Alaska Nanooks

The Alaska Nanooks are the University of Alaska Fairbanks sports teams, derived from the Inupiaq "nanuq." The school colors are blue and gold. The Nanooks compete at the NCAA Division II level for all sports except men's ice hockey (NCAA Division I). The majority of Nanooks sports are members of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC), the hockey team is a member of the WCHA (after spending several years in the now-defunct CCHA) and plays at the 4,595 seat Carlson Center located west of downtown Fairbanks, while the women's swim team is a member of the Pacific Collegiate Swimming & Diving Conference (PCSC), the men's and women's skiing teams are members of the Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA), and the rifle team competes as a member of the Patriot Rifle Conference.

Sports

Ice hockey

Intercollegiate men's ice hockey began in the 1925-26 season. The team had competed as an independent team in Division I through the 1960s and Division II through the 1970s. The Nanooks returned to the Division I level in the 1985-86 season and joined the Great West Hockey Conference (GWHC). The team won the 1987-88 GWHC regular season and 1988 playoff championship. The program is currently a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) and in 2010 the Nanooks appeared in their first ever NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament before falling 3-1 to Boston College.