Lafayette Leopards

The Lafayette Leopards represent Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, one of the oldest football programs in the country and a charter member of the Patriot League. Maroon-and-white and steeped in 19th-century gridiron history, Lafayette carries one of the sport's great old rivalries with nearby Lehigh, the most-played rivalry in college football history. The Leopards' identity blends small-school academics with a genuinely deep football pedigree that predates most of the sport's modern conferences. Every fall, Lafayette adds another chapter to one of the longest-running stories in the game.

Lafayette fielded its first football team in 1882, making it one of the earliest programs in American college football. The Leopards were recognized as national champions in 1896, 1921, and 1926, and posted six undefeated seasons across their history. Lafayette played largely as an independent for over a century before joining the Patriot League at its founding in 1986, where it has since won eight conference championships, most recently in 2023.