Middle Tennessee State University's football team, nicknamed the Blue Raiders, plays at the FBS (formerly Division 1-A) level of NCAA competition. A member of the Sun Belt Conference, they are represented by the colors blue and white and both men's' and women's' teams have Lightning as their official mascot. MTSU has appeared twice in the Tangerine Bowl and were invited to the Motor City Bowl in 2006. In the 2009 regular season, they defeated the University of Southern Mississippi, recording their first bowl win since joining Division I FBS.