as on that date, the University purchased Braves Field from Lou Perini, the late owner of major league baseball's Boston Braves. The old Braves Field is now the home of Nickerson Field, which is adjacent to Walter Brown Arena. Only a block away is the Terriers' softball field, which, across the street from the softball field is the Track and Tennis Center.

Since 1916, when varsity intercollegiate athletics made their first appearance on the University scene, dedicated generations of talented athletes and enthusiastic faculty and fans have transformed Boston University into the major national intercollegiate competitor it is today. The B.U. community proudly boasts the successful histories and promising futures for all its current 24 NCAA division I varsity sports welcoming the addition of women's ice hockey as it is elevated from club to varsity status for the 2004-05 season.